The day holidaying reporter stumbled upon a global scoop
A holiday with his wife in the US was meant to be a trip of a lifetime for Birmingham journalist Bob Blackburn, but that all changed when presidential candidate Robert Kennedy was shot 50 years ago. reports.
FOR Birmingham Mail reporter Bob Blackburn it was meant to be a dream break – he and wife Miriam’s first holiday to America.
Within 24 hours of landing, all thoughts of relaxation were forgotten, as Blackburn had flown into the biggest story of his long, illustrious career – the assassination of presidential candidate Robert Kennedy.
And he was informed, in no uncertain terms, by his editors at the Post’s sister paper, that all thoughts of sightseeing were out of the window.
Much to Miriam’s annoyance, Blackburn – our man in West Bromwich – became our Los Angeles correspondent, filing gripping story after gripping story.
But that was Blackburn, an old-fashioned reporter who bled printers’ ink.
In fact, he died shortly after filing a Central League football report from Villa Park. The lifelong local reporter was 69.
June 6 marked the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s death, fatally wounded at the Ambassador Hotel by assassin Sirhan Sirhan.
Now, following the recent anniversary, Blackburn’s son Keith recalled the day that his father, unwittingly, scooped the rest of the UK press.
“Frankly, it was bizarre,” said Keith, now a London-based decorator. “I was at college in Swansea when I was told there was a call from the Birmingham Mail.
“Your first thought is ‘My God, what’s happened?’ They said something big had ‘dropped’ and needed to contact my father. They wanted his phone number.
“He had only flown out the day before and within hours of being there, jet-lagged, he was in the middle of this major story.”
And Blackburn really was in the thick of it. He and Miriam were staying in Witham – a stone’s throw from where the shooting took place.
“I think dad found it a bit overwhelming,” said Keith, aged 54. “It was his first time in America and he’d been covering West Bromwich Magistrates Court the day before.”
From covering cases of drunkenness and affray on Sandwell streets, Blackburn was at the sharp edge of a story that would rock the world.
He rolled his sleeves up, apologised profusely to his wife, and started filing copy.
“They were there for two or three weeks visiting an aunt,” said Keith. “The first thing dad decided to do was interview a typical American family for their reaction.”
The “typical American”, course, was his aunt.
Blackburn was certainly prolific during his stint in the States: Keith has the cuttings.
And remember – these were days before continents were bridged by simply pressing the of “send” button on a laptop.
The Black Country reporter became such an ever-present at LA press conferences that one US magazine did a story on him!
“Dad made something of a habit of picking the same holiday spot, at the same time, as major disasters,” said Keith.
They went to Falmouth, and he spent the break watching bodies being pulled from the sea after a passenger liner sank.”
Blackburn was actually a proud Scouser who made Birmingham his base after getting a job with the Birmingham Evening Despatch. There was a stint in the Army before he joined the Sunday Mercury and Birmingham Mail in 1954. He also worked for the Mail’s sister title Sandwell Evening Mail.
“He never really retired,” said Keith. “He was still working part-time when he died. He did news and sport.
“Dad was a newspaperman through and through, and he was a very proud Scouser. When any stars from Liverpool came to the West Midlands – people like Ken Dodd, for