Laughing at McCarthy Rally Not Good for Health

A sign that we may not know what times we live in at the time: Mom and Dad at a McCarthy rally on a lark. "We just wanted to see what it was all about," Mom told me. They went, as you see, with other photographers. They are so far unaware that nobody else is laughing. But eventually, they tumbled to the realization that the other members of the audience knew these people didn't share their fervor, and the mood was turning ugly.

My parents' little group got up slowly, as you would if you didn't want to incite animals to attack, and moved toward the exit.

A woman swung her purse at my father's head, but she missed. So they emerged unscathed, and the McCarthy rally remained a rally rather than a riot.

I had heard about this incident from Mom long ago when we studied McCarthyism in school, but I never knew there was a photograph of it until Mom showed me this. On the back, it says, "Lisa Larsen, Life."

Lisa Larsen was the Life photographer who took the famous image of Jack and Jackie Kennedy at their wedding reception, the one where the radiant Jackie, seated at the table, leans forward, all tanned, elegant shoulders against her lacy white veil, sharing something fey and witty with her companions. You've seen it.

Lisa was herself a fey and witty presence, and easily ingratiated herself with her subjects. She died young, but Mom said she was a delightful person. Some of her photographs became iconic, like those of the Kennedys' Camelot.