Columnist Joe Delaney: Remembering the day the King died

Joe Delaney

Friday, Aug. 15, 1997 | 11:15 a.m.

AUGUST 16, 1977. ... Where were you on the day that Elvis passed away? ... The Delaneys were in Galway, Ireland, preparing to start filming "Joe Delaney's Ireland, Family Style," the third in our series of six documentaries over a 15-year period. ... Home base was Teac Furbo (Furbo House), located six miles west of Galway.

Roberta, her son Scott (19) and our daughter Kathleen (12) were shopping while father was having a jar (pint of Guinness) in the bar of the Great Southern Hotel at the south end of Eyre Square, town center.

We were to meet in a coin shop around the corner of the hotel. ... Scott and Kathleen were into collecting coins. ... The Irish Times headline leaped out at me as I passed a news stand , "Elvis Presley dead at age 42." ... I decided to defer this sad news until after dinner that evening. ... Why spoil their afternoon?

They knew

Entering the coin shop, it was apparent that the shopkeeper, Roberta, and the youngsters had heard. ... The radio was on with a recording of Elvis singing "Love Me Tender." ... Only a few months before, comedian Jackie Kahane, Elvis' opening act, had sworn me to secrecy, "Joe, Elvis is killing himself. Don't be surprised, it could come soon."

The word spread quickly throughout Ireland. ... Elvis was an icon there as he was world-wide. ... That evening, the family sat in the pub at Teac Furbo, waiting for a table in the dining room when Radio Telefis Eireann interrupted its regular TV schedule to show a hastily-assembled tribute, very comprehensive, surprisingly well put-together.

It was brilliantly done; using early film, the Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Show, the Ed Sullivan appearances, excerpts from films, his Las Vegas Hilton shows, worthy of award consideration.

Another August

Sitting there, our memory wandered back to another August date, Aug. 12, 1945, the death of President Franklin Delano Reoosevelt. ... At the time, we were stationed on Mitchell Field on Long Island, New York and living in Manhattan. ... An Air Force jeep deposited us at the Kew Gardens subway station in the Borough of Queens.

Two stops later, someone entered our subway car and announced that Roosevelt had died. ... The word sped from car to car like a flash flood. ... When we exited at 23rd and Eighth Avenue, New York City had come to a complete halt. ... Shops closed, theaters closed, everything closed; traffic was down to a trickle, then nothing.

There's another story here that we'll save for another day, another column. ... Elvis Presley, in his own way, has had as profound an effect on this nation as any other individual, circa 1957-1977. ... It continues today.

Elvis lives on

As a commercial phenomenon, Elvis mania is even stronger than it was during his lifetime. ... Ex-wife Priscilla Presley's management of his estate, plus cooperation from the City of Memphis, has resulted in a greater gross income annually than Elvis ever realized while alive. ... Long live the King. ... See you next Thursday.