Harry-O on Decades

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after The Fugitive at 2 AM.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

[Pahonu]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after The Fugitive at 2 Am.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

Thanks Dobie! My second favorite show after The Rockford Files. They debuted just a day apart in 1974 and filmed the bulk of their series just up the beach from one another in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Sorry, but MPI comes in third place.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after The Fugitive at 2 AM.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

Thanks Dobie! My second favorite show after The Rockford Files. They debuted just a day apart in 1974 and filmed the bulk of their series just up the beach from one another in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Sorry, but MPI comes in third place.

Pahonu,
I couldn't begin to count all the various productions I have watched set in Malibu, I just saw one, a Elvis flick set there. It wasn't that great but it featured Michelle - sigh - Carey, at one point in a
breathtaking white bathing suit that beat Farrah's poster all to heck. Anyway, just how long is the cove, how many people live there? Is it thousands or a beach colony of a few hundred?
It seems like every other Hollywood star at some point lived here, from Errol Flynn to Carson. I'm guessing a ordinary beachside house like Harry O's wouldn't be found there today, or am I
wrong and there are beach shacks where the likes of Gidget and Moondoggie and college kids can still be found having clambakes?
Perhaps my questions are naive but when I was growing up we east coast innocents took "Beach Blanket Bingo" for a documentary. Along those lines, have you ever been known as Moondoggie
or have you ever known someone with that nickname, or perhaps knew someone who was christened with that monicker at birth?
Perhaps you will change your name here to Moondoggie Pahonu, it really flows, trust me.

[Pahonu]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after Am.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

Thanks Dobie! My second favorite show after The Rockford Files. They debuted just a day apart in 1974 and filmed the bulk of their series just up the beach from one another in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Sorry, but MPI comes in third place.

Pahonu,
I couldn't begin to count all the various productions I have watched set in Malibu, I just saw one, a Elvis flick set there. It wasn't that great but it featured Michelle - sigh - Carey, at one point in a
breathtaking white bathing suit that beat Farrah's poster all to heck. Anyway, just how long is the cove, how many people live there? Is it thousands or a beach colony of a few hundred?
It seems like every other Hollywood star at some point lived here, from Errol Flynn to Carson. I'm guessing a ordinary beachside house like Harry O's wouldn't be found there today, or am I
wrong and there are beach shacks where the likes of Gidget and Moondoggie and college kids can still be found having clambakes?
Perhaps my questions are naive but when I was growing up we east coast innocents took "Beach Blanket Bingo" for a documentary. Along those lines, have you ever been known as Moondoggie
or have you ever known someone with that nickname, or perhaps knew someone who was christened with that monicker at birth?
Perhaps you will change your name here to Moondoggie Pahonu, it really flows, trust me.

Oh Dobie,
Where to start! Paradise Cove is about a mile long stretch of fairly wide sandy beach roughly in the middle of Malibu’s 20+ miles of coast. Both east and west are cliffs with homes on the bluffs above. There were only a handful of homes at beach level in the past and all are condemned now as past storms and sea level rise have rendered them untenable. In fact, back in the early 80’s, an El Niño storm tore off the outer third of the Paradis Cove Pier you see in The Rockford Files. It was never repaired and is closed today. Rockford’s trailer was actually placed in the parking lot of the beach in a place without any utilities or any other trailers. The magic of Hollywood. There is still a restaurant there, but no longer any homes. There is a trailer park on the bluffs above to the west. To the east were the few homes on the sand, including Harry-O’s, but that’s it and they’re all condemned as stated earlier.

The homes on the bluffs are worth many millions now and even the trailer homes surpass a million today. Long gone are the affordable beach cottages depicted in film and television of the past. As far as Gidget, that was actually set east of Paradise Cove at Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier. In the 50’s, when the book was written, it was a pretty remote location from LA, today it is completely built up along the entire coast and into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains just to the north. Sadly, the current fire that began in Pacific Palisades to the east has reached far into Malibu destroying many structures along the coast and approaching dangerously close to the Malibu Pier and Gidget’s Surfrider Beach. As I finished writing this, I realized that I should point out that Malibu is a beach that runs from east to west and faces south. This confuses many non locals to no end who picture all of the west coast as facing west. The same is true of Long Beach where I live. Hope all that made sense.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after Am.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

Thanks Dobie! My second favorite show after The Rockford Files. They debuted just a day apart in 1974 and filmed the bulk of their series just up the beach from one another in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Sorry, but MPI comes in third place.

Pahonu,
I couldn't begin to count all the various productions I have watched set in Malibu, I just saw one, a Elvis flick set there. It wasn't that great but it featured Michelle - sigh - Carey, at one point in a
breathtaking white bathing suit that beat Farrah's poster all to heck. Anyway, just how long is the cove, how many people live there? Is it thousands or a beach colony of a few hundred?
It seems like every other Hollywood star at some point lived here, from Errol Flynn to Carson. I'm guessing a ordinary beachside house like Harry O's wouldn't be found there today, or am I
wrong and there are beach shacks where the likes of Gidget and Moondoggie and college kids can still be found having clambakes?
Perhaps my questions are naive but when I was growing up we east coast innocents took "Beach Blanket Bingo" for a documentary. Along those lines, have you ever been known as Moondoggie
or have you ever known someone with that nickname, or perhaps knew someone who was christened with that monicker at birth?
Perhaps you will change your name here to Moondoggie Pahonu, it really flows, trust me.

Oh Dobie,
Where to start! Paradise Cove is about a mile long stretch of fairly wide sandy beach roughly in the middle of Malibu’s 20+ miles of coast. Both east and west are cliffs with homes on the bluffs above. There were only a handful of homes at beach level in the past and all are condemned now as past storms and sea level rise have rendered them untenable. In fact, back in the early 80’s, an El Niño storm tore off the outer third of the Paradis Cove Pier you see in The Rockford Files. It was never repaired and is closed today. Rockford’s trailer was actually placed in the parking lot of the beach in a place without any utilities or any other trailers. The magic of Hollywood. There is still a restaurant there, but no longer any homes. There is a trailer park on the bluffs above to the west. To the east were the few homes on the sand, including Harry-O’s, but that’s it and they’re all condemned as stated earlier.

The homes on the bluffs are worth many millions now and even the trailer homes surpass a million today. Long gone are the affordable beach cottages depicted in film and television of the past. As far as Gidget, that was actually set east of Paradise Cove at Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier. In the 50’s, when the book was written, it was a pretty remote location from LA, today it is completely built up along the entire coast and into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains just to the north. Sadly, the current fire that began in Pacific Palisades to the east has reached far into Malibu destroying many structures along the coast and approaching dangerously close to the Malibu Pier and Gidget’s Surfrider Beach. As I finished writing this, I realized that I should point out that Malibu is a beach that runs from east to west and faces south. This confuses many non locals to no end who picture all of the west coast as facing west. The same is true of Long Beach where I live. Hope all that made sense.

Pahonu,
What a terrific and informative post, packing a lot into a few sentences.
If I ever get back to California again I am going to eat at the "Rockford restaurant" for sure. It's terrible watching the damage from the fires, according to my Aussie pal Australia no longer holds
the title for the most expensive/destructive fire, California now holds that unwanted distinction.
You mentioned Long Beach, and of course the historic Queen Mary is docked there. Over the years I keep running into accounts of the people who sailed on her.
Practically any star or famous author or even some world leaders (Western)you could name of the first half of the 20th century at one time were passengers. And drank at the bar that is shown
on a Kolchak episode that was set on the ship. Its still open, so you can hoist a beer where Churchill and Laurel & Hardy slaked their thirst. I did as well.
Thank you so much for your response.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danish Proverb -
You must walk a long time behind a wild duck before you will pick up an ostrich feather.

[Pahonu]

Harry O now on MeTV Sunday nights at 3 AM, right after Am.

Link - David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''

January 8, 2025, 12:02PM By MeTV Staff

David Janssen vowed that Harry O wouldn't become another ''shoot-em-up''.
"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said the actor.

Widely considered one of the more quality television shows of its decade, Harry O certainly earned every bit of praise it received.
Centered around the story of a former police officer who opens up a private investigation business, the premise of the series isn't necessarily new.
However, series lead David Janssen was able to keep audiences enthralled for two seasons before the show ended in 1976.

Producers, writers, and directors alike who worked on Harry O were all united under a shared goal: to create a series with character and integrity.

It was a shared endeavor. David Janssen spoke about his series during an interview.
Specifically, Janssen spoke of the meticulous care in the series, a byproduct of his efforts to ensure that the show would not devolve into another "shoot-em-up."

"I'll scream bloody murder if it evolves into that sort of show," said Janssen to the New York Times. Luckily, Janssen had a team of writers and directors at his back that shared this vision.
"I'm not expecting problems, though, because everyone involved with the project agrees the series should concentrate on character development more than on simple solutions to crimes," he said.
This character-centric focus led to more of an attachment to the character of Harry Orwell. A crime-centric show is all well and good enough to entertain an audience for an episode, but it was truly
the characters in the series that kept fans returning every week.
"You get to know Harry O and care about him just as you did in the TV movie pilot of the story," said Janssen.

Thanks Dobie! My second favorite show after The Rockford Files. They debuted just a day apart in 1974 and filmed the bulk of their series just up the beach from one another in the Paradise Cove area of Malibu. Sorry, but MPI comes in third place.

Pahonu,
I couldn't begin to count all the various productions I have watched set in Malibu, I just saw one, a Elvis flick set there. It wasn't that great but it featured Michelle - sigh - Carey, at one point in a
breathtaking white bathing suit that beat Farrah's poster all to heck. Anyway, just how long is the cove, how many people live there? Is it thousands or a beach colony of a few hundred?
It seems like every other Hollywood star at some point lived here, from Errol Flynn to Carson. I'm guessing a ordinary beachside house like Harry O's wouldn't be found there today, or am I
wrong and there are beach shacks where the likes of Gidget and Moondoggie and college kids can still be found having clambakes?
Perhaps my questions are naive but when I was growing up we east coast innocents took "Beach Blanket Bingo" for a documentary. Along those lines, have you ever been known as Moondoggie
or have you ever known someone with that nickname, or perhaps knew someone who was christened with that monicker at birth?
Perhaps you will change your name here to Moondoggie Pahonu, it really flows, trust me.

Oh Dobie,
Where to start! Paradise Cove is about a mile long stretch of fairly wide sandy beach roughly in the middle of Malibu’s 20+ miles of coast. Both east and west are cliffs with homes on the bluffs above. There were only a handful of homes at beach level in the past and all are condemned now as past storms and sea level rise have rendered them untenable. In fact, back in the early 80’s, an El Niño storm tore off the outer third of the Paradis Cove Pier you see in The Rockford Files. It was never repaired and is closed today. Rockford’s trailer was actually placed in the parking lot of the beach in a place without any utilities or any other trailers. The magic of Hollywood. There is still a restaurant there, but no longer any homes. There is a trailer park on the bluffs above to the west. To the east were the few homes on the sand, including Harry-O’s, but that’s it and they’re all condemned as stated earlier.

The homes on the bluffs are worth many millions now and even the trailer homes surpass a million today. Long gone are the affordable beach cottages depicted in film and television of the past. As far as Gidget, that was actually set east of Paradise Cove at Surfrider Beach near the Malibu Pier. In the 50’s, when the book was written, it was a pretty remote location from LA, today it is completely built up along the entire coast and into the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains just to the north. Sadly, the current fire that began in Pacific Palisades to the east has reached far into Malibu destroying many structures along the coast and approaching dangerously close to the Malibu Pier and Gidget’s Surfrider Beach. As I finished writing this, I realized that I should point out that Malibu is a beach that runs from east to west and faces south. This confuses many non locals to no end who picture all of the west coast as facing west. The same is true of Long Beach where I live. Hope all that made sense.

Pahonu,
What a terrific and informative post, packing a lot into a few sentences.
If I ever get back to California again I am going to eat at the "Rockford restaurant" for sure. It's terrible watching the damage from the fires, according to my Aussie pal Australia no longer holds
the title for the most expensive/destructive fire, California now holds that unwanted distinction.
You mentioned Long Beach, and of course the historic Queen Mary is docked there. Over the years I keep running into accounts of the people who sailed on her.
Practically any star or famous author or even some world leaders (Western)you could name of the first half of the 20th century at one time were passengers. And drank at the bar that is shown
on a Kolchak episode that was set on the ship. Its still open, so you can hoist a beer where Churchill and Laurel & Hardy slaked their thirst. I did as well.
Thank you so much for your response.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danish Proverb -
You must walk a long time behind a wild duck before you will pick up an ostrich feather.

Thank you for the kind words and, yes, the Queen Mary has a pretty incredible past historically in world events and in Hollywood. I’ve been on her many times, including my college roommate’s wedding rehearsal dinner at the famous Winston’s bar. I’ve seen the Kolchak episode too and am always on the lookout for scenes from Long Beach, which appear quite frequently in film and television. The actual condo complex I live in was used in Cannon and scene in CSI Miami in the background of a shot. That series was actually filmed in Long Beach, using only stock footage of Miami for establishing shots.

I believe I’ve relayed the story here before, but many years ago now I was out for a walk in the neighborhood nearby known as Naples. It’s a small community built around a series of canals inside of Alamitos Bay. I turned down one of the many curving streets and saw several police cars parked. I wondered what was happening until I realized that the cruiser said Miami-Dade. A little further on they were filming a scene. They filmed all over the place here. Perhaps Ironically, I never really enjoyed the show otherwise I would have watched just for the locations!

I’m also going to pass on Moondoggie Pahonu. LOL!

[Pahonu]

Concerning the fires, Long Beach is about 35 miles south of the nearest fire. The air quality is poor here, but the reality is that everyone seems to know someone affected. My wife’s roommate from college lost her home as her whole neighborhood burned in the Palisades. A work friend had to evacuate and the same fire is nearing her home. Another friend from work’s daughter lost her home in Altadena.

It was a horrible confluence of three events that led to this, despite all the conspiracies floating around. After the past two winters of unusually heavy rain that even caused some minor flooding, vegetation grew dramatically. Then came nothing. This winter we’ve had less than 1/10th of an inch of rain and all that new vegetation has dried out leaving incredible amounts of fuel for fires.

The third element is the Santa Ana winds which are common here, but they were unusually strong, the strongest I’ve seen in my lifetime, with gusts approaching 100 mph. That’s hurricane force. So when the fires started, none of the firefighting aircraft could be used and they spread incredibly fast. In some places they were growing at a 1/4 mile every minute during the highest winds. I saw video footage that I’ve never seen before in my life: winds were blowing fire horizontally down streets, not just some embers, but massive streaks of fire! It was absolutely unreal.

No firefighting force in the world could have stopped this. Those not engaged in conspiracies are already looking at the building codes. In some neighborhoods that are completely burned, there are a handful of homes standing that were recently built to the newest fire codes. However, those codes didn’t require retrofitting of older buildings the way our earthquake codes do and now we’re sadly seeing the results.


This tragedy will likely lead to significant changes in that respect moving forward, but it’s also tragic that such events seem to be the only reason these changes ever get made, no matter the kind of natural disaster.

Sorry that got long.

[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Concerning the fires, Long Beach is about 35 miles south of the nearest fire. The air quality is poor here, but the reality is that everyone seems to know someone affected. My wife’s roommate from college lost her home as her whole neighborhood burned in the Palisades. A work friend had to evacuate and the same fire is nearing her home. Another friend from work’s daughter lost her home in Altadena.

It was a horrible confluence of three events that led to this, despite all the conspiracies floating around. After the past two winters of unusually heavy rain that even caused some minor flooding, vegetation grew dramatically. Then came nothing. This winter we’ve had less than 1/10th of an inch of rain and all that new vegetation has dried out leaving incredible amounts of fuel for fires.

The third element is the Santa Ana winds which are common here, but they were unusually strong, the strongest I’ve seen in my lifetime, with gusts approaching 100 mph. That’s hurricane force. So when the fires started, none of the firefighting aircraft could be used and they spread incredibly fast. In some places they were growing at a 1/4 mile every minute during the highest winds. I saw video footage that I’ve never seen before in my life: winds were blowing fire horizontally down streets, not just some embers, but massive streaks of fire! It was absolutely unreal.

No firefighting force in the world could have stopped this. Those not engaged in conspiracies are already looking at the building codes. In some neighborhoods that are completely burned, there are a handful of homes standing that were recently built to the newest fire codes. However, those codes didn’t require retrofitting of older buildings the way our earthquake codes do and now we’re sadly seeing the results.


This tragedy will likely lead to significant changes in that respect moving forward, but it’s also tragic that such events seem to be the only reason these changes ever get made, no matter the kind of natural disaster.

Sorry that got long.

Thank you for the above, your explanation of the three major factors is the best so far that I have read. The horror of losing EVERYTHING in one fell swoop is terrible, and when I hear of such
I immediately think back to 5th grade and the book our teacher read from every day the last half hour of school that made a deep impression on me.
It was a memoir by a Jewish Polish woman telling how when the Soviets divided up Poland with the Nazis - everybody forgets the Russians also invaded shortly after the Germans started WW 2 with
their attack - and how one day the Russians arrived.
They ordered everyone to take one suitcase, period, then they were on the train to Siberia. The despair of losing all they had in a short hour, then exile. But what has always stayed with
me was, her mother - or father, I don't recall now - making room for a family album, which the young girl thought was crazy, instead of bringing more clothes or the silverware.
And how in later years those photos of the different generations in her family was the most precious possession they had.

Being an impressionable 10 year old, I thought at the time 'what if the Communists win the Cold War, and we too are sent off, I will make sure to grab a album'.
To show just how drippy a kid I was, I made sure to secure a photo of my cat and locally renown mouser Oscar and keep it in my wallet - out went the pic of my twin sister -
just in case the enemy did make it to Jersey.

Anyway, I hope the fire evacuees first grabbed their memories instead of some object.