3/30/1981 page 5

 3/30/1981 page 5 by ric gustafson

John W Hinckley Jr was already awake and anxious. He noticed the light coming through the window of the hotel room. He yawned. He had only gotten an hour of sleep at the most. He glanced around Room 312 of Park Central. The room was only $47 dollars a night. Hinckley also knew he did not have much money left.

Hinckley was 25 and the son of a wealthy oil executive. From 20 to 25, he had tried to make a living in Los Angeles as a professional songwriter. When that failed, he had to move back to Evergreen Colorado to live with his parents. 

After a while, his parents had to kick him out of the house. Hinckley decided to try Los Angeles one more time. There he met a college student from New Haven Connecticut. He was crazy about her. She did not feel the same about him. When she went back home, Hinckley decided to follow her.

On a Greyhound bus, the trip lasted four days. While on the bus, Hinckley read from ' The Catcher in the Rye'. The novel was about teenage angst and alienation. Hinckley could relate with the novel's main character Holden Caulfield. Another reason Hinckley loved the book was because of Mark David Chapman. Chapman was holding the book three and a half months earlier when he shot and killed John Lennon.

Hinckley arrived in Washington DC on Sunday March 29. He was hungry and just about out of money.

research help:  ' Rawhide Down' by Del Quentin Wilber

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric