(Photo: Tony Zappone)
Kennedy began his speech to the crowd of about 10,000 people by talking about the significance of that first commercial air flight by pilot Tony Jannus in his plane, the Benoit, which carried a passenger or two and the mail between Tampa and St. Petersburg beginning in 1913. It wasn’t a generic speech either, it was specific and you knew somebody at the White House had given it special attention.
Once he finished, there were some remarks wrapping things up because the President had to move on. He pulled his typical security breach by springing a surprise visit to the crowd on his secret service entourage. People nearest the president, mostly youngsters, went absolutely wild. Unprepared photographers scattered for the best angles. But I pushed and shoved in my usual style and got within five feet of the president to capture several priceless images of his handshaking session.
I had to move quickly because he was due at the International Inn soon after. The International Inn was a hotel (nice for its time) on the southwest corner of Westshore Boulevard and Grand Central Avenue (now Kennedy Blvd.) which was raised more than 15 years ago to make way for another hotel, the ultra modern Sheraton Grand.