Jail Time For Bert Gildart
Janie has helped insure recidivism.
OXFORD, Miss. (February 22)- A fraternity chapter at the University of Mississippi was indefinitely suspended Friday by its national organization and three of its freshman members were kicked out because of their suspected involvement in hanging a noose on a statue of James Meredith, the first black student to enroll in the then all-white college.
GILDART ARRESTED
When Meredith tried to enter Ole Miss in fall 1962 (as he should have!), Mississippi’s governor tried to stop him. That led to violence on the Oxford campus. Most notably, Bert Gildart was arrested, marched down the main street of Oxford, Mississippi and simultaneously prodded in the glutei with bayonets and detained in the local jail.
A national TV station filmed the proceedings and the recording was broadcast ‘round the world. (Gildart’s proud parents saw him from an Army base in Germany, where his mother and his father — a Colonel, then — were stationed.) Later, a humiliating body search found a young Mr. Gildart to be weapon free. Four of Gildart’s academic associates were treated with equal distain.
Though Gildart had a previous arrest record and did know jail time for smuggling moonshine from the nearby Tennessee State line to Alabama’s Florence State Teacher’s College, he was able to convince authorities that he had learned his lesson. Also, Gildart was guilty of nothing other than taking pictures.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Gildart was quoted as saying. “I’ll never again engage in nefarious activities.”
It should be noted that since those days back in the ‘60s, Bert Gildart has lead a model life, devoted as he has been to his then-found Christian principles. His wife Janie has helped to perpetuate this upstanding life style.
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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS THIS TIME LAST YEAR:
*The Impossible Railroad (This could have been jail time.)
4th ed. Autographed by the Authors
Hiking Shenandoah National Park
Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.
Big Sky Country is beautiful
Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State
Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
What makes Glacier, Glacier?
Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent
Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons
$16.95 + Autographed Copy
February 24th, 2014 at 6:08 am
Aha, a sordid past is now rinsed, a half-century later, by confessing to prior criminal behavior. Am I the only person to observe the marked similarity (age, appearance, itinerant RV-er) between the perp, B. Gildart, and the notorious Whitey Bulger ?
Will law enforcement install a Denver Boot on your trailer ? Your bicycle ? Will Janie be required to perform community service for aiding and abetting a fifty year ruse, while BG masqueraded as an on-the-lam writer and wildlife photographer ?
As self-appointed judge and jury, I would issue a decree; a GPS ankle monitor for both of you. That would confuse John Law and the bounty hunters….they would have better odds finding the notorious D.B. Cooper.
February 28th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your comment strikes exactly the tone I was trying to create for a situation that was really quite serious. But I’m a slow learner so the GPS ankle monitor would be needed to prevent me from repeating “criminal” activities of the past. And now I’ve got to research Whitey Bulger. I want to see if he really lives up to expectations… Again, thanks!