Word: fortson
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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DIED. Ben W. Fortson Jr., 74, Georgia's dauntless, raspy-voiced secretary of state since 1946; of a heart attack; in Atlanta. Though doctors predicted he would not live more than ten years after a crippling auto accident in 1929, "Mr. Ben" proved to be one of his state's most durable politicians, surviving numerous changes in administration during his record tenure in office. As Georgia's top election official, he was often at the volatile center of political disputes. When newly elected Governor Eugene Talmadge died in 1946 before taking office, Fortson kept pretenders...
...Professor Gale Buchanan, a plant expert at Auburn University, began editing copy for his magazine, Weeds Today. Alex Halberstadt, a construction engineer, scribbled idly on a yellow legal pad. A two-year-old child fell asleep in his mother's arms. In the rear of the plane, Alvin Fortson, 83, sat back to enjoy the ride to Orlando to see his son. But also at the rear were three blacks-Henry Jackson, 25, Lewis Moore, 27, and Melvin Cale, 21-who had no intention of going to Orlando. Jackson and Moore were wanted for suspicion of rape in Detroit...
During the early-morning hours the plane landed in Toronto, where the hijackers refused the offer of $500,000 and renewed their demand for $10 million. As the plane sped away from Toronto, this time bound for Knoxville, Tenn., Passenger Fortson had a mild seizure. Also the hijackers got into the liquor supply and drank more than 40 of the small airline bottles. By now the jetliner was being tracked by a Southern Airways Learjet and a DC-9, as well as a Navy Reserve plane with FBI agents aboard. Over Tennessee the prospects darkened; the hijackers began threatening...