Letters: Whistle Stop Merits a Skyrocket Cheer

Your article “Hail to the Chief” [News & Notes, Winter 2010] brought back memories of my freshman year at the UW. The October 1948 visit of President Truman was part of his famous “whistle stop” train trip across the country during his 1948 reelection campaign. I was there with thousands of others when the president stepped out onto the stage and we burst out with “Ssssssss boom ahhh, Harry” [the traditional university “skyrocket” cheer most commonly associated with economics professor “Wild Bill” Kiekhofer].

When the Ssssssing started, he stepped back with a startled look on his face. When he heard “Harry,” he was all smiles and said, “Thank you, thank you.”

Ernest Goodman ’52 Sherman Oaks, California

Published in the Spring 2011 issue