Hobart College - Echo of the Seneca Yearbook (Geneva, NY)

Page 32 text:

 On October 5, Victor Riesel, crusading; labor ml umnist, was permanently blinded by an acid-throw- ing assailant. The incident aroused angry public reac- tion. Soon the main figures behind the assatilt were un- covered. President Eisen- hower promised to begin an attack upon the underworld infiltration of unions. And so it appears that an at- tempt to protect racketeer unions has resulted in the focusing of public attention upon them. 1956 saw the death of John Florence Sullivan, better known as E'red Allen. He began his career in the 1920’s as a vaudeville come- dian and juggler, but was soon topping radio popu- larity polls in his famous show, “Allen’s Alley.’’ more recently he turned to writing. His autobiography, Treadmill to Oblivion, was a best-seller. Much Ado About Me, his last book, was pub- lished posthumously. Be- fore his death, Allen was panelist on What’s My Line?” But he never felt at ease in the medium of tele- vision and had tried unsuc- cessfully to establish a TV program. With his death we have lost not only a great comedian, but a wry and acute commentator upon the American scene. 1 I I I : .‘52

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I f PRESLEY Elvis (“The pelvis’’) Presley first rock-and-rolled his way into public recog- nition with his hit record, “Heartbreak Hotel.” Since then his success has sky- rocketed—in less than a year he sold over six million records. As well known for his hip-rolling style as for his voice, he has become the idol of teenagers, the bane of civic leaders. In the course of just a few months he has been barred from several cities, indirectly caused thousands of dollars worth of theater damage, and (shades of Frank Sina- tra) lost not a few suits to teen-age souvenir hunters. Unperturbed by what ap- pears to some as a social up- heaval, Elvis has continued making records, appear- ances, movies and money. 31

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The biggest thing in ’56 baseball was young Mickey Mantle. The twenty-five year-old ball player led the major leagues in just about everything. He had, for the second consecutive year, the highest slugging per- centage in both leagues-- 705 or 376 bases for 533 times at bat. He also led in batting (.353), runs batted in (130), and home runs (52—eight short of Ruth’s famed record). This makes Mantle the fourth player in major league history to lead both leagues in these three catagories at once. It is fairly obvious, then, that one of Mickey’s many a- wards was the “Most Valu- able Player of 1956.” i 33