The Inside Story (at 47)

On Saturday, my co-author Howard Kohn and I returned to the site of the former Rolling Stone office at 625 Third Street in Soma where we wrote our three-part series about the Patty Heart kidnapping 47 years ago.

And here we are in 1975 being interviewed by NBC about part one of the series, called “The Inside Story.” 

Our former colleague, Ben Fong-Torres, wrote a song about the Hearst saga and performed it at a nightclub when we were in attendance. 

In Ben’s words:
"I wrote … songs for amusement…at Rolling Stone magazine in the Seventies…at least two (of my) songs were performed. One, to the tune of Bob Dylan's Hurricane (The Ballad of Reuben Carter), celebrated the magazine's big scoop in 1975 on the Patricia Hearst/SLA kidnap and aftermath. I vaguely recall doing the song, with real musicians behind me, on a couple of occasions, including a nightclub, the Boarding House:

Doorbell rang out in the Berkeley night
Into the apartment house they burst
Knocked down Steven Weed with hardly a fight
And made their getaway with Patty Hearst!

Here comes the story of the Rolling Stone
Of David Weir and of Howard Kohn
They found the trail of Patty Hearst
And they wrote about it first."

Although Howard and I have remained close friends and colleagues to this day, and worked on countless projects together over the years, especially in Hollywood, we never actually co-authored any other major stories together after the Hearst trilogy.

And our recent visit to the old office building was one of the first times we have been back there together since the magazine left San Francisco for New York in 1977.

The same building now serves as the local headquarters for Ubisoft, the French video game company.

Today’s News (47):

1. Seven Killed in Russian Missile Strikes on Ukraine’s Lviv as Russia Steps Up Attacks (WSJ)

2. Missiles hit Lviv in Ukraine's west as Russia bombards cities (BBC)

3. Ukraine Marine commander tells Pope that Mariupol is 'what hell on earth looks like' (Fox)

4. Russia batters eastern Ukraine, but forces in Mariupol refuse to surrender (NPR)

5. In the besieged and broken city of Mariupol, Ukrainians vow a ‘fight to the end.’ (NYT)

6. US State Department: Russia's recent attacks in Ukraine show a "campaign of terror" (CNN)

7. In Ukraine’s South, Russian Occupiers Tighten the Screws (WSJ)

8. Russia bombards cities across Ukraine as attacks intensify (BBC)

9. Lethal darts were fired into a Ukrainian neighborhood by the thousands (WP)

10. Zelenskiy: Ukraine could become EU candidate within weeks (Reuters)

11. ‘They Are Gone, Vanished’: Missing Persons Haunt Ukrainian Village (NYT)

12. What Russians think of the war in Ukraine, according to an independent pollster (NPR)

13. In clash with Russia, U.S. and Europe revive Cold War ‘containment’ policy (WP)

14. Atrocities in Ukraine War Have Deep Roots in Russian Military (NYT)

15. After Russian pullback, Ukraine's northern Sumy region prepares for new assault (Reuters)

16. Russian Orthodox leader backs Ukraine war, divides faith (WP)

17. I Didn’t Think My Mother Would Escape Putin Twice (NYT)

18. US Treasury insists Russia sanctions will not fragment the global economy (Financial Times)

19. Western exodus could cost 200,000 jobs in Moscow, says mayor (CNN)

20. Russia expresses disappointment over progress of ceasefire talks (NHK)

21. The World’s Broken Promise of Asylum (NYT)

22. The nuclear missile next door (WP)

23. Patriots vs globalists replaces the left-right divide (Financial Times)

24. The End of Presidential Debates (Atlantic)

25. Florida judge voids US mask mandate for planes, other travel (AP)

26. Childhood vaccinations are lagging all around amid Covid (Politico)

27. COVID-19 lockdown tensions are exposing divisions among Shanghai residents as the city tries to return to normal life. In some cases, people are turning on their neighbors and demanding the immediate expulsion of positive cases from their compounds. Some people were refused entry into their homes after being released from quarantine, and ordered to stay in hotels. (Reuters)

28. China tries to cover lockdown strains on Shanghai’s front-line workers (WP)

29. Inside the S.F. startup trying to detect airborne coronavirus in offices (SFC)

30. BA.2 cases on the rise amid concerns about mental health (Politico)

31. Gaza militants fire rocket into Israel as tensions soar (AP)

32. Israel’s Government Faces Possible Collapse (WSJ)

33. Egypt female TikTok star jailed for three years for human trafficking (BBC)

34. 4 major shootings in the U.S. over Easter weekend (NBC)

35. Mass shooting wave rattles communities large and small in US (AP)

36. Crime is rising on public transportation across the country. (WP)

37. Police body camera footage shows a close-up view of Patrick Lyoya's pitched struggle with a cop in Michigan, but the video goes dark 42 seconds before the officer shoots the Black man in the head. Many other questions linger in the fatal shooting, which has stirred anti-police rage in Grand Rapids. [AP]

38. Alex Jones' Infowars files for bankruptcy in wake of defamation suits over his assertions that the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax (CBS)

39. Donald Trump's effort to overthrow democracy and the resulting criminal investigations encircling him have done nothing to dim the ardor of Republicans falling all over themselves to win his endorsement. Candidates for Congress, governor and even state offices are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into Trump's cash registers as they seek his endorsement — notwithstanding his own defeat and failed attempt to remain in power. [HuffPost]

40. Cutting-Edge Crypto Coins Tout Stability. Critics Call Them Dangerous. (WSJ)

41. Florida rejects 41% of new math textbooks, citing critical race theory among its reasons (CNN)

42. Text messages from GOP Sen. Mike Lee and Rep. Chip Roy to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows showed they plotted with other high-ranking Republicans to overturn Trump's 2020 election defeat, right up until the Capitol riot. That's when they started fretting that things could "backfire badly," as Lee wrote. [HuffPost]

43. Abortion training under threat for med students, residents (AP)

44. FAS: The ‘Forever Chemicals’ You Couldn’t Escape if You Tried (NYT)

45. One fan’s search for seeds of greatness in Bob Dylan’s hometown (WP)

46. MLB Power Rankings: The Giants and Dodgers look like the two best teams in baseball (again) (CBS)

47. While spiders are indeed scary creatures, any links between them and critical race theory remain tenuous at best. (The Onion)

 David Weir and Howard Kohn return to the Rolling Stone office at 625 Third Street where we wrote the Patty Heart stories 47 years ago...

The two reporters 47 years ago being interviewed by NBC for "The Today Show."

Our former colleague, Ben Fong-Torres, wrote a song about that story and performed it at least once in a nightclub when we were in attendance. 

Here is his memory:
"I wrote the songs for amusement; this was decades before radio shows concocted and aired parody songs every morning. But at Rolling Stone magazine in the Seventies, I continued my little hobby, and at least two songs were performed. One, to the tune of Bob Dylan's Hurricane (The Ballad of Reuben Carter), celebrated the magazine's big scoop in 1975 on the Patricia Hearst/SLA kidnap and aftermath. I vaguely recall doing the song, with real musicians behind me, on a couple of occasions, including a nightclub, the Boarding House:

Doorbell rang out in the Berkeley night
Into the apartment house they burst
Knocked down Steven Weed with hardly a fight
And made their getaway with Patty Hearst!

Here comes the story of the Rolling Stone
Of David Weir and of Howard Kohn
They found the trail of Patty Hearst
And they wrote about it first."

***

These many years later, Howard and I recognize that it was one of the biggest moments in both of our careers. Although we have remained close friends and colleagues, we never actually co-authored any other stories after the three Hearst articles 47 years ago.