When I first met the guy, he seemed like an interesting farmer. We stopped because I wanted to ask him what he thought about the accident. Three Mile Island had experienced problems with its nuclear power generating system. There was a radiation leak, supposedly. That was March 1979. Now it was November and what happened was still kept from the public.
A little back story: I was active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce for years before being hired by the national Jaycees organization. I was brought on as managing editor of Future magazine, the group’s membership publication. I started on October 1, 1979 and let my boss, Stephen T. Coury, know I would be getting married in November. That would take place back home in Wisconsin, not in Tulsa, Oklahoma where I had re-located .
Steve was okay with me taking a leave so soon after being hired…but not as vacation. We came up with a plan. I would attend the Pennsylvania Jaycees governmental affairs leadership seminar in Harrisburg. It would give me experience in the field as a staff officer To do more than report on the meeting, though, Three Mile Island was on the Susquehanna River, just like Harrisburg. One of the state officers showed me around and I took what pictures I could.
This was one of them.
The old farmer was outgoing. He opened up to my questions about the accident. His main concern was about the selenium supposedly released. He swore it was contaminating his cows and water. I asked if he would mind if I took his picture with the TMI cooling towers in the background. As you may be able to tell from the image, he was proud to do it. His field and tractor composed what I consider a rarely seen image of humanity in its struggle with technology. Kind of like a coffin. Or corn stalks and exhaust pipes in line with death’s towers. Photo of a lifetime.
The rest of the plan was for me to fly home to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania, get married to the love of my life over Thanksgiving weekend, and be back to work at headquarters the Tuesday after.
