Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

Help Wish Harlow Hickenlooper Happy Birthday

May 11, 2017 | by Al Hunter

Consider this a call to arms to all fans of Circle City children’s TV programs past. Hal Fryar, better known as Harlow Hickenlooper to generations of Hoosier Baby Boomers, is turning 90 this month. Hal has been feeling a little under the weather lately, so I’m asking for a favor … Read More

The Speedway Motel

May 4, 2017 | by Al Hunter

This article is a reprint from 2010 On February 19, 2009, demolition crews knocked down the final wall of the 96 room Indianapolis Motor Speedway Motel, a.k.a. Brickyard Crossing Inn, which was closed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in December of 2008. They knocked it down so fast that race … Read More

The Lorraine Motel: Prelude and Aftermath, Part 2

April 27, 2017 | by Al Hunter

On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying in room 306 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Dr. King traveled to the river city in support of striking African-American city sanitation workers. King had gone out onto the balcony and was standing near his room when … Read More

The Lorraine Motel. Prelude and Aftermath, Part 1

April 20, 2017 | by Al Hunter

History just happens. Often, history is well planned, scheduled and expected. The history I have always found most appealing is that which was unplanned, unscheduled and unexpected. Examples: Gettysburg, Woodstock, and Robert F. Kennedy’s April 4, 1968 speech in Indianapolis. True, the soldiers were gonna fight, the bands were gonna … Read More

John Brisker: An ABA Enigma Revisited

April 13, 2017 | by Al Hunter

Recently, I was contacted by producer John O’Connor from NBA-TV’s “Beyond the Paint” basketball docuseries. The inquiry stemmed from a two-part article I had written awhile back about John Brisker. Known as the “Heavyweight Champion of the ABA,” Brisker stood out in a league full of standouts. Brisker, a 6’5” … Read More