David Lifton Oral History

David Lifton passed away on December 6, 2022. Growing up in Dallas in the 1980s, immersed in the Kennedy assassination, I was familiar with author David Lifton from an early age. The 1988 paperback release of Best Evidence was perhaps the first assassination title that I anticipated prior to publication, knowing that the new edition would include some of the startling and controversial autopsy photographs. I have a vivid memory of getting the book with my mother at a local bookstore right when it was published and my nine-year-old self being both horrified and fascinated. I suppose I still have that type of reaction when confronted with those deeply disturbing images. I remember that my mom and I bought two copies because we were somehow convinced that the book might be recalled or banned. I also recall getting the companion documentary on VHS in 1990 and being fascinated by the interviews, not realizing that I would spend more than twenty years recording similar oral history interviews, including sessions with some of the same people featured in the video.

I first encountered David professionally around 2008 when he reached out with an oral history inquiry. We connected via phone and e-mail from time to time, and I always enjoyed hearing from him. Just over ten years after I first mentioned the possibility of recording his oral history, he finally agreed to this lengthy, two-part session in 2019. He took this oral history very seriously, wanting it to be as "definitive" as possible in documenting his interest and long association with the assassination story. And it was my great pleasure to spend that time with him, reflecting back on the emotional impact the images of Best Evidence had on me some thirty years earlier. - Stephen Fagin, Curator