13.8.07

F I R S TP R E V609NEXTLAST

The Golden Gate Bridge from China Beach
Every few years a debate re-emerges on the possibility of installing an anti-suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Proponents point to the fact that the structure is the number one suicide site in the world, opponents declare that the barriers would be useless and ruin the beauty of the bridge. The first bridge jump took place less than three months after the bridge's construction. In May of 1937, 49-year-old Harold Wobber chatted with a tourist on the bridge then launched himself over the side. In 1955, author Weldon Kees jumped on the day his book, How to Be Happy was published. In 1977, a local minister rallied for an anti-suicide barrier with 600 of his followers, each wearing an armband with the name of a suicide victim. 18 months later that same minister, Reverend Jim Jones, and 913 of his congregation committed mass suicide in Guyana.
[ MAP E-6 ]


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