SUMMER OF LOVE
I made this picture of Groovy Hutchinson at Bellevue Hospital several hours before he was murdered.
The murder of Hutchinson and Linda Fitzpatrick ended the Summer of Love. Parents rushed to the East Village to pick up their kids who had been sleeping at crash pads or in the park. I sold the photo to The Daily News the morning after the murder. I did not take credit for the picture because I was collecting unemployment. That turned out to be a colossal mistake. The News sold the pic to The Associated Press and the image of Groovy was used around the world. I knew how to take pictures but I did not know how to negotiate.
When the cigar chomping, editor of The Daily News saw the picture of his photographers sitting in the radio car, he began to yell “Get over here! Look at this! The kid has got the picture and you assholes are sitting in the car!”
J. Anthony Lukas won a Pulitzer Prize writing about the murders. I was always surprised that Lukas never made the effort to find and interview me, considering the fact that I had spent a couple of hours with Groovy the afternoon before he was killed.
