THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT Nancy Kurshan shows off her American-flag rolling paper

What was the most memorable incident?
Peck A gas-station attendant, freaked by all the people running out of the park and across his fueling area—or maybe expressing his politics—breaking a running demonstrator’s arm with a baseball bat.
Rose The Tuesday night in front of the Hilton where the police lined up along the park to “protect” the hotel from demonstrators—and the police were replaced by armed National Guardsmen who emerged from these Jeeps covered with barbed wire.
Katz The first [night] in Lincoln Park, when the phalanx of tear gas–loaded fire trucks and police came west across the park, aiming their full force at the unprepared revelers.
Schultz The Amphitheatre was just in chaos. [Journalists and delegates] were all pushing out of the aisles to go to the television sets in order to watch what was happening outside. They were seeing scenes like this guy in a jacket and tie fighting, flailing with his fists, without any care for his life, and the cops going at him with a club. And that sort of thing threw the whole nomination proceedings into, well, more than chaos.

Did your participation lead to any difficulties or consequences?
James There’s a photograph of me trying to tip over a paddy wagon. When they had the Democratic Convention here [in 1996], I did 37 interviews after they ran it in USA Today.
Kurshan [Here’s an anonymous] letter to my parents, sent in 1970: “There’s no limit to this deceit, degeneracy and immorality of the kike… Your daughter is…a true dropping of the tribe—a Commie whore… Here’s hoping that all of you liberal swine join the late, unlamented bomb maker”—and that was Teddy Gold, the Weatherman who was killed in the townhouse—“ASAP.”
Schultz At Columbia [College], it played in my favor. [But] my studio was broken into…papers thrown around, torn, upside down, etc.
Rose It’s been nothing but positive for me. I had a very successful career as a political consultant. I was made into somewhat of a media character.
Katz I probably have the longest arrest record of anyone here. But…I became a writer and filmmaker. I did Harold Washington’s campaign. The start of my business was all built on the skills that I found in 1968. For me, the ’60s were [about going] from a little fluff-headed [Sak’s Fifth Avenue] model to a woman who could think, write, act, organize and start a revolution.
Peck I’m with the other folks. I didn’t know that I was learning a trade while I was trying to topple the world, but it worked out pretty well.

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