The Ed Koch - David Goodyear Connection

Ed Koch died yesterday. He is best known as the once mayor of NYC, but for SFPS board member David Goodyear he is best known as his one-time lawyer in Laurel, Mississippi in 1964. Like other idealistic college students of the time, David had left his kush existence (at Reed College in Oregon) to take a Travelways bus clear across the country to join the Civil Rights movement in the summer of '64. He went there to join SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and register black voters. Under the leadership of SNCC activist Robert Moses, COFO (Counsel of Federated Organizations) launched the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project in 1964. Needless to say, David did not register one voter. The good ol' boys were having none of it. One day, while David was innocently buying a coke at a Texaco station... Well, let's have Ed Koch tell it... Here is an excerpt from the Voice archives - September 3, 1964, Vol. IX, No. 46, The Mississippi Front, By Edward I. Koch. "...On Friday, I returned to Laurel to assist in the trial of two more cases. This time they involved two white COFO workers, a young man and woman who had been engaged in voter registration. They had been assaulted -- thrown to the ground, kicked and beaten -- at a gas station while buying cokes. Their alleged assailant appeared in court with witnesses who testified that he had been at home during the time of the assault watching "Bonanza" on TV. The cases were dismissed." BTW, that alleged assailant was the nephew of the judge for the case (Upshaw). David was spat on in court and told "You're dead!" by KKK members. Because his picture was on the cover of the local paper, David was easily recognizable. He had to hide out in people's homes and be moved twice a night for his protection. Soon, he had to get out of town. But not before he was able to enjoy a nice dinner with invited guest Ed Koch at the Freedom House.