Correction: Bob Jackson worked at The Gazette until his retirement in 1999.
When Bob Jackson told his parents that he wanted to pursue photography as a career, they initially tried to steer him toward a business-oriented profession.
“They thought photography would be a nice hobby,” said Jackson, 90. “But I managed to turn that hobby into a career.”
Little did they know that their son would one day earn the Pulitzer Prize for capturing one of the most iconic moments in U.S. history — Jack Ruby’s fatal shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, who had assassinated President John F. Kennedy just two days before.
There was little talk of that historic photograph on Saturday, when dozens of family members, friends and former co-workers converged at the Black Bear Distillery in Green Mountain Falls to throw a surprise birthday party for Jackson.
“It was a great party, and I was definitely surprised,” he said. “I couldn’t believe all those people showed up.”
“To people outside our circle, he’s considered a Pulitzer Prize winner who took this historic picture,” said Kelly England, Jackson’s daughter. “But to his friends, he’s just Bob. And to us kids, he’s just Daddy.”
Jackson, then a 29-year-old photographer for the Dallas Times Herald, was riding in the motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963, when President Kennedy was fatally shot. Sitting atop the back seat of a convertible several cars behind the presidential limousine, Jackson was in the process of changing film when the fatal shots rang out.
It was a moment that altered U.S. history, and Jackson had been stuck with an empty camera.
“I felt really bad about that,” he said. “I was pretty depressed. But I guess I made up for it two days later.”
On Nov. 24, Jackson was assigned to a police station to cover Oswald’s transfer to the county jail. He was standing near a police car when officers brought the suspected assassin outside.
Bob Jackson talks in The Gazette photo department in 1996 about his Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.
As he was looking at Oswald through the viewfinder of his camera, Jackson saw a figure moving into his shot, threatening to obscure his view of Oswald.
“Of course, I didn’t know who was moving,” Jackson recalls now. “I just thought someone was about to get in my way.”
A moment later, Jack Ruby fired the shot that killed Oswald, and Jackson captured the wounded man’s pained expression right after the bullet struck.
“I couldn’t have planned it any better,” Jackson said. “I guess Ruby fired — and I fired — at about the same time.”
The image earned Jackson the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. Asked where he keeps the prestigious award, he mused: “Let’s see. Where is it?”
Jackson, who lives in Manitou Springs, loaned some memorabilia and a few of his favorite photos to the city’s Heritage Center and Museum for an exhibit in 2018. His Pulitzer was among the loaned items.
“They were doing a lot of remodeling at the museum, so we brought it home,” Jackson said. “It’s around here, in a box someplace.”
The negative of the prize-winning photo is tucked away in a safe deposit box, he said.
Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Bob Jackson takes a moment to observe the room after friends, family and former colleagues surprised him for his 90th birthday at Black Bear Distillery, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Green Mountain Falls, Colo. The former Gazette photojournalist won a Pulitzer in 1964 for his image capturing the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby while working for the Dallas Times Herald. (Parker Seibold, The Gazette)
Jackson moved from Texas to Colorado in 1980 and took a job with The Gazette (then the Gazette Telegraph), where he worked until his retirement in 1999.
“I’ve loved living up here,” he said. “It’s a great place to raise kids.”
Jackson’s son, Bobby, said his dad doesn’t talk much about the historic photo — though all six of Jackson’s kids have a copy.
“He doesn’t bring it up to people, but he doesn’t have to,” said Bobby, a manager and distiller at the Black Bear.
Jackson — a race car enthusiast who counts the late automotive legend Carroll Shelby among his friends — said his life is a little slower-paced these days. But his kids say he’s as sharp as ever.
“He still drives pretty fast,” said England, Jackson’s daughter. “And even though he loves ice cream and cookies, he’s still fit as a fiddle.”
“He still loves to tell stories,” Bobby said. “He cracks everyone up — including himself.”
The Pulitzer Prize winner may yet have a few more stories to tell, he said.
“I feel pretty good for 90,” Jackson said. “I wasn’t expecting to feel as good as I do at this age.”
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