Brooklyn Today for July 8
Good morning. Today is the 189th day of the year. On this day in 1902, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a well-dressed woman jumped off a Brooklyn-bound ferryboat soon after it left its dock on East 23rd Street in Manhattan. An employee of the ferryboat company, who was traveling as a passenger on the ride, noticed the woman “acting suspiciously” and getting up on the rail, but before he could reach her, she jumped overboard. Fortunately, someone who was sailing on a nearby yacht jumped into the river and tried to save her, although the Eagle didn’t make it clear whether she survived.
Later, investigators found that she had left a suicide note taped to the ferryboat. She was Katherine Rolston Fisher of Remsen Street, an occasional writer for the New York Evening Post (now the New York Post) and the author of a cookbook for students. An empty bill bottle was found nearby.
Well-known people who were born today include actor Billy Cruddup, actress Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”), singer Steve Lawrence and Alyce Faye Wattleton, former director of Planned Parenthood.