Summary Of Voice Of Buses Past By Jim Lehrer

Jim Lehrer, bus enthusiast, news reporter and editor, and television anchor, has lots of memorable stories in his autobiography. From his time as a reporter, to the Kennedy assassination, to his heart attack, to defining and refining national television. However, the last major story in his autobiography, and likely the biggest, gives the book it's title: A Bus of My Own. Mr. Lehrer describes how the “Voice of Buses Past” had come, to tell him to go buy a bus, and that's just what he did.

Finding a bus to buy was actually quite simple and painless, compared to his hunts for bus signs from American, and Dixie-Sunshine. The bus in question was a 1946 Flxible Clipper, located about a six hour drive from their home in West Virginia, and at a

Lehrer had never driven a bus before. It makes sense, but even so comes as a slight shock to someone who has read the autobiography and understands his obsession with everything bus-related. While he was learning, it seemed uncertain exactly what condition the bus would come out in, especially when Mr. Lehrer grabbed the wrong emergency

When he tried to start the engine again, it didn't work. My hypothesis is that the engine didn't have any fuel to burn (it was all in the tank and maybe half-way through the pipes to the engine), so it couldn't start itself, or a pump (If there was one). This answer would be even more relevant because it's much less likely that bus engineers from 43 years prior (70 as of 2016) had figured out a solution to such a problem. Eventually, Mr. Lehrer finds two truck repair men who pull the bus to jump-start it's motor.

The remainder of his journey was relatively uneventful. No scratched paint, no arrests, no more gas stops. At the end of his journey, however, he was terrified to turn off “Betsy II”'s engine, for fear that it would not start again. Nonetheless, he did it, and immediately tested it again. It turned on, and Mr. Lehrer hasn't figured out since, what made it fail to