After years of therapy and countless prayers, John Ray decided he finally had the emotional strength to deal with the trauma of his youth. He started a private Facebook group simply titled “Murchison/Mr. Grayson 40 Years Later” and invited former classmates and teachers to join. Ray didn’t know how his call would go down. All he knew was that he couldn’t face the past alone.
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John Ray experienced the assassination as a student of Rod Grayson
Dan Winters
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On May 18, 1978, in front of the entire class, one of his friends shot and killed teacher Wilbur “Rod” Grayson at Austin Junior High School. Ray could remember next to nothing about that day. He could remember next to nothing from the entire school year. Most of it was buried deep in his subconscious and had spread like a tumor over the years.
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Ray is now 56 years old. He lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas with his wife and three daughters. For a pastor, he’s quite unconventional. He likes to preach outdoors, wears cowboy boots, denim shirts and a Jesus-like mane. He spends most of his time providing support to traumatized people.
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At one point, he wondered if he could offer comfort to his classmates at Murchison Junior High School. And if they could give him some support in return. In February 2018 he founded the Facebook group. And waited. Some of his school friends who were in the classroom with him that morning did not respond. Others, including some who did not witness the shooting directly, thanked him for reminding them of the 40th anniversary of their teacher’s death.
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Rod Grayson’s photos from the 1978 Murchinson High yearbook
Dan Winters
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They shared their memories of Mr. Grayson: how he once took the whole class to New Orleans to see a King Tut exhibit. How he had helped them start a school newspaper. How “perceptive and interesting he was and made us think outside of the box”. One posted a 40-year-old newspaper clipping with the headline “Gifted Student Shoots Teacher.” Including the photo of her then 13-year-old classmate trying to hide his face from the cameras.
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“It was such a dramatic time,” one former student wrote, “I was on the lawn under the window when it happened.”
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“It was a pivotal moment in my life,” wrote Marilyn Eichenbaum DuVon, a fellow teacher of Grayson.
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Someone posted a graphic made by Mitsuno Baurmeister two days after the tragic event. It showed in detail who was where when the perpetrator entered the room.
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Ray was overwhelmed by the many memories. In March 2018, he told the Facebook group that he was in Austin for work a few days before the anniversary of the shooting. He asked if anyone wanted to meet him. One member of the group suggested working together
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