Project Recalls Birmingham Teens' Lives Ended by Drunken Driver

BIRMINGHAM, MI – A Birmingham woman whose brother was one of three Seaholm High School students killed on Jan. 16, 1965, when their car was struck by a drunken driving is involved in a project she hopes will bring closure to friends and families of the victims a half century after their deaths.

Nancy Henderson, whose brother, Roger “Roddy” Henderson, was driving four of his friends home from a pizza date on the fateful night, is asking those interviewed for a book about the crash — Jack Torry’s “Henderson’s Light” — to sign a copy to be presented to the Birmingham Historical Museum, The Birmingham Eccentric reports.

Torry was living in Birmingham when the crash occurred and returned 40 years later to revisit the people whose lives were forever changed by the crash, according to the book’s description on Amazon.com. He interviewed more than 100 people.

“I’ve been in touch with so many people because of this book,” Nancy Henderson told The Eccentric. “We just thought it would be an important tribute to have ... and it’s also an opportunity to see some people who I haven’t seen in over 40 years.”

Among those she’s reconnected with are the sisters of her brother’s girlfriend, Barbara “Peachie” Barnum, who was also killed. The other teen who died in the 1965 crash was Sandy Christman.

» You can read more about the project and the lives snuffed out by the drunken driver on Hometownlife.com.