Michael Dutton Douglas

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Categories: 1945 births | 1963 deaths | People from Midland, Texas | Road accident deaths in Texas

This article incorporates material from the Wikipedia article "Michael Dutton Douglas". The list of authors can be found here.

Michael Dutton Douglas (November 16, 1945 – November 6, 1963) was the 17-year-old former friend of Laura Welch (later First Lady Laura Bush) [1] who was killed when Welch, also 17, failed to stop at a stop sign while driving and broadsided his vehicle. Welch was not ticketed or charged in connection with the collision.

Douglas and Welch were students together at Robert E. Lee High School in Midland, Texas. Douglas has been described as an active athlete, physically attractive, and intelligent. He was nominated as the school's most popular male student while a junior, an honor typically awarded only to graduating high school seniors. By some accounts, he had been Welch's boyfriend at one time.[2]

In May 2000, a two-page police report detailing the fatal crash was made public. The report revealed that on November 6, 1963, Welch was driving her Chevrolet Impala sedan with one passenger (Judy Dykes, also 17). It was a clear Wednesday night, shortly after 8 p.m., when Welch entered the intersection of State Highway 349 and Farm to Market Road 868 (now Loop 250).[3] Welch failed to observe the intersection's stop sign and collided into Douglas' Chevrolet Corvair sedan. Welch and Dykes sustained minor injuries; Douglas was pronounced dead on arrival at Midland Memorial Hospital. Welch was not charged with any offense.

The future First Lady made a brief remark in March 2000 about the crash, "I know this as an adult, and even more as a parent, it was crushing ... for the family involved and for me as well." [4]

External links and references

• Andersen, Christopher, George and Laura: Portrait of an American Marriage, Harper Collins, 2002. ISBN 0-06-621370-3, (pp. 83-94).
• Gerhart, Ann, The Perfect Wife: The Life and Choices of Laura Bush., Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-4383-8 (pp. 1-17).
• Roddy, Dennis B., "The Book on Laura Bush", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, (p. A1.)