Ruth Paine

Ruth Hyde Paine (born 1933?) was a friend of Marina Oswald, who was living with her at the time of the JFK assassination. Lee Harvey Oswald stored his Mannlicher-Carcano rifle in her garage without her knowledge.

Paine was born Ruth Avery Hyde, daughter of William Avery Hyde of Nationwide Insurance and a leading figure in the field. She went to Antioch College and became a Quaker. Through her interest in folk dancing and music, she met her future husband, Michael Paine, a member of the Forbes family. Though strickly speaking not a Quaker, Michael Paine attended meetings with Ruth. They married on December 28, 1957.

In 1959, Michael Paine got a job with Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas and the Paines moved into a house in the suburb of Irving. As liberals in Dallas, the Paines were isolated, and Ruth Paine was quite lonely.

Ruth Paine had studying Russian since 1957. In the late 50s she participated in Quaker pen pal programs and the "East-West Contact Committee" which sponsored the travel of three Soviets to the US. In 1963, she even signed up to teach a summer class in Russian at St. Mark's School in Dallas, though only one student signed up. (That student, William Hootkins, became an actor and appeared in a minor role in the movie Star Wars as X-Wing pilot Jek Porkins.)

It was through her interest in Russian that she met the Oswalds. A friend she met in a singing group, Everett Glover, invited her to a party on February 22, 1963 because he thought she’d be interested in meeting some guests who spoke Russian. The Paines and the Oswalds spent much time together after the party. Ruth befriended Marina, though Lee was more distant, despite Ruth and Michael's efforts, and the Paines did not care for him much.

Ruth Paine drove Marina Oswald to New Orleans when the Oswalds moved there and back to Dallas when they moved again. (Lee Oswald took the bus.) When the Oswalds settled in Dallas again, Marina and the Oswald children moved in with Ruth Paine while Lee stayed in a boarding house under the name O.H. Lee. Marina helped with the housework and Ruth’s Russian studies while Lee visited on weekends. By this time, Michael and Ruth Paine had separated, though their divorce was amicable and Michael was a frequent visitor. At a suggestion from a neighbor, Ruth Paine told Lee Oswald about a job opportunity at the Texas School Book Depository.

After the assassination, Marina and Lee Oswald's mother Marguerite stayed with Ruth Paine until Marina was taken into custody by the Secret Service. Marguerite and Lee's brother Robert did not like Ruth Paine upon meeting her and their dislike may have influenced Marina Oswald. They thought Paine sought attention for herself, an opinion Marina would later express before the Warren Commission. Ruth wrote to Marina incessantly, with letters that took an almost desperate tone, but received no response except for a Christmas card. They met briefly in 1964, but afterwards they would never see each other again. Paine heard news of Marina Oswald through the author Priscilla Johnson McMillan until McMillan’s relationship with Marina was broken off in the early 1980s.

Perhaps some of the reason for the break was that Paine was indirectly responsible for the discovery that Lee Oswald had attempted to assassinate General Edwin Walker in early 1963. Along with letters, Paine repeatedly send Marina Oswald pictures and various items. One of those was a thick book of household advice in Russian which belonged to Marina. However, Marina had concealed within the book the note (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/walkernote1.jpg) left by Lee Oswald for Marina the day he attempted to kill Walker. When the authorities discovered the note, they thought Paine was involved, but quickly realized what the note was. Previously, no one knew who Walker’s would-be assassin was, and Marina had not volunteered that information.

Ruth Paine testified before the Warren Commission and has been interviewed by a number of authors, including Johnson, William Manchester, Gerald Posner, and appeared in numerous documentaries and even a mock trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. She testified in Jim Garrison's trial of Clay Shaw. Surprisingly, Paine was not called to testify before the House Select Committee on Assassinations, despite the fact that the HSCA tracked down a number of less significant witnesses like the "Umbrella Man".

While discussions of her in mainstream press and publications have generally been kind, conspiracy theorists often paint the Paines in a negative light, attempting to connect them to various conspiracies, even going back generations, as Michael Paine’s relatives and ancestors held important government or business positions. In Oliver Stone's JFK, the Paines are depicted as "Bill and Janet Williams". As most of the names in the movie have not been changed, it has been suggested that they were renamed to avoid potential legal action.

Ruth Paine returned to Pennsylvania and became principal of a Quaker school. She soon moved to St. Petersburg, Florida and got a master’s degree in psychology at the University of South Florida. After working for the school system in Franklin County in the Florida Panhandle, she returned to St. Petersburg and worked for the Hillsborough County, Florida school system until her retirement. She is active in Quaker and liberal charities and organizations and lives in St. Petersburg today.

Further reading

• Thomas Mallon, Mrs. Paine's Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy. ISBN 0375421173.
• Priscilla Johnson McMillan, Marina and Lee. ASIN 0060129530.

External links

• Excerpt from Mrs. Paine's Garage (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/garage.htm)
• The JFK 100: One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK: "Bill and Janet Williams" (http://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100paines.html)
• Paine’s letter to Jim Garrison (http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/paine_letter.htm)
• St. Petersburg Times: Protesting war, a few dollars at a time (http://www.sptimes.com/2004/04/15/Floridian/Protesting_war__a_few.shtml)