Customer Reviews

Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Great book, highly recommend it. I am very grateful for the opportunity to read these letters, expressing the thoughts and feelings of these letter writers. The unqualified heartfelt expressions of empathy and sympathy reminded me of a time when people were not filled with hate and judgment about an indivdual's character flaws, puplically rejoicing in a person's faults, but instead chose to speak about that part of the individual's character which was truly great, because either it was real, which in this case it was, or believed, or had instilled inspiration, or just because it was the right thing to say, to offer strength to those in a state of mourning and to share in that mourning.

This may be one of the most important books for this era. The book transcends all generations. Baby boomers will be reminded how a nation united under tragedy. The younger generation will fully understand what the death of JFK meant to the nation, young, old, educated, uneducated, rich and poor. MS. Fitzpatrick has done a fantastic job of bridging the generational gap. The reader will also come away with the disturbing knowledge that we now have destroyed the English language with our wonderful technology. When a convicted felon's letter reads like exquisite poetry, it makes one wonder. To read one letter draws you into the next and the next. I loved it.

I also wonder, if this incident had occurred now, would the nation take the time to write letters of condolence to a First Lady? How do you "text" a condolence letter? Would anyone bother to "write" a letter.

Lyn Roberts

Letters to Jackie is a book that will surprise many readers for many personal reasons. Most people do not realize how many Americans took the time to write a condolence letter to the First Lady. Politically, not every letter was written by people that agreed with JFK's politics, but the humanness of the loss was overwhelming and people ignored their politics. It's an important book for younger readers as well as it fills in large gaps of history that many have never encountered in school. They will experience through these letters a sense of hope and love for this man as a humanitarian. JFK affected ALL Americans in a profound manner- poor and rich, young and old. You will see this vividly when reading the letters' outpouring.

A must have for any Kennedy collector. The letters to Jackie are raw, emotional, and riveting. I was particularly touched by the letters written to her from those who had seen she and President Kennedy on that tragic Friday. This is an important addition to the many books that have been written about both the Kennedy presidency and assassination. What is truly amazing is the effort and dedication by Mrs. Kennedy's staff and volunteers as they spent so many months categorizing and acknowledging each letter.

This is what I wrote to family and friends about this book.

In October 2009, I received a phone call from Sarah Little. She said she was trying to connect with people who wrote to Mrs. John F. Kennedy. She asked, "Did you write a letter to her?" I said, "I wasn't sure that I had." Then she started reading what she had in front of her. I realized quickly that it was something I had written. We had a nice talk and I thought no more about it. A few weeks later, I received a letter from Mary Dalton-Hoffman. She told me a little more about the project and included a copy of my letter, a bio of Ellen Fitzpatrick, and a copy of the letter attached to a release form that she wanted me to sign and return. Still not willing to believe this was real, I sent the contract to my daughter, Linda, who is a lawyer. She saw no reason why I shouldn't sign it, but gave me some questions to ask. So I called Mary and asked the questions and still forgot about it. Then I received a couple of calls and said, "Yes, my letter could be used." Still more time passed and I got another call asking me to please sign the release. Then, she sent another copy of the release. Finally on January 5, 2010, Mary received my release. I wondered about the book. Then I received something from Amazon saying that there was a new book coming out March 7 called "Letters to Jackie" by Ellen Fitzpatrick. Last Thursday, March 11, 2010, I received my autographed copy of the book. My husband looked for my letter and found it. It takes up over 2 pages in the book. There is also a short bio. Over 1.5 million letters had been sent. About 250 letters were chosen to be included in the book. They are from all walks of life. Some were written by children, Negroes, people from other countries, a convicted felon, and even a wire from General Douglas MacArthur. It's really quite exciting to realize that I am included in the book. Although, I haven't had time to read the whole book, what I have read has been quite interesting. In a review at Amazon, Lyn Roberts says, "... To read one letter draws you into the next and the next. I loved it. I also wonder, if this incident had occurred now, would the nation take the time to write letters of condolence to a First Lady? How do you "text" a condolence letter? Would anyone bother to "write" a letter."

I guess I have to say, I still write letters, but now I email them to family and friends. I found the letters were woven together beautifully. The book stirs up so many memories of the time. Although the book is not an easy read, I find it a good perspective of that time in history.

I received this book as part of the early reviewers program from [...]. I couldn't wait to read it as I remember what I was doing and where I was when this event happened. I was effected by this tragic time in our history as many others were. As I read the letters I was once again transported back to that time when so many of us cried as our televisions were on and we could not stop watching the events unfold right in front of us. The letters reflect many different things about that time in history. One letter that I was amazed at is on page 107 and was written by "A Negro Who beleave In God" and in part it reads "In the next Forty to Forty-Five Year A Negro from Louisiana will be come President of United States of American" - he got the state wrong but the rest is true. This book really tells how far we have come in improving our great nation. I would definitely recommend this book as a must read.

Yesterday, my genealogy society hosted a program given by Sarah Thorson-Little, a well known Northwest Genealogist. The talk was about how she was given the task of finding, within about three months, the authors of some 200 or so of these letters or their descendants in order to obtain releases for the letters to appear in print. She was able to do so and her discussion of how she did this was fascinating. Sarah was responsible for adding the bits of bio about the letter writers at the end of the book.

From the letters Sarah read to us, I can unequivocably recommend this book to everyone!

Time stopped. For 3 days. No one living then can ever forget the feeling - the country seemed to stop breathing. I was 14 and Jackie, Carolyn & John John were in my thoughts but I didn't write to them. Thank goodness so many others did. Some of the stories are riviting. These letters, especially the way they are arranged, captures that unbelievable time perfectly from moment to moment. This is an important historical work for those too young to have lived through it, too.

Ellen Fitzpatrick has earned my respect from the limited appearances she has made on The News Hour (PBS). So when I read that she had written this book, I knew it would be handled with that balance of scholarship and humaneness that Dr. Fitzpatrick exhibits. It is a beautifully written book. And I agree with another review posted here: this is a book that will be read and appreciated for decades.

On November 22, 1963, I was teaching an English 10A class at Laconia (New Hampshire) High School that afternoon. It was my first year of teaching. And the bell to end the class and the school day would ring in approximately ten minutes when the principal came over the intercom with the news the would paralyze all of us. I recall leaving that classroom when normally the corridors would be buzzing with end-of-the-week student clamor. No one spoke. It was so silent. And then for four days we watched on black-and-white television as this President so many of us almost worshipped was memorialized. And I too wrote a letter to Jackie.

Dr. Fitzpatrick's voice is minimal except for the fact that it is not because she has selected letters so carefully and arranged them so strategically that they carry the historical moment profoundly in the voice of the historian.

The book captures at least what I felt. What I still feel and is a book that I will be giving as a gift to several people.

The title of my review is an excerpt from a particularly beautiful and compassionate letter from another widow, Helen Milano, to Jacqueline Kennedy, dated January 13, 1964. (Mrs. Milano's husband, a lawyer, was shot and killed by a client in April of 1963.)

Mrs. Milano goes on to tell Mrs. Kennedy:

"For me, nine months have gone by, and I still cry in

my pillow every night. Though I could not understand

why this should happen to my husband... I felt that

somewhere, somehow I would find the strength and the

courage to face reality. But thus far, my depression

was very great. I spent many hours with my priest and

he constantly told me that God would show me the way.

And then, while watching your sweet face, day after

day, I suddenly knew that God had chosen your courage

and tremendous faith to show me the way. Whenever my

day is bad and little on the depressing side, I think

of you, and say a Hail Mary for your husband and mine,

and the day seems to be a little less depressing.

God certainly moves in mysterious ways, for suddenly

'He' showed me the way through you, dear gracious,

humble and courageous Lady."

(I think the words Mrs. Milano uses to describe Mrs. Kennedy are just as applicable to Mrs. Milano.)

It's because of letters like this that this is a wonderful book. With what grief, respect and care these writers attempted to allievate Mrs. Kennedy's sorrow, and their own. Reading these letters really does give a reader born after 1963 a window into the emotions of the public and something of the visceral impact of the Kennedy assassination.

So why did I give this book four stars?

The letters are bordered with commentary from the author, Ellen Fitzpatrick. At page 201 Ms. Fitzpatrick states:

"It is hard to recall today that the culture of self-

revelation and public confession that is so much a

part of contemporary America did not exist in that

period. (...) The world of manners then stressed

propriety, decorum, and deference. _Many considered

rectitude, reserve, and reticence as virtues rather

than regrettable vestiges of repression one ought

to strive to overcome._"

That last sentence to me is Ms. Fitzpatrick's personal thrust into an otherwise affecting and well-edited collection of letters. I'll grant that some people may be reserved or reticent to the point of needing to overcome. But it's unfair for this imperceptive and insulated history professor to indicate these three traits are regrettable in every instance, or that they can't be virtues. I certainly don't believe that integrity, restraint and discretion -synonyms for rectitude, reserve, and reticence- are merely: "vestiges of repression" that ought to be overcome. I, for "one", could really do without the vomiting of out-of-control emotions - anger, prejudice, and "Too Much Information" that I see every day, just from switching on a TV or from reading "comments" sections in newspapers, or online. The writers of these letters, Mrs. Milano and the others, don't fall into this category - for all their emotion, they are gracious, thoughtful, and yes, restrained - just wanting to be consoled and to console.

Ironically, Jacqueline Kennedy, during those four intense days of national grief, was a model for the virtues of "rectitude, reserve and reticence" and probably would have been the last person to think that these qualities are regrettable.