By Aileen McElroy
Ellen Fitzpatrick, author of Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation will read from her newly released paperback at Porter Square Books this Wednesday.
Fitzpatrick, a University of New Hampshire History professor and scholar in modern American political and intellectual history as well as frequent contributor to The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer has written and edited six historical works.
The idea for her latest book sprouted while the Newton author conducted research on a separate project at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) library in Dorchester.
“I wanted to find out how Americans saw John F. Kennedy in his own time, how JFK was perceived in the moment of his presidency by Americans and not from the perceptions of pundits and reporters,” said Fitzpatrick.
As an 11-year-old, growing up in Amherst, Mass., Fitzpatrick remembers watching Jackie thank the country for the outpouring of condolences letters on television seven weeks after her husband’s assassination.
Through reading these same condolence letters addressed to the First Wife, the historian found answers to her questions concerning Americans’ immediate views of John F. Kennedy.
Within the JFK Library, Fitzpatrick sifted through more than a million sympathy letters to Jackie — typewritten letters, embossed letters, letters written on scrap paper in pencil that were sent from all corners of the globe.
“It was amazing, how rich a collection it was,” Fitzpatrick said.
She set aside the more than 15,000 letters from Americans, reading each note and selecting 250 letters to publish in Letters to Jackie
“I was looking for letters that said something beyond what all of them said of being sorry,” explained Fitzpatrick. “I was looking for letters that in some way revealed something about the country at the time.”
The selected array of letter writers includes a varied cross-section of the nation from famed Americans poet Langston Hughes and General Douglas MacArthur to a Seattle school teacher, a Michigan postal worker and a New Bedford fisherman.
One letter was delivered to Jackie via telegram from a Mrs. E. Scott Flint of Michigan, an African-American housewife who wrote of the hope the president gave her after she heard his powerful civil rights speech. Another letter is written by a Chicagoan who observed that the greatest need in the country at that moment was not huge armies, large stores of gold, bigger ships and tall buildings but fine men like the President.
The book of unedited letters and Fitzpatrick’s accompanying commentary is divided into three parts — Americans’ memories of November 22, 1963, political views and personal expressions on grief and loss.
“They are thoughtful letters reflecting the state of the country at the time,” said Fitzpatrick. “I hope that readers can get a feel of the sense of decency and wisdom that Americans had in this period of time, after the assassination, that is evident in these letters.”
Letters to Jackie is dedicated to Mary Callahan Fitzpatrick, the author’s mother.
“My mother was a great fan of President Kennedy,” Fitzpatrick said. “She was a great believer of the ideals JFK expressed for his country. My mother is now almost 90 years old and she is a great influence on me. I wanted to thank her.”
Fitzpatrick will read from Letters to Jackie and sign books at Porter Square Books Wednesday, October 5 at 7 pm. and at the Belmont Public Library on Tuesday, October 11 at 7:30 pm.
For more information, visit ellenfitzpatrick.net
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