It has been ages since I've done a book related post - though I haven't stopped reading. In fact, over the last few years I have used a fun little site, Shelfari, to keep track of what I have read as well as to scope out items for my to-be-read list. (Shelfari isn't the prettiest site nor the most tech savvy but I have enjoyed the 50-Book Challenge group in particular as a resource - if you decide to check it out.)
So, in the new year, as we revamp Camper a little bit, I thought I would restart the book club. I enjoy reading for a number of reasons - broadening my horizons, escaping day-to-day life, marveling in the beauty of the English language (at least when left to a more artful writer). Another reason is the window a good book offers to reflect on life. Such was the case with my latest literary endeavor.
I think I have mentioned here before the fact that I am a serious Kennedy fan. My dorm was covered in Kennedy prints, last fall during our trip to Boston I realized a long dream of visiting Kennedy's birthplace and the Kennedy library. My history thesis was on Kennedy. I have read dozens of books about the entire family. From the age of roughly 13 I was bound and determined to name my daughter Kennedy (and then I married a man named Johnson and decided that was just too dorky!) But I digress . . . . The point is when the new book written from the perspective of Kennedy's Secret Service Agents came out it was a no-brainer present that thankfully my mom didn't disappoint in getting for me at Christmas.
As I read the chilling (literally - there were several times I had goose bumps all over) account of what the men charged with protecting Kennedy endured those dark days after Dallas I was struck by several thoughts. On the one hand I finished this book just as news was breaking of last weekend's shootings in Arizona - talk about spooky timing. The events in AZ and the completion of The Kennedy Detail left me amazed at what we ask our leaders to risk and to give up every day.
My day job brings me in contact with government officials on a daily basis. And in an age when partisan bickering is enough to turn the most politically minded off, and when society's level of trust in government is at an all-time low, working with elected officials can be very disheartening. (As it was when I watched an elected official who is notoriously wacky ask Gwen Ifill where her family came from. She answered Barbados and he then asked how they got there. With great poise Ifill flatly responded "I'm pretty sure on a slave ship." And yes, this man of great wisdom and discretion has been elected multiple times.) So, when witnessing things like that one can understand why public approval of all elected officials is so low.
But, I am also fortunate enough to meet and get to know the finest of those individuals called to public service. Those who inspire and who are willing to take the constant criticism and the time away from their family and the long hours doing an often thankless job because they believe in our form of government and want to help make our country better. As I finished The Kennedy Detail and watched the unfolding horror of what happened to Rep. Giffords, I was struck anew of how lucky we are that there are good people willing to sacrifice - literally everything - to make our world a better place.
And so this is my long-winded way of highly recommending The Kennedy Detail. As a history buff it was a book I couldn't put down. Even if you aren't a Kennedy-nut or a history major like myself, it's an amazing view into an event that stopped time and from a perspective that has not been told before.
K




















