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Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg
- Thread starter alicia753
- Start date
BaroqueRockstar
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she's very classy american looking
i don't think her style is that impressive...
she's the one who wrote the patriot's handbook right? t*ts a great compilation of material
i don't think her style is that impressive...
she's the one who wrote the patriot's handbook right? t*ts a great compilation of material
The Kennedy family Forum
'Sweet Caroline' was Caroline Kennedy
By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES - Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit "Sweet Caroline."
"I've never discussed it with anybody before — intentionally," the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told The Associated Press on Monday during a break from recording. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday."
He got his chance last week when he performed the song via satellite at Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party.
Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in a news magazine caught his eye.
"It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony," Diamond recalled. "It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there."
Years later, holed up in a hotel in Memphis, he would write the words and music in less an hour.
"It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration," he said. "I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."
The enduring hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox. "Sweet Caroline" is played at every home game.
"I think they consider it good luck," Diamond said, adding that the Red Sox have become his favorite baseball team.
The tune's return to the charts leaves Diamond "speechless," he said: "That song was written 40 years ago, so I am just overwhelmed by the fact that it has returned and that, more importantly, people have taken it into their hearts for so many years."
Diamond is currently at work on a new album, his second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin.
"We're both very excited about it," Diamond said. "I think it's going to be one of my best ever."
'Sweet Caroline' was Caroline Kennedy
By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES - Neil Diamond held onto the secret for decades, but he has finally revealed that President Kennedy's daughter was the inspiration for his smash hit "Sweet Caroline."
"I've never discussed it with anybody before — intentionally," the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told The Associated Press on Monday during a break from recording. "I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday."
He got his chance last week when he performed the song via satellite at Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg's 50th birthday party.
Diamond was a "young, broke songwriter" when a photo of the president's daughter in a news magazine caught his eye.
"It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony," Diamond recalled. "It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there."
Years later, holed up in a hotel in Memphis, he would write the words and music in less an hour.
"It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration," he said. "I'm happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy."
The enduring hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Boston Red Sox. "Sweet Caroline" is played at every home game.
"I think they consider it good luck," Diamond said, adding that the Red Sox have become his favorite baseball team.
The tune's return to the charts leaves Diamond "speechless," he said: "That song was written 40 years ago, so I am just overwhelmed by the fact that it has returned and that, more importantly, people have taken it into their hearts for so many years."
Diamond is currently at work on a new album, his second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin.
"We're both very excited about it," Diamond said. "I think it's going to be one of my best ever."
The Kennedy family Forum
BOSONT HERALD, INSIDE TRACK, NOVEMBER 21, 2007
Ode to ‘Sweet Caroline’ Kennedy
Boston and the Kennedys go together like, well, “Sweet Caroline” and Fenway Park
So it should come as no surprise that Neil Diamond has confessed that the Red Sox anthem - heard during the middle of the eighth at every home game - was written in honor of former first daughter Caroline Kennedy.
“I’ve never discussed it with anybody before - intentionally,” the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told the Associated Press. “I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday.”
Diamond finally spilled his secret to Caro when he performed the song via satellite at her 50th birthday party.
Diamond said he was a “young, broke songwriter” when he saw President John F. Kennedy’s daughter in a magazine. “It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony,” Diamond recalled. “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”
Years later, Diamond wrote the tune whilst holed up in a hotel in Memphis, Tenn.
“It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration,” he said. “I’m happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy.”
Diamond’s big hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Red Sox.
“I think they consider it good luck,” Diamond said, adding that the Sox have become his favorite baseball team.
So why, oh why, has Neil consistently declined to come and perform the song in person
?
The Sox suits have made their pitch a number of times over the years. But even when Neil was in the Hub to play the TD Banknorth Garden (then FleetCenter) in 2005, he wouldn’t make the trip across town to sing at the old ballyard.
Diamond claims to be thrilled that the Sox have given new life to his old ditty - in fact, he finds it so good, so good, so good!
“That song was written 40 years ago, so I am just overwhelmed by the fact that it has returned and that, more importantly, people have taken it into their hearts for so many years,” Diamond said.
For the record, Sox dog-and-pony-show wrangler Dr. Charles Steinberg hasn’t given up on getting the old crooner to Fenway.
“I don’t think he’s exactly refused, he just hasn’t done it yet,” he said.
So, looks like we’ll just have to Wait ’Til Next Year!
BOSONT HERALD, INSIDE TRACK, NOVEMBER 21, 2007
Ode to ‘Sweet Caroline’ Kennedy
Boston and the Kennedys go together like, well, “Sweet Caroline” and Fenway Park
So it should come as no surprise that Neil Diamond has confessed that the Red Sox anthem - heard during the middle of the eighth at every home game - was written in honor of former first daughter Caroline Kennedy.
“I’ve never discussed it with anybody before - intentionally,” the 66-year-old singer-songwriter told the Associated Press. “I thought maybe I would tell it to Caroline when I met her someday.”
Diamond finally spilled his secret to Caro when he performed the song via satellite at her 50th birthday party.
Diamond said he was a “young, broke songwriter” when he saw President John F. Kennedy’s daughter in a magazine. “It was a picture of a little girl dressed to the nines in her riding gear, next to her pony,” Diamond recalled. “It was such an innocent, wonderful picture, I immediately felt there was a song in there.”
Years later, Diamond wrote the tune whilst holed up in a hotel in Memphis, Tenn.
“It was a No. 1 record and probably is the biggest, most important song of my career, and I have to thank her for the inspiration,” he said. “I’m happy to have gotten it off my chest and to have expressed it to Caroline. I thought she might be embarrassed, but she seemed to be struck by it and really, really happy.”
Diamond’s big hit recently reappeared on the singles chart, thanks in part to the Red Sox.
“I think they consider it good luck,” Diamond said, adding that the Sox have become his favorite baseball team.
So why, oh why, has Neil consistently declined to come and perform the song in person
The Sox suits have made their pitch a number of times over the years. But even when Neil was in the Hub to play the TD Banknorth Garden (then FleetCenter) in 2005, he wouldn’t make the trip across town to sing at the old ballyard.
Diamond claims to be thrilled that the Sox have given new life to his old ditty - in fact, he finds it so good, so good, so good!
“That song was written 40 years ago, so I am just overwhelmed by the fact that it has returned and that, more importantly, people have taken it into their hearts for so many years,” Diamond said.
For the record, Sox dog-and-pony-show wrangler Dr. Charles Steinberg hasn’t given up on getting the old crooner to Fenway.
“I don’t think he’s exactly refused, he just hasn’t done it yet,” he said.
So, looks like we’ll just have to Wait ’Til Next Year!
usatoday.com
Caroline Kennedy is AARP's 'cover girl'Updated 15h 16m ago | Comments5 | Recommend1E-mail | Save | Print |
EnlargeBy Chitose Suzuki, AP
It's been a big week for Caroline Kennedy. Last week, Neil Diamond confessed thatSweet Caroline was about her; now she's the cover girl for AARP's magazine.
By Verena Dobnik, Associated Press
NEW YORK — Caroline Kennedy turned 50 Tuesday, becoming eligible for membership in AARP.
But the non-profit organization for people 50 and over has bigger plans for Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie.
The former first daughter is featured on the cover of the January/February issue of AARP The Magazine, on newsstands next month, and will receive the magazine's Inspire Award next week.
"Ever since I was a little girl, people have told me that my father changed their lives, or that President Kennedy's inaugural challenge, 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,' inspired a generation in the 1960s that transformed our nation with courage," she told the magazine.
"To me that is one of his greatest legacies. Now, it is up to us to redefine that commitment for our time."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Kennedy | AARP | Caroline Kennedy | Neil Diamond | Sweet Caroline
Since graduating from Harvard and Columbia University School of Law, the mother of three has raised tens of millions of dollars for New York City public schools. She also has been active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense and Education Fund and the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
Kennedy was only 3 when her family moved into the White House. A news photo of the young Caroline with her pony was the inspiration for Neil Diamond's smash hit Sweet Caroline, which he revealed while performing the song by satellite at Kennedy's 50th birthday party — after holding onto the secret for decades.
The magazine asked Kennedy: How does 50 feel?
"It's not that old, is it?" Kennedy said. "I feel like I'm really happy, fortunate to have my family and the things I'm involved in, even without the people not here who were here once."
She will receive the AARP award Monday at a Manhattan luncheon. Other winners include Gladys Knight, Gary Sinise and Helen Thomas.
Caroline Kennedy is AARP's 'cover girl'Updated 15h 16m ago | Comments5 | Recommend1E-mail | Save | Print |
EnlargeBy Chitose Suzuki, AP
By Verena Dobnik, Associated Press
NEW YORK — Caroline Kennedy turned 50 Tuesday, becoming eligible for membership in AARP.
But the non-profit organization for people 50 and over has bigger plans for Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie.
The former first daughter is featured on the cover of the January/February issue of AARP The Magazine, on newsstands next month, and will receive the magazine's Inspire Award next week.
"Ever since I was a little girl, people have told me that my father changed their lives, or that President Kennedy's inaugural challenge, 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,' inspired a generation in the 1960s that transformed our nation with courage," she told the magazine.
"To me that is one of his greatest legacies. Now, it is up to us to redefine that commitment for our time."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Kennedy | AARP | Caroline Kennedy | Neil Diamond | Sweet Caroline
Since graduating from Harvard and Columbia University School of Law, the mother of three has raised tens of millions of dollars for New York City public schools. She also has been active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Legal Defense and Education Fund and the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
Kennedy was only 3 when her family moved into the White House. A news photo of the young Caroline with her pony was the inspiration for Neil Diamond's smash hit Sweet Caroline, which he revealed while performing the song by satellite at Kennedy's 50th birthday party — after holding onto the secret for decades.
The magazine asked Kennedy: How does 50 feel?
"It's not that old, is it?" Kennedy said. "I feel like I'm really happy, fortunate to have my family and the things I'm involved in, even without the people not here who were here once."
She will receive the AARP award Monday at a Manhattan luncheon. Other winners include Gladys Knight, Gary Sinise and Helen Thomas.
The Kennedy family Forum
she's very classy american looking
i don't think her style is that impressive...
Perhaps, but however, that's the way she carries herself afler all she's endured which is that impressive...
NorthJersey.com:
Kennedy shares memories in new book
Sunday, December 2, 2007
By VIRGINIA ROHAN
STAFF WRITER
It's been 44 years since she's lived on Pennsylvania Avenue, but Caroline Kennedy still vividly recalls certain things about her White House Christmases.
"More, really, the lead-up to Christmas," says Kennedy, who's slated to sign copies of her latest anthology, "A Family Christmas," at Bookends in Ridgewood Thursday. "I remember just being completely wonder-struck by the tree, because it was so big. It was so exciting when the doors were open, and you could go in and see it in the Blue Room. I think mostly we were not actually in the White House for Christmas. We were probably with the grandparents. But I remember the decorations and it just being like a wonderland. And then, I do really vividly remember calling Santa on the phone."
In her introduction to the collection of Christmas-related poetry, prose, scriptural passages and lyrics, Kennedy describes how her father helped her dial Santa through the White House switchboard, wryly noting that "the fact that [Santa] had the same soft Southern accent common to many White House workers of the day escaped me completely."
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy
Born: Nov. 27, 1957.
Daughter of: President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
Mother of: Rose, 19; Tatiana, 17; and John, 14.
Educated: Concord Academy; Radcliffe College; Columbia University School of Law.
Literary achievements: Editor of the New York Times best-selling "A Family of Poems," "The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," "A Patriot's Handbook" and "Profiles in Courage for Our Time." Co-author of "The Right to Privacy" and "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action."
Public service: As vice chairwoman of the New York City Fund for Public Schools, she has raised tens of millions of dollars for the city's education system.
One family Christmas tradition: "My kids really always liked to make gingerbread houses, even if the gingerbread is actually cardboard, 'cause we weren't so good on the gingerbread. But the decorating is a lot of fun."
Appearing: 7 p.m. Thursday at Bookends, 232 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood. 201-445-0726 or book-ends.com.
Reminded of that funny observation, Kennedy says, "That's the thing about Christmas. When you're a child, it just makes perfect sense."
Notably, this telephone conversation happened this past Tuesday -- Nov. 27, Kennedy's 50th birthday.
Surprised by song
She graciously accepts felicitations, as well as a question about Neil Diamond's recent revelation that he wrote his hit "Sweet Caroline" after seeing a magazine photo of her with her pony. Did she ever suspect she was his inspiration?
"No, I didn't. I didn't at all. It was really fun, 'cause it was a song with my name in it. People used to make fun of me when it came on the radio. But it never occurred to me that it was about me," says Kennedy, who was serenaded by Diamond (over the phone, she says) during her recent 50th birthday party. "That was very sweet."
That milestone birthday makes her eligible for membership in AARP, which will honor Kennedy for her lifetime of public service by giving her one of its magazine's 2008 Inspire Awards this week, and by featuring her on the cover of the January-February issue.
The subject even comes up, in a wryly oblique way, while discussing her new Christmas book.
"When I was growing up -- now that was sort of a long time ago, as I'm reminded today -- I think there was still a greater tradition of handmade ornaments," says Kennedy. "It wasn't that long ago then that Christmas hadn't really become as mass produced as it is today. But in addition to that, my mother was very into the homemade, and making those pomander balls with the cloves stuck into the oranges. I still have one I made for her. My kids made them for me. I think that all those kinds of things that you do at home are really what make Christmas memorable for children, and then they pass those traditions on as well."
Time for togetherness
Asked why she chose to do a book about Christmas, Kennedy says, "I'm always looking for topics that really provide opportunities for families to read together. Obviously, Christmas is a time when people are with their families -- and I think it's great if reading is also part of the holiday. There's so much fun and interesting literature about Christmas that it seemed like it would be a really great project, and it has been, 'cause I've really been thinking about Christmas all year long."
"A Family Christmas" (Hyperion, 332 pages, $26.95) offers an eclectic array of Christmas classics as well as lesser-known poetry and prose -- including a poignant reminiscence of Truman Capote and a David Sedaris essay that's laugh-out-loud funny.
"I thought that I had kind of read, not everything, but that I was familiar with Christmas things, 'cause you tend to see the same things over and over again," Kennedy says, adding that while those "classics" are important to share and pass on, "there was just so much more, actually. The history of Christmas is really fascinating. ... It's so ancient, it's so powerful, it's so spiritual. There's so much humor to it and so many perspectives to that."
She was especially surprised by "how intertwined Christmas was with American history," Kennedy says. Over time, the holiday celebrations that evolved here have been exported to other countries, she says. And many new immigrant groups to this country, regardless of religion, now celebrate Christmas or adopt some of its customs, so that it has become "a cultural holiday as well as religious one."
Following a tradition
One finding that especially tickled Kennedy was that, in early America, books were among the most popular Christmas presents.
"They were called gift books and they were not about Christmas, but ... I like the idea that I was following a tradition that started in the 1820s, 1830s," she says.
Though famously private, Kennedy shares quite a bit from her own family in the book, including a sweet letter that her father, then president, wrote in 1961 to a little Michigan girl who feared that the Russians would bomb the North Pole and derail Christmas. "You must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds this Christmas," JFK wrote.
The book's cover features an image of an angel that Jacqueline Kennedy, her mother, painted in 1963. "She did it for Christmas cards that they sold to raise money for the National Cultural Center, which has now become the Kennedy Center," Kennedy explains.
In her introduction, she writes, "Our house was a last bastion of the Victorian era, when a fresh orange was considered a special treat, and my mother was certainly alone in her view that walnuts were appropriate stocking stuffers."
Preparations for the Christmases of her youth "tended to the literary rather than the culinary," she wrote, describing how her mom penned poems for her mom and how she and brother John also wrote poems and illustrated Bible verses for their mom.
And now, her children do the same for her.
"I don't know that the quality is that good, but I think just the process is really what's important," Kennedy says. "I think it really means a lot, especially today, when a lot of kids don't have as many tangible products of their work. Everything's electronic and all that. So, it means a lot to make a card or to illustrate a Bible verse or things like that. It's nice if you can continue that."
As she writes in the book, such traditions "demonstrate the continuity of family life in a tangible and comforting way."
E-mail: [email protected]
* * *
Fun facts about Christmas in America
Immigrants from Europe brought different Christmas traditions with them to America, but it was only in the 1820s that America "began to invent the celebration that we recognize today," Caroline Kennedy writes.
Here are some other highlights, and fun facts, she offers in "A Family Christmas."
• In 1659, because of public rowdiness, the Puritans in Massachusetts passed a law banning the celebration of Christmas. They claimed there was no basis for Christmas as a religious holiday since the Bible never specified the day on which Christ was born.
• It was only after the Civil War that Christmas was declared a holiday in most states.
• How Christmas moved indoors: A group of civic fathers in New York, concerned about the drinking and gunfire used to ring in Christmas and the new year, founded the St. Nicholas Society to encourage a civilized celebration of Christmas at home, rather than in the streets. One of the society's founders was Clement Clarke Moore, a wealthy farmer and professor of ancient languages and divinity, who in 1822 wrote "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known as "The Night Before Christmas").
• Mayor John F. Fitzgerald of Boston, Caroline Kennedy's great-grandfather, lit the first public Christmas tree in America -- on Boston Common in 1912. A half-hour later that same evening, a Christmas tree erected in New York City's Madison Square by Mrs. J.B.F. Herreshoff and her wealthy friends was lit. The custom spread across the country. Calvin Coolidge lit the first national Christmas tree on the White House lawn in 1923.
• For more than 50 years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command and its predecessor have tracked Santa's progress from the North Pole for young believers (by radar, of course) on Christmas Eve. Volunteers answer phones and send e-mail updates to thousands of little children throughout the world (noradsanta.org).
Kennedy shares memories in new book
Sunday, December 2, 2007
By VIRGINIA ROHAN
STAFF WRITER
It's been 44 years since she's lived on Pennsylvania Avenue, but Caroline Kennedy still vividly recalls certain things about her White House Christmases.
"More, really, the lead-up to Christmas," says Kennedy, who's slated to sign copies of her latest anthology, "A Family Christmas," at Bookends in Ridgewood Thursday. "I remember just being completely wonder-struck by the tree, because it was so big. It was so exciting when the doors were open, and you could go in and see it in the Blue Room. I think mostly we were not actually in the White House for Christmas. We were probably with the grandparents. But I remember the decorations and it just being like a wonderland. And then, I do really vividly remember calling Santa on the phone."
In her introduction to the collection of Christmas-related poetry, prose, scriptural passages and lyrics, Kennedy describes how her father helped her dial Santa through the White House switchboard, wryly noting that "the fact that [Santa] had the same soft Southern accent common to many White House workers of the day escaped me completely."
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy
Born: Nov. 27, 1957.
Daughter of: President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
Mother of: Rose, 19; Tatiana, 17; and John, 14.
Educated: Concord Academy; Radcliffe College; Columbia University School of Law.
Literary achievements: Editor of the New York Times best-selling "A Family of Poems," "The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis," "A Patriot's Handbook" and "Profiles in Courage for Our Time." Co-author of "The Right to Privacy" and "In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action."
Public service: As vice chairwoman of the New York City Fund for Public Schools, she has raised tens of millions of dollars for the city's education system.
One family Christmas tradition: "My kids really always liked to make gingerbread houses, even if the gingerbread is actually cardboard, 'cause we weren't so good on the gingerbread. But the decorating is a lot of fun."
Appearing: 7 p.m. Thursday at Bookends, 232 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood. 201-445-0726 or book-ends.com.
Reminded of that funny observation, Kennedy says, "That's the thing about Christmas. When you're a child, it just makes perfect sense."
Notably, this telephone conversation happened this past Tuesday -- Nov. 27, Kennedy's 50th birthday.
Surprised by song
She graciously accepts felicitations, as well as a question about Neil Diamond's recent revelation that he wrote his hit "Sweet Caroline" after seeing a magazine photo of her with her pony. Did she ever suspect she was his inspiration?
"No, I didn't. I didn't at all. It was really fun, 'cause it was a song with my name in it. People used to make fun of me when it came on the radio. But it never occurred to me that it was about me," says Kennedy, who was serenaded by Diamond (over the phone, she says) during her recent 50th birthday party. "That was very sweet."
That milestone birthday makes her eligible for membership in AARP, which will honor Kennedy for her lifetime of public service by giving her one of its magazine's 2008 Inspire Awards this week, and by featuring her on the cover of the January-February issue.
The subject even comes up, in a wryly oblique way, while discussing her new Christmas book.
"When I was growing up -- now that was sort of a long time ago, as I'm reminded today -- I think there was still a greater tradition of handmade ornaments," says Kennedy. "It wasn't that long ago then that Christmas hadn't really become as mass produced as it is today. But in addition to that, my mother was very into the homemade, and making those pomander balls with the cloves stuck into the oranges. I still have one I made for her. My kids made them for me. I think that all those kinds of things that you do at home are really what make Christmas memorable for children, and then they pass those traditions on as well."
Time for togetherness
Asked why she chose to do a book about Christmas, Kennedy says, "I'm always looking for topics that really provide opportunities for families to read together. Obviously, Christmas is a time when people are with their families -- and I think it's great if reading is also part of the holiday. There's so much fun and interesting literature about Christmas that it seemed like it would be a really great project, and it has been, 'cause I've really been thinking about Christmas all year long."
"A Family Christmas" (Hyperion, 332 pages, $26.95) offers an eclectic array of Christmas classics as well as lesser-known poetry and prose -- including a poignant reminiscence of Truman Capote and a David Sedaris essay that's laugh-out-loud funny.
"I thought that I had kind of read, not everything, but that I was familiar with Christmas things, 'cause you tend to see the same things over and over again," Kennedy says, adding that while those "classics" are important to share and pass on, "there was just so much more, actually. The history of Christmas is really fascinating. ... It's so ancient, it's so powerful, it's so spiritual. There's so much humor to it and so many perspectives to that."
She was especially surprised by "how intertwined Christmas was with American history," Kennedy says. Over time, the holiday celebrations that evolved here have been exported to other countries, she says. And many new immigrant groups to this country, regardless of religion, now celebrate Christmas or adopt some of its customs, so that it has become "a cultural holiday as well as religious one."
Following a tradition
One finding that especially tickled Kennedy was that, in early America, books were among the most popular Christmas presents.
"They were called gift books and they were not about Christmas, but ... I like the idea that I was following a tradition that started in the 1820s, 1830s," she says.
Though famously private, Kennedy shares quite a bit from her own family in the book, including a sweet letter that her father, then president, wrote in 1961 to a little Michigan girl who feared that the Russians would bomb the North Pole and derail Christmas. "You must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds this Christmas," JFK wrote.
The book's cover features an image of an angel that Jacqueline Kennedy, her mother, painted in 1963. "She did it for Christmas cards that they sold to raise money for the National Cultural Center, which has now become the Kennedy Center," Kennedy explains.
In her introduction, she writes, "Our house was a last bastion of the Victorian era, when a fresh orange was considered a special treat, and my mother was certainly alone in her view that walnuts were appropriate stocking stuffers."
Preparations for the Christmases of her youth "tended to the literary rather than the culinary," she wrote, describing how her mom penned poems for her mom and how she and brother John also wrote poems and illustrated Bible verses for their mom.
And now, her children do the same for her.
"I don't know that the quality is that good, but I think just the process is really what's important," Kennedy says. "I think it really means a lot, especially today, when a lot of kids don't have as many tangible products of their work. Everything's electronic and all that. So, it means a lot to make a card or to illustrate a Bible verse or things like that. It's nice if you can continue that."
As she writes in the book, such traditions "demonstrate the continuity of family life in a tangible and comforting way."
E-mail: [email protected]
* * *
Fun facts about Christmas in America
Immigrants from Europe brought different Christmas traditions with them to America, but it was only in the 1820s that America "began to invent the celebration that we recognize today," Caroline Kennedy writes.
Here are some other highlights, and fun facts, she offers in "A Family Christmas."
• In 1659, because of public rowdiness, the Puritans in Massachusetts passed a law banning the celebration of Christmas. They claimed there was no basis for Christmas as a religious holiday since the Bible never specified the day on which Christ was born.
• It was only after the Civil War that Christmas was declared a holiday in most states.
• How Christmas moved indoors: A group of civic fathers in New York, concerned about the drinking and gunfire used to ring in Christmas and the new year, founded the St. Nicholas Society to encourage a civilized celebration of Christmas at home, rather than in the streets. One of the society's founders was Clement Clarke Moore, a wealthy farmer and professor of ancient languages and divinity, who in 1822 wrote "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known as "The Night Before Christmas").
• Mayor John F. Fitzgerald of Boston, Caroline Kennedy's great-grandfather, lit the first public Christmas tree in America -- on Boston Common in 1912. A half-hour later that same evening, a Christmas tree erected in New York City's Madison Square by Mrs. J.B.F. Herreshoff and her wealthy friends was lit. The custom spread across the country. Calvin Coolidge lit the first national Christmas tree on the White House lawn in 1923.
• For more than 50 years, the North American Aerospace Defense Command and its predecessor have tracked Santa's progress from the North Pole for young believers (by radar, of course) on Christmas Eve. Volunteers answer phones and send e-mail updates to thousands of little children throughout the world (noradsanta.org).
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