Listen to This: Jack Kennedy Elusive Hero By Chris Matthews Sponsored by the Nohra Haime Gallery
Nohra Haime Gallery is located in The Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue. Since its inception in 1981, the principal focus of the gallery has been the representation of international contemporary artists. The gallery also represents the Niki de Saint Phalle Charitable Art Foundation in New York and has a major Retrospective, including historical works not previously seen in New York, currently on view through October 29.
We kick off our new column Listen to This with Jack Kennedy Elusive Hero by Chris Matthews. This is the first book Peachy has listened to in ages and the only one she can ever remember listening to in the past is Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Chris Matthews may be a Republican (and maybe someone else we know is too!) but sometimes when a great candidate is a phenomenal Irish Catholic, it makes sense to switch over. Jack Kennedy's modesty in life is reason alone to listen to this book because you all need to learn what a truly influential and accomplished figure he is in history.
In 12 cds you'll enter an era, which if you are Peachy's generation, you have only heard stories about...Don't let it be forgot / That once there was a spot / For one brief shining moment / That was known as Camelot! Chris delves deep into interesting tidbits from Jack's past and we like the familiarity and tone the entire work reflects. Matthews certainly does answer the question "What was he like?" over and over through the years of his childhood, to the beginning of his carer and of course punctuating with the presidency.
Kennedy was much more of an intellect that most historians recognize and we agree with Matthews-his glamour and attractiveness did hide his brilliant mind and that could be really helpful when dealing with opponents who underestimated his political prowess. His intellectual connection with Jackie was interesting to know about and she certainly reflected this same phenomenon. Many also do not realize the extent of his health problems - as he always looked healthy - and you'll appreciate how much he did particularly on the campaign trail in spite of his challenges physically. He was not a complainer at all and we also admire that...you know he was a war hero in World War II on his PT boat-Peachy's grandfather used to tell her stories about how he was in the war with Kennedy in the Pacific-her grandfather cleaned the guns on that PT boat.
His networking talent we really admire and Kennedy's ability to reach out to so many people from a local to a state to a national level is something everyone can learn from whether you are promoting a business, an idea or just interested in reaching out to others on an everyday basis.
Jack's anglophile style and demeanor may surprise some listeners as well-one of his most famous lines about asking not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country is based on what the headmaster of Choate told the students of Kennedy's time-and we all know Choate historically is culturally protestant, as are many prep schools in the Northeast.
Whom You Know recommends Jack Kennedy Elusive Hero on cd-you'll learn a lot and be inspired by one of the best presidents in our history by a phenomenal journalist, Chris Matthews.
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What was he like?”
Jack Kennedy said the reason people read biography is to answer that basic question.
With the verve of a novelist, Chris Matthews gives us just that. We see this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.
What was he like, this person whose own wife called him “that elusive, unforgettable man”? The Jack Kennedy you discover here wanted never to be alone, never to be bored. He loved courage, hated war, lived each day as if it were his last.
Chris Matthews’s extraordinary biography is based on personal interviews with those closest to JFK, oral histories by top political aide Kenneth O’Donnell and others, documents from his years as a student at Choate, and notes from Jacqueline Kennedy’s first interview after Dallas. You’ll learn the origins of his inaugural call to “Ask what you can do for your country.” You’ll discover his role in the genesis of the Peace Corps, his stand on civil rights, his push to put a man on the moon, his ban on nuclear arms testing. You’ll get, more than ever before, to the root of the man, including the unsettling aspects of his personal life. As Matthews writes, “I found a fighting prince never free of pain, never far from trouble, never accepting the world he found, never wanting to be his father’s son. He was a far greater hero than he ever wished us to know.”
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Jack-Kennedy/Chris-Matthews/9781451635089
