Author(s): Tina Santi Flaherty

History

She was a woman of confidence and passion who drew on a remarkable wealth of self-knowledge and a sense of purpose to cope with extraordinary public demands and overwhelming private needs. What Jackie Taught Us offers insights from the life of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis about how to live with poise, grace, and zest, including wisdom about image and style, courage and vision, men, marriage, and motherhood. This Commemorative Edition features contributions from notable individuals amplifying the ways in which Jackie's life has influenced them--and society at large--over the past several decades, including: Liz Smith, columnist and author of Natural Blonde The most attractive, exasperating, intelligent, frustrating historical icon ever. She was the First Lady to end all First Ladies for never giving herself away. Edna O'Brien, author of Country Girl: A Memoir She went through life veiled, and left it with her stardust intact. A.E. Hotchner, author of Papa Hemingway From the moment Jackie fell in love with Kennedy, her first love, it was a love that never wavered. She knew from the start that she was in a very green pasture--greener than any that may be beyond. Kent Barwick, President Emeritus, Municipal Art Society of New York: Jackie will always be remembered for saving Grand Central. But the enduring even greater gift to the country was Jackie's] willingness to stand up for what she believed even if it meant confronting those in power. Malachy McCourt, author of Malachy McCourt's History of Ireland She used the charismatic power of her charm not only on the men in her life, but to gain new respect worldwide for these United States. Marguerite Kelly, syndicated columnist and coauthor of The Mother's Almanac She was 'the Presence' that young mothers needed during such a turbulent time...we did our best to make our children look and act like Caroline and John-John. Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives at the University of Cambridge: If Churchill was a lion, then Jacqueline Kennedy was a lioness...she too became a symbol of human and moral courage. Dr. Andrew Roberts, FRSL, author of Napoleon and Wellington and The Battle of Waterloo ...she possessed a self-confidence that permitted her to achieve things that others - even those with apparently equal abilities - might have eschewed even the effort to try. Hank O'Neal, photographer and author of XCIA's Street Art Project: The First Four Decades The portrait ( I took of her) shows a strong and confident woman.... Nothing is forced; this was just the way she was on a day in December 1979, projecting an elegant image into a very old-fashioned camera. Ashton Hawkins, Former Executive Vice President & Counsel to the Trustees, Metropolitan Museum of Art: When Jackie died of cancer on May 19th, 1994 all of America came together to mourn her death. Seven years later the Metropolitan Museum and its director, Philippe de Montebello, were proud to celebrate her life with a memorial exhibition: 'Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years'. Declan Kiely, Robert H. Taylor Curator and Department Head, Literary and Historical Manuscripts, The Morgan Library & Museum: Without Jackie's unwavering focus the Kennedy Library may never have been completed. She spearheaded the fund-raising... and worked indefatigably as the building project weathered planning controversies, site-switching, and successive reprogramming. Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London and Those Angry Days The power of words was extremely important to her, as it was to me; so was the joy of learning something new. All her life, she possessed an endlessly inquiring mind. Jennifer J. Raab, President of Hunter College, City University of New York .As a young woman growing up when the place of women in American society was undergoing sweeping changes, I and others could look to her as a model of strength and independence -- someone who proved it was possible to be famous, glamorous and serious at the same time. C.D. Greene, fashion designer: Even though it has been more than fifty years since she and President Kennedy occupied the White House, it is the image of this handsome young couple that has endured. And most especially the image of Jackie - the striking, slender brunette, with her, wide-set, leonine eyes and her confident - challenging, even - gaze. This edition also includes the complete text of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy's special tribute to his sister-in-law at her funeral on May 23, 1994.