When I Think of Bobby; A Personal Memoir of the Kennedy Years
New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1993. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 25 cm. xiii, [1], 193, [1] pages, illustrations, index. Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads for Seth and Dottie Tuttle, my old dear friends who know what Bob was all about--Warren Rogers 6/10/93. Warren Joseph Rogers, Jr. (May 6, 1922 – August 31, 2003) was a reporter and an author. After WWII, Rogers worked as a newspaper journalist and later joined the Associated Press and moved to Baton Rouge to cover Louisiana politics. In 1956, during the Stevenson campaign, Rogers first met Robert Kennedy, who was traveling to prepare for his brother's 1960 presidential campaign. Despite the arguments that they had with one another, Rogers and Kennedy became good friends as they sat on buses on Stevenson's campaign trail. Rogers joined the Washington bureau of the New York Herald Tribune in 1959 and began reporting on the military, foreign affairs, the presidency, and national politics. During his time with the Herald Tribune, he was nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes: one for a series called "Our Man on the Bus" and one for a series of reporting on Green Beret combat in Vietnam. He also covered the Cuban Missile Crisis, the civil rights movement, the White House and the McCarthy hearings. Rogers became bureau chief for the Hearst Corporation in 1963, and then was named Washington Editor for Look Magazine in 1966. In 1968, Rogers' friendship with Robert Kennedy allowed him an insider's view of Kennedy's campaign for the Democratic nomination. Rogers was present during Kennedy's assassination on June 5, 1968, and even helped subdue the gunman, Sirhan Sirhan. Derived from a Kirkus review: On the 25th anniversary of Robert Kennedy's death, syndicated columnist Rogers—an old friend of the Kennedys—offers a fond remembrance of RFK. Rogers makes clear that his memoir was written with the cooperation of the Kennedy family. The author tries ``to capture the essence of the character, curiosity, wit, honesty, and love of family that propelled a remarkable man.'' Rogers vividly depicts a deeply religious man, profoundly devoted to his country, wife, and many children. Through many anecdotes—some genuinely amusing (a particularly ludicrous image is of dignified historian Arthur Schlesinger, in dark suit and bow tie, being ``catapulted'' into a pool at a Kennedy party)—Rogers draws a picture of the chaotic family home at Hickory Hill, Virginia, headed by doting parents, filled with rambunctious small children and exotic animals, frequented by the distinguished, and animated by an endless passion for excellence. There's little discussion here of RFK as public man, except for Rogers's certainty that, had he lived, Kennedy would have been elected President in 1968 and would have profoundly altered the course of recent American history. Rogers also presents the human side of Kennedy's rivalry with Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa, showing the two to be strangely similar in many ways. Though generally lighthearted, the narrative takes melancholy turns with its account of RFK's severe depression after hearing of his brother's death, and with the author's eyewitness description of Kennedy's assassination after winning the 1968 California primary. A simple, affecting tribute, genuinely sentimental. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Robert F. Kennedy, RFK Assassination, Hubert Humphrey, Ethel Kennedy, U.S. Senate, Democratic Party, New York, Jimmy Hoffa, Hickory Hill, Ena Bernard, George Plimpton, Pierre Salinger, Jean Kennedy Smith, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
ISBN: 0060170425
[Book #82894]
Price: $150.00