About this item
They were the most prominent American family of the twentieth century. The daughter they secreted away made all the difference. Joe and Rose Kennedy's strikingly beautiful daughter Rosemary attended exclusive schools, was presented as a debutante to the Queen of England, and traveled the world with her high-spirited sisters. And yet, Rosemary was intellectually disabled - a secret fiercely guarded by her powerful and glamorous family. Major new sources - Rose Kennedy's diaries and correspondence, school and doctors' letters, and exclusive family interviews - bring Rosemary alive as a girl adored but left far behind by her competitive siblings. Kate Larson reveals both the sensitive care Rose and Joe gave to Rosemary and then - as the family's standing reached an apex - the often desperate and duplicitous arrangements the Kennedys made to keep her away from home as she became increasingly intractable in her early twenties. Finally, Larson illuminates Joe's decision to have Rosemary lobotomized at age twenty-three, and the family's complicity in keeping the secret. Rosemary delivers a profoundly moving coda: JFK visited Rosemary for the first time while campaigning in the Midwest; she had been living isolated in a Wisconsin institution for nearly twenty years. Only then did the siblings understand what had happened to Rosemary and bring her home for loving family visits. It was a reckoning that inspired them to direct attention to the plight of the disabled, transforming the lives of millions.
About the Author
Kate Clifford Larson is a bestselling author of critically acclaimed and award winning biographies including: Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer, which tells the remarkable story of one of America's most important civil rights leaders of the 20th century; Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter; and Bound for the Promised Land: Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero. A specialist in 19th and 20th century U.S. Women's and African American History, Larson is also an award-winning consultant whose work includes feature film scripts - most recently Focus Features' Harriet starring Cynthia Erivo - documentaries, museum exhibits, and public history initiatives including three Harriet Tubman state and national historical parks, and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway and All-American Road. She is frequently interviewed for national and international radio programs and media outlets and has appeared on national and international television broadcasts including BBC, PBS, and C-Span, cable networks, CBS Sunday Morning, and WGBH. Larson is currently a Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center Visiting Scholar. With two degrees from Simmons University, an MBA from Northeastern University, and a Doctorate in American History from the University of New Hampshire, Larson has nurtured a passion for researching and writing about American women's lives. She relishes the challenges of teasing out life stories from voices that have long been silenced. "I feel strongly that we must reconnect with the women who helped build and shape this country," Larson recently wrote, "and by putting women at the center of the story, the world looks very different - more complex, interesting, and vibrant." See the Greater Boston show featuring Adam Reilly's interview with Larson on WGBH https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=gAjyoxCyhKASee the CBS Sunday Morning Show featuring Larson talking about Harriet Tubman! https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tracing-the-remarkable-lifes-path-of-harriet-tubman/. Watch Kate Clifford Larson's interview about Rosemary Kennedy with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eileen McNamara at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Forum on C-Span Book TV: http://www.c-span.org/video/? 328843-1/kate-clifford-larson-rosemary. And check out her website at www.katecliffordlarson.com for more information about her books, awards, reviews, and upcoming events, and her special website dedicated to Harriet Tubman at www.harriettubmanbiography.com Author photos by (c) Susan Wilson www.susanwilsonphoto.com
