Author discusses Kennedy book at Marblehead library

MARBLEHEAD – For many Americans the Nov. 22, 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy could have happened yesterday – and University of New Hampshire history Professor Ellen Fitzpatrick brings yesterday back with her book, “Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation.”Fitzpatrick told an audience at Abbot Public Library Wednesday evening that Americans and foreigners from every conceivable background wrote 1.5 million condolence letters to Jacqueline Kennedy, the President’s widow, in the first 18 months after he was shot in Dallas. Mrs. Kennedy and 3,000 volunteers opened each one and sent a note expressing gratitude for their thoughtfulness.The letters were eventually turned over to the National Archive, which read them all, pulped most and held onto a representative sample of less than 30,000.Visiting the JFK Library last year to research another project, Fitzpatrick discovered the letters and realized that they represented a 1963 snapshot of America that had not been viewed in more than 40 years.She chose 240 letters that could fit in a book – and then, to meet the requirements of U.S. copyright law, she tracked down the authors of 220 of the letters or their next of kin to get permission to publish them, using 12 genealogists.The letters fell into three categories: Shock and disbelief, comments about Kennedy’s Presidency and thoughts about grief and loss. They reflect a time when Americans were capable of falling in love with a President. Fitzpatrick asked the letter writers if they changed their minds about Kennedy. None had.A Texas woman who saw Kennedy’s parade recalled how her heart pounded when his car drove by, how tan and handsome and happy he looked – and by the time she reached her parked car he was dead.”It is as though (he) was one of us,” said a member of the military honor guard in Washington, D.C.”Heaven calls its favorites early,” said a convict in the Federal Penitentiary in Atlanta, Ga.”God sent your husband as our Moses, to open doors that had never been opened,” wrote an African American woman.A Hayes, Kan. girl recalled that her grade school band sounded pretty bad when they played at a 1959 Kennedy campaign event, but he told them they did a fine job and “We felt like we were the best band in the U.S.” and she shook hands with him three times.”This has been one of the great privileges of my career,” Fitzpatrick said. “The founders of our country put power into the hands of the people, believing in their kindness and compassion. I can’t help but feel they were onto a profound truth.”