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The Kennedy mystique not only survives, but it is growing as the 50th anniversary of JFK's assassination draws ever nearer.
Next week sees the 48th anniversary and it is being marked by two books in particular, one of them a personal treatment of John F. Kennedy by a leading U.S. television personality, the other a look back to Kennedy's June, 1963 visit to Ireland penned by a top Irish television one.
"Jack Kennedy, Elusive Hero," is the work of MSNBC's Chris Matthews and an excerpt from the book, published by Simon and Schuster, is featured in the centerfold of this issue.
Matthews, well known as the presenter of "Hardball," sets out in his book to describe to readers what JFK, the public persona, was really like as the private man.
In "JFK In Ireland, Four Days That Changed A President," RTE journalist and presenter Ryan Tubridy tells the story of Kennedy's visit to Ireland just months before his death.
It was a visit poignantly marked by the president's promise to return again to the land of his forebears. The book, which contains many illustrations, some new to publication, is published in the U.S. by Connecticut-based Globe Pequot Press. Details at www.globepequot.com.
