My Kennedy fascination continues

I think it started in college with a term paper, but maybe it was even in my high school history class? (I always paid attention because the teacher was the cute wrestling coach). This isn’t my first review about a Kennedy related title, I did one about a fabulous coffee table book a few years ago and I took care of my Kennedy fix this winter by listening to Jackie’s interviews in the car. One of my favorite parts of those recordings is when little John John comes into the room looking for his Mommy. RoseMarie Terenzio’s latest memoir Fairy Tale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss, about her time spent as John Jr.'s personal assistant, was a great addition to the list of my favorite books about the Kennedy mystique.

RoseMarie begins her memoir explaining how plain dumb luck landed her a job as confidante to one of the most recognizable people in the world and it all began when he kicked her out of her PR office. Unlike other people that came in contact with John, RoseMarie from the Bronx didn’t give a crap about his lineage or his dashing good looks and this attitude made her his friend for life. RoseMarie was there for the start up of the short lived magazine George and she goes into lots of juicy details about the political behind the scenes of that venture. Besides the dirt on the magazine, she also gives us a peek into the private relationship of John and Carolyn, RoseMarie often ended up being a marriage counselor for them since she was part of their very private inner circle.

Since we all know the tragic ending of yet another Kennedy family member, the last chapters were about that fateful day of the plane crash and the horrendous guilt that RoseMarie felt about the situation. She had convinced Carolyn to join John at the wedding that weekend and spent quite a few months in a depressive funk thinking of the way it all turned out. After having such a high profile boss, it was hard for RoseMarie to go back to a “normal” job, but after a few shaky starts she finds herself back in the PR game as a successful business owner.

She ends the book by acknowledging how great an impact that her bond with John had on her life and career It really seemed that RoseMarie took her time writing this, making sure not to offend any of those in John’s private circle of friends and family but adding enough tidbits about her own family and life to keep it interesting for those that have always dreamed of rubbing elbows with somebody famous. Hopefully they will release this on audio because it really did feel like a girlfriend just telling you the story of how she used to work for JFK Jr. Highly recommended for other Kennedy enthusiasts, but if you’re looking for a good memoir to read over the summer it would be perfect too.