Kennedy Books

A very beautiful, very human portrayal of Mary, Mother of God. Houselander steps into the heart of Mary and reveals to us a real, down-to-earth wife and mother with whom we can identify. Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike will be pleasantly surprised: "Mary of Nazareth is not so different from me!"

This beautiful work sat near me on a bookshelf for years before I picked it up to read. Now I've read it again and again and enjoy it more each time. Caryll stirs the spirit and will inspire many reflections. She conveys a deeply spiritual message with a writing style that is simply a joy to read.

Through the words and illustrations of this book what shines through is the beautiful love of a woman for Christ and His Church. It is a devotional work, interspersed with Houselander's poetry. She writes from an early twentieth century English outlook and thus her chapters are interspersed with examples from the war. She doesn't get stuck in this contemporary setting though, but rather effectively uses it to bring the life of the Christian to greater clarity. In the course of the book she accomplishes two things beautifully. First she shows the importance for the Christian of a relationship with Mary. How the example of Mary can inspire and guide us, especially in difficult times, and how we can turn to her as an intercessor and mother. Secondly, she shows how Mary draws us towards Christ, and how ultimately our relationship with Mary is senseless otherwise.

This book, written in 1944 (I believe) is just wonderful. It, more than anything I have read, has brought me closer to Our Blessed Mother, and hence, to Christ Himself. Filled with lyrical prose and touching analogies, Houselander shows how Mary was the "Reed of God" waiting to be filled (with her maternity)...and that we are ALL vessels waiting to do God's work, and carrying Christ within us. Just remarkable.

What a wonderful book! I would highly recommend it to all who are wanting a closer relationship with Jesus and His Mother,It is a very profound book written by a convert!

Reviewed by Linda Benninghoff for Reader Views (12/06)

In "Second Chance Ranch" the heroine comes from a dysfunctional family--cold, alcoholic father and an almost monosyllabic mother who is fond of making pronouncements such as: "Your period will be coming soon." These negative statements seem to be followed by few positives or even small talk. With this background, it comes as a surprise when the narrator meets Paul, her husband-to-be.

Paul also comes from a difficult family. They have left him out of the will. His sister refers to him as a loser. The relationship of Paul and the heroine makes life full where once it was bleak, meager and dubious. All this, however, has the potential to change when Paul gets lung cancer.

The couple gets married anyway, and their courage in the face of this ordeal makes the novel worth reading.

Paul is in pain. He takes morphine. Sometimes he stops breathing and has to catch his breath. He and his wife lie in bed long hours watching television because he is too ill to move. Although the doctors predict that Paul has six months to live, he is still alive after two years. This is testimony to his wife's devotion. She sees him through each tortured moment of his waking and sleeping life.

The novel does not stop with Paul's death, but delves into grief and its gradual resolution. The wife has to cope with the rejection of the husband's dysfunctional family. "He didn't really love you, he was just using you," Paul's sister tells the heroine. A sense of doubt arises--did he really love her? But the novel's answer is yes, and the book ends with affirmation.

I enjoyed this novel very much, especially since I just lost my friend to cancer. The idea of a second chance on a life that was full of misery is compelling. By the end of "Second Chance Ranch" many issues are resolved, and grief is expressed and explored. The novel can help readers cope with tragedy and loss. It is poetically written, engaging all five senses, and without clichés.

Second Chance Ranch... Wow! What an emotional read!
I'll give it 4½ Kleenexes out of 5.

Sometimes, when we read a particularly moving story about a real individual and their struggles, we are somehow able to relate. To see ourselves in the same or a similar situation that stirs memory and evokes emotion. Perhaps their pain evokes that pain brought about by some situation or event in our own lives. Perhaps their example provides inspiration or comfort. Such was the case for me with Second Chance Ranch.

Before reading this book, I had the unique privilege of meeting the author, Barbara Kennedy, at a local book signing. Being familiar with another of her works (The Holding Pen), I bought a copy of Second Chance Ranch that day.

Thus, as I read Second Chance Ranch, the author's plight was made extraordinarily present by the knowledge that I was reading about a real person; A person whom I knew, however slightly, had talked with, and whom I could readily visualize. In brief, Second Chance Ranch is an emotionally moving autobiography of a lovely woman who, despite tremendous adversity in her early life, achieves success, and finally finds her one true and abiding love, only to have that love quickly taken from her by an unexpected and untimely death.

How would you live your life, if you knew that it was heading quickly toward that proverbial brick wall? What if you found out that the love of your life was not going to be with you long? Would you marry anyway, and try to pack a lifetime of love and experience into whatever time God granted you? Would you marry simply to care for your beloved in his dark times? Anyone who has ever found themselves in a similar situation, faced the impending death of a loved one, or even faced difficulties in a relationship, will be strengthened and heartened by this woman's experience and example.

Everyone has an emotional hot button. Some Achille's Heel, brought about by a painful situation in their life. I am no exception. What touched me most is the integrity of self, the honor, and above all, the steadfast and abiding love Ms. Kennedy demonstrated as, putting herself aside, she loved and cared for her husband Paul, as he struggled with cancer towards his known destiny. She is truly an awesome woman among women, and it is an honor to have met her, both in person and in print.

Wayne Foster,
Phoenix, Arizona
September, 2006

"Second Chance Ranch" triggers many emotions. Barbara Kennedy accurately portrays a love that continues beyond loss and that loss does not end a relationship, it only changes it. Well written. An excellent read.

To anyone who has been a caregiver for a person they love who is suffering from a terminal illness, and anyone working in hospice work, this book is a must read.

As the Director of a hospice agency, I encourage all hospice workers to read this book and also ask them to selectively encourage caregivers they work with to also read it. For hospice workers, this book will grab you and vividly pull you along on the roller-coaster, emotional, exhausting, journey of the caregiver. It will energize or re-energize your empathy for these courageous people and why it is so important for us to do our work with excellence and compassion. We only have one chance to get things right.

From my long term hospice work and personal experience and also my own caregiver experience, Ms. Kennedy has captured "our stories" and also poignantly conveyed the way to heal ourselves......to forgive, forgive and forgive! Her grace, courage and resilience as a caregiver are an inspiration.......

Her generosity in donating the profits from this book to the hospice that gave her support, is indeed consistent with her generosity of sharing her private story and insights with all of us. This book will not profit Ms. Kennedy, it will profit you! She is a builder of hope...... Do yourself a favor and read her message.

Fred McDaniel,
Executive Director
HospiceCare, Inc.
Park Hills, MO

Because of the great review by Bettie Corbin Tucker at www.bookreviewers.org I purchased this book and also couldn't put it down untill I had finished it; it is an incredible book!

It was 3:00 a.m. when I finished reading "Second Chance Ranch." What can I say? I don't want to use the word enjoyable since the subject matter is sad, but I truly feel it is an incredible book.

I started reading fairly late in the evening, intending to read only a couple of chapters . . . but I couldn't stop until I finished the last page.

The feelings expressed are real and the pictures so vivid. Much of it could have been my story, especially in regard to watching the death of a loved one. It could have been the story of many people. I have been through this and experienced all of the same emotions. It was easy to relate to the agony of the main character as she watched the love of her life slowly leave her.

The quotes . . . the style of writing . . . the back and forth glimpses all present a unique format.

I was intrigued by the definition of "life" as presented in the book; it has been my own interpretation of the same for a long time. Because of this, I strive to live each day to the fullest. After finishing the book last night, I snuggled a little closer to my husband who was fast asleep.



Bettie Corbin Tucker

Author and Book Reviewer

The four authors were at the pivot point of American news delivery changing from morning and afternoon newspapers to live television. Forty years later they look back, using contemporaneous recordings and transcripts to describe the events they lived and to reflect on how it changed America and the news. Their insights about Oswald, Ruby and the officials involved bring back a flood of memories; they also enlighten us on how much the media have changed since those dark days and why.

There are so very few books that convey a sense of "being there" when it comes to the Kennedy assassination. This outstanding book takes the reader back to that fateful weekend of November 22nd 1963 in Dallas, Texas and does so in an open, honest and compelling manner.

"When the News Went Live" is written by four journalists who were in Dallas on that day covering the presidential visit. Bob Huffaker and the other three newsmen share many interesting stories that you will not find elsewhere and that have been untold for many years no doubt to all but their personal friends. This is why the book is such a valuable contribution to the historical record. Such first hand observation regarding not just those few seconds in Dealey Plaza, the murder of Officer Tippet and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald by Jack Ruby, but how in fact the entire story unfolded, makes fascinating reading.

As an aid to anyone interested in the assassination, this book is a must have. I would emphasize - rarely do you find first hand knowledge like this - much of what is written on this subject is written by people many steps removed from the event where fact and fiction merge into one. Not so here. A fabulous book which is refreshingly free of the conjecture and myth that is so common in the Himalayan pile of work on the Kennedy assassination and is highly recommended.

We have become accustomed (yea, verily, some would say desensitized)to horror unfolding before our eyes in our very own living rooms. Bob Huffaker's book brings us back to a time before the desensitization, when we could scarcely believe what our eyes were telling us. I recommend this book highly to those who were there, watching as I was, and even more so to those who were not there. The young, raised in an era of suicide bombers, need to understand that it was not always thus.

1963 nov 22 brought to life again but with more professionalism.some very interesting facts that confirmed my own thoughts .

"With three shots from a mail-order rifle, Lee Oswald set off a worldwide tragedy that developed too fast to print. .... Broadcast journalism came of age in that crisis of grief and uncertainty, and as it drew its mourning audience, it helped to hold the nation together." -- Bob Huffaker; From the Preface of "When The News Went Live: Dallas 1963"

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"When The News Went Live: Dallas 1963", published in 2004, paints a vivid word picture of many of the incredible events that surrounded President John F. Kennedy's assassination in November of 1963, as seen through the eyes of four journalists -- Bob Huffaker, Bill Mercer, George Phenix, and Wes Wise -- who covered those events as they happened for CBS affiliate KRLD-TV and Radio in Dallas.

President Kennedy's shocking and appalling assassination on November 22, 1963, was the very first really big "Watch It Unfold Live On TV" news event of the television era, with four full commercial-free days being devoted to nothing but exclusive assassination-related coverage by all three major TV networks (with KRLD's on-the-scene Dallas reporters frequently feeding CBS-TV headquarters in New York).

And the four reporters whose intriguing stories unfold within this 224-page hardcover volume were right smack in the thick of things during the rapidly-developing events -- from the initial sketchy bulletins that told of the President being shot in Dealey Plaza during a motorcade drive through the city of Dallas -- to the announcement of JFK's death at Parkland Hospital -- to the capture of the accused assassin (Lee Harvey Oswald) in a nearby movie theater -- to Oswald's very own murder on live TV (with Bob Huffaker reporting live from the basement of the Dallas Police Department, where the single gunshot from Jack Ruby's pistol added yet another hard-to-believe chapter to the weekend's nightmarish story).

It was a mesmerizing weekend in American (and television) history, to say the least. And those days are re-lived with clarity in this engaging book by way of the recollections of four men who lived through and reported on those events when they were occurring.

"When The News Went Live" contains several excellent black-and-white photographs, too (some of them I haven't seen published elsewhere).

On a personal level, I have had the pleasure of communicating (via e-mail) with Bob Huffaker several times. He has been very cordial and gracious whenever answering the questions that I had for him. His personal insights into the events revolving around JFK's death are fascinating glimpses into the past, and are insights that I have enjoyed reading immensely.

A sample e-mail excerpt from Mr. Huffaker:

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"David, you're right about the presidential visit and motorcade being the main attraction that all Dallas media were covering, of course. But all our stations had limited capabilities for doing mobile TV, which then demanded either cables or microwave dishes--as well as a receiving dish within line-of-sight beaming or bouncing.

Hence the pool TV arrangements, limited to three planned locations. The local TV stations did live TV from the FTW {Fort Worth} breakfast, Love Field, and the Trade Mart. But this was, indeed, the day the news went live on television, unplanned.

WBAP-TV in Fort Worth had a non-running TV van, which they had towed all the way from Cowtown to Dallas Police headquarters, and we sent both of our KRLD-TV vans into duty--the Bread Truck at DPD and the Blue Goose on the 24th to the county jail, etc.

This was the first time in TV history when on-the-spot news suddenly demanded to go live from the scene. Before that, radio news on-the-spot descriptions such as ours that day were common (like the Hindenburg broadcast--radio only), and live TV was usually reserved for major speeches, sports, etc.

Bob" -- E-mail to this writer; May 30, 2006

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Relating to the subject of "WHEN THE NEWS WENT LIVE", I'd like to offer up the following observations as an extension of this book review.....

To those JFK conspiracy theorists who seem to favor the Oliver Stone-like or Robert Groden-promoted assassination scenarios (that feature a minimum of three gunmen and anywhere from 6 to 10 gunshots being fired at President Kennedy in Dallas' Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963) -- I always suggest to them that they ought to dig up some of the originally-aired "As It Is Happening" live TV or radio broadcasts from that dark Friday in American history.

After performing that exercise of watching a few hours of the November 22 television coverage of the assassination (in real time), or listening to some of the radio broadcasts in real time (which works just as well) -- I challenge anyone to then arrive at the same conclusion that was slapped up on the big theater screen in 1991 via Director Oliver Stone's blockbuster, conspiracy-laden motion picture "JFK".

Watching the day's events unfold "live" in front of you (or listening to them unfold on the radio as it was happening) should, in my opinion, provide everyone with a good general idea of how utterly impossible a task it would have been to have "faked" so much stuff that was being IMMEDIATELY reported to the world on live television and radio within minutes and hours of the President's assassination (and within a very short space of time following Police Officer J.D. Tippit's murder as well).

Via those original live TV/Radio broadcasts, you're not going to hear a SINGLE report that resembles anything close to the Oliver Stone/Jim Garrison-endorsed nonsense of:

"Three gunmen fired six shots at President Kennedy's motorcade today here in Dallas!!"

What you will hear, instead, is live coverage, as it happened, of a ONE-GUNMAN assassination taking place from where the majority of witnesses said it took place (the Texas School Book Depository Building), with no more than three shots having been fired by the SINGLE SHOOTER, which is a shot count that over 91% of the witnesses concur with -- including the small percentage of witnesses who heard only one or two shots, who are witnesses that certainly don't do Mr. Stone's "6-shot ambush" theory any favors.

Upon evaluating virtually all of the TV networks' live assassination footage from November 22nd, 1963, there is no possible way that a reasonable person could arrive at a conclusion that JFK was shot by three assassins, firing from both front and rear. Let alone arriving at an even more-cockeyed "8-to-10-shot" shooting scenario, as purported by Mr. Groden and some other CTers, which is an outlandish conspiracy-flavored scenario that has John Kennedy and John Connally being shot by way more than just the two Warren Commission-backed Mannlicher-Carcano bullets from Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle.*

* = And Mr. Groden's theory (that sports from 8 to 10 gunshots) also features an additional hunk of lunacy, in that Groden thinks it's very likely that NONE of these eight to ten shots came from the "Oswald window" in the Book Depository! (I'm not making this crazy stuff up here. I promise. Anyone who owns a copy of Robert Groden's 1993 book "The Killing Of A President" can check out Groden's preposterous theory for themselves, on pages 20-40.)

The bottom line is -- Very nearly all of the information being reported on TV and radio that November day favored a "Lone Assassin" shooting scenario (including the info concerning the Tippit murder in Oak Cliff), with very little evidence and information being broadcast that would support any type of a "conspiracy" whatsoever; and certainly no "conspiratorial" evidence that has ever panned out and "proved" that a multi-gun plot ended JFK's life in Dallas.

This is quite a telling "One Killer" fact. Because, in my view, if a vast conspiracy and subsequent "cover-up" had been in place on November 22nd (given the immense amount of TV and radio coverage, with reporters scrutinizing everything coming across their desks and digging hard for any type of case-solving clues during those first hours and days after JFK and J.D. Tippit were killed), I think that at least SOME pieces of the conspiracy would have leaked through to the sweeping television and radio coverage surrounding the two Dallas murders.

And I'm guessing that every reporter and newsman in the country (including Messrs. Huffaker, Mercer, Phenix, and Wise) would have loved to dig up some "conspiracy"-proving angle during that weekend in November of '63. Being the person who uncovered such a huge story would certainly be a feather in that reporter's cap, to be sure. But, as it turned out, nothing of that nature occurred....and has yet to occur all these many years later.

To think (as many theorists do) that these conspirators were so smart and so quick to have had the capabilities to immediately eliminate virtually every last scrap of information leading to a conspiracy plot of some kind, making sure that none of the "multi-gunmen shooting event" details seeped through to the media (multiplied by TWO separate murders as well, counting Tippit's!), is to think that any such evil-doers had powers similar to "Superman".

For example -- Almost every one of the initial reports concerning the number of gunshots heard by witnesses stated "3 shots". And while it's true that the very first report of the shooting from UPI's Merriman Smith (which was broadcast over all the television networks) stated "Three shots were fired...", it's also worth noting that Smith's initial bulletin was not the ONLY "three shots" account that was reported during those early hours just after the shooting.

For instance, Jay Watson of ABC affiliate WFAA-TV in Dallas (who happened to be in Dealey Plaza during the shooting and nervously reported the first bulletins to the unaware Dallas TV audience) is heard multiple times on November 22nd saying he heard "3 shots" fired.

Plus, several other members of the media are also on record stating their own PERSONAL beliefs that exactly three shots were fired by the assassin, including Robert MacNeil, Jack Bell, Bob Clark, Jerry Haynes, and Pierce Allman, among still others.

Some of the other "Three Shot" witnesses who were riding right in the Presidential motorcade itself include -- Photographers Tom Dillard, Robert Jackson, Mal Couch, and James Underwood. Plus, both John and Nellie Connally, who were riding in the same car with President Kennedy.

In addition, Presidential aides Ken O'Donnell and David Powers, who were both riding in the Secret Service follow-up car directly behind JFK's limousine, can also be added to the lengthy list of witnesses who heard precisely three gunshots.

And then there's also amateur filmmaker Abraham Zapruder, who took the most famous 26-second home movie in history when he captured the entire assassination with his 8mm Bell & Howell movie camera -- Zapruder showed up on live TV about 90 minutes after the President's murder took place and gave a graphic account of the horrifying event that had taken place in front of his very eyes.

Mr. Zapruder told the WFAA-TV viewing audience that he had heard two or three shots (but definitely no more than three), and he also demonstrated on live television where on the President's head he had seen the effects of the fatal gunshot. Zapruder puts his hand over the right-frontal portion of his own head to demonstrate where he saw the blood coming from JFK's head.

That's pretty amazing "LIVE" stuff from Mr. Zapruder's own lips (within approx. an hour-and-a-half of the assassination). And it's especially incredible and amazing if there had actually been many more than just two or three shots fired at the President, and if the fatal shot had actually (as many CTers believe) caused a huge hole in the BACK of John Kennedy's head, instead of the location where Zapruder placed it on live television -- i.e., the RIGHT SIDE AND FRONT portion of the head.

How could the so-called "conspirators" have possibly gotten THAT lucky with respect to Abraham Zapruder's live "on-the-air" WFAA-TV statements and head-wound "demonstration"? How?

And -- Could these ultra-clever conspirators have somehow managed to "manipulate" several reporters who were relaying the news live to the world immediately after the event, and have them ALL report on hearing just "three shots" (or, in a few cases, hearing only TWO shots, which is a number that certainly does not favor a "Multi-Shooter Conspiracy Plot")?

Or did the plotters just happen to get really, really LUCKY (again) when virtually all of the news reports favored the "Three Shots Fired" conclusion? With this 3-shot scenario matching the precise number of bullet shells that were found on the 6th Floor of the Book Depository after the shooting; and also perfectly matching the exact number of shots heard by TSBD witness Harold Norman, and also perfectly matching the precise number of bullet shells (3) that Norman heard hitting the plywood floor directly above his 5th-Floor location within the Depository.

Which, per Oliver Stone's movie, would mean that a full 50% of the ACTUAL number of gunshots were somehow inaudible to the enormous majority (91%+) of the earwitnesses! And, remember, Oliver has NONE of the shots within his movie's six-shot assassination ambush being "synchronized" in order to merge together with the sound of some of the other shots.

And yet, per Mr. Stone, we're supposed to actually believe that approximately 9 out of every 10 witnesses somehow missed hearing HALF of the gunshots fired that day! A reasonable thing to believe....or not? I ask you.

Were these so-called conspiratorial shooters so good that they could make 4 to 10 shots sound like only three to the vast majority of witnesses scattered all throughout Dealey Plaza? Highly doubtful, to say the least.

Again -- I'd advise all conspiracy theorists to sit down and watch the live TV footage....or listen to some of the surviving 11/22/63 radio tapes....and then try to find a "Multi-Gunmen Conspiracy" lurking within ANY of those original broadcasts. If anybody finds proof of a conspiracy via those means, please let me know. And let the world know too.

David Von Pein
December 2006
January 2007

So glad this type of book, filled with very helpful information and insight, has been published. Can't wait until Craig writes a book for each state and then tackles Europe. Sent an autographed copy to a good friend, a double amputee who truly appreciates the author's ability to advise most accurately.

"Congratulations to Andy Jehn and Craig Kennedy for having the foresight and creativity to publish a much needed resource for the State of Colorado. This publication will draw attention to the programs that already exist to make the Rockies accessible and inspire others to focus on breaking down barriers for the disabled. Thank you."

Amanda Boxtel is the paraplegic Co-founder and Director of Special Projects for Challenge Aspen, an all-seasons non-profit adaptive recreation provider for Aspen Mountain and the surrounding area. Formed in 1995, it has become one of the premier adaptive outfits in the country for people with disabilities.

"Written from the heart, Craig Kennedy and Andrea Jehn have managed to paint a vivid picture of adaptive programs at Colorado Ski Resorts. Descriptions are filled with specifics and "how to" tips that will get you where you need to go. It's more than just the usual maps, websites, phone numbers and lists. Their words make you want to become part of the ambiance, the experience and the fun of winter recreation. This book is a must have for anyone with special needs!"

Johanna Hall, after many years of working with and running the ski school at Vail Mountain in Colorado, has moved to Steamboat to take over as manager of the Steamboat Ski & Snowboard School. She has been an avid outdoor enthusiast and skier her entire life.

"As our communities begin to make accommodation for those who can benefit from program and facility adaptation and expansion, it becomes increasingly important to publish this vital information to those who would benefit from it. Information contained in Access Anything: Colorado has been carefully researched and validated by the authors in such a way to be presented in a realistic and practical fashion. There is thoroughness to the material, which is of value to most anyone of any level of disability. No literature can be the end all resource form any single person with a disability. This resource guide does present information in a way the reader can make an appropriate distinction as to whether or not any given subject resource within the contents would merit further exploration. This is an excellent effort to make information of value known to persons who would benefit from consideration for accommodation."

Sam Andrews has been a Craig Hospital employee as director of Therapeutic Recreation and Volunteer Services for many years, specializing in spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation. Craig Hospital is one of the leading spinal chord and brain injury rehabilitation centers in the country.

"Craig and Andy have really done their "away from" homework in creating this bible for the wheelchair traveler. Thanks you for this great guide."

Steve Ackerman is a long-time resident of Colorado, a National spokesman for Freedom Ryder Handcycles, and owner of a medical supply company for people with disabilities.

this book smashes the Warren report into a million peices in an unbiased way based upon facts logic and evidence.Mrs.Meagher proves that Oswald was innocent and that the warren report was a sham!she examines and dismantles every so called evidence the report had on oswald!!Oswald was innocent we the people are his defense counsel!this book has to be reprinted get it out there!!highly recommended!

Ms. Meagher's book is well documented, insightful and detailed. She skillfully takes the reader through discrepancies in the Warren Commission report and lays it all out for the reader. Her conclusions are based on facts that are very clearly presented, and on common sense. At no time did I get the impression that this book was attempting to influence my views on the work of the Warren Commission. Ms. Meagher spells it out for the reader step by step.

Reading this book makes you wonder how many police departments and courts actually did what they were supposed to back in the 1960s, and how they're doing today. Ms Meagher does an excellent job breaking down the Warren Commission's report and demonstrating that their synopsis of events is based on multiple errors, misstatements, and wishful thinking. Having come out before most of the "conspiracy theory" genere that surrounds JFK assassinations tories today, Ms. Meaghers book stands above all of them. She refuses to let her book wander into sensationalism, does not implicate UFO's or any such things, nor does she mix in photos which claim to show the truth but are often blurry, grainy or totally unrevealing to the lay reader. Instead, she stays on target, picking apart the Warren Commission's flawed analysis with nimble wit and skill.

Of all the books about the JFK assassination, why is ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT out of print? If you want to read books on how the Norweigian mob hired hitmen from the Planet Glixorg and had the assassination covered up by their media insider, Soupy Sales, there are dozens of books. But the one book to take a serious look at the Warren Commission's Report, to pick apart its inaccuracies, and to analyze its contradictions, is becoming harder and harder to find. Even Gerald Posner, in his tantrum, CASE CLOSED, could not lay a finger on the late Sylvia Meagher's masterwork. Why? Because it is a precise, unimpassioned, and brilliant piece of exploratory surgery on a very sick Warren Report. This book proves the Commission had a single purpose, and finding the truth was not that purpose. The lack of access to Sylvia Meagher's ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT is, to me, a tragic mistake and possible proof of a continuing cover-up.

Back in the early 70s I worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide on a Senate Commitee trying to reopen the Kennedy assassination or generate support for a House investigation. This was in the post-Garrison era and the credibility of anyone challenging the Warren Commission was suspect. (We now know that many of Garrison's failings were due to sabotage, but back then he was still radioactive to Senators, Representatives, and their staffs.)

Anyway, after all the backlash following the Clay Shaw acquittal it was still a tough sell, and the typical Congressman would give you no more than 5-10 minutes time to make your case, so we needed a one or two page list of powerful bullet points demonstrating that Oswald could not have acted alone, if he acted at all, and showing that the Warren investigation was compromised by the FBI and the CIA. These were serious allegations, so each
point had to be backed up by solid proof.

At the time, there were 5-6 serious books damning the Warren Commision Report: Inquest, by Edward J Epstein; Rush to Judgment by Mark Lane; Six Seconds in Dallas by Josiah Thompson; Whitewash by Harold Weisberg; and They've Killed the President by Robert Sam Anson.

In creating that fact sheet, no book was more carefully documented than Accessories after the Fact, and no book was more comprehensive and meticulous.

When we had to source each bullet point Meagher's book did the best job in directing us to the proof.

I left the Hill in 76--before the HSCA was created, and it has always bitter disappointment to me how its own work appears to ha ve been sabotaged, not unlike what happend to Garrison.

In the years since I have retained a keen interest in this topic, and at last count have read over 40 books. Meagher's book still remains one of the two or three best books written about JFK's death. In fact I consider it one of the best forensic investigation reports I have ever read in 25 years of practicing civil rights litigation.

"Battling Wall Street: The Kennedy Presidency" is great reading for people who want to move beyond books about the mechanics of the Kennedy assassination. The book helps explain why the "Eastern establishment" and a lot of other influential people, might want to get rid of President Kennedy. Another book, "History Will Not Absolve Us : Orwellian Control, Public Denial, & the Murder of President Kennedy" provides additional pieces of the puzzle by explaining how the American establishment, including leading establishment liberals like Noam Chomsky and Alexander Cockburn, have worked to sell the Warren Commision's 'lone gunman' cover-up. The amazing thing about the Kennedy assassination is that, despite a lot of nonsense coming from the mainstream media, the American people know it wasn't a lone gunman and the killers didn't do us a favor.

In reviewing the thoughts of most researchers of the JFK assassination, one sees that most of them invariably bring up the Cuba issue, and occasionally Lee Harvey Oswald's possible involvement with this issue.
Now, however, in this book, Professor Donald Gibson may have uncovered the real issues behind the death of President Kennedy. He reveals so many issues, in fact, that one has to begin to decide which one is the crucial one, the one that provoked the conspirators to decide to kill him.

The death of Kennedy seems to this observer of the American scene a resolution of the struggle of the two forces to decide who really rules America. Since people who run the government colluded with the murderers of the president, it's pretty obvious who really runs the show.
Readers of this book may want to try Gibson's second book, "The Kennedy Assassination Cover-Up". After forty years, Americans should want a reasonable answer to the question of who killed Kennedy. Gibson may provide the answer.

In 1989 a book was published called "Crossfire", in which Texas-based journalist Jim Marrs reviewed most of the information he thought was then available concerning the JFK assassination. A large part of the book dealt with those people and groups whom he thought were the most likely to have killed Kennedy. Allen Dulles and his CIA were included in his list.
Donald Gibson has added one more suspect to this list in this book, and it would appear to this reader that someone has finally made sense of the events of November 22, 1963.
From this one book alone, one could seriously accept the idea that the eastern establishment, the Wall Street crowd, the corporate elite and all their connections had the most to lose with Kennedy as president. They had the motive and means to kill the president and then to cover it up. Gibson flatly states the establishment and the CIA's interests were intertwined. In fact, the CIA was merely the enforcer for the Council on Foreign Relations global agenda. Both Allen Dulles and John J McCloy were extremely important members of the Council, who managed to land on the Warren Commission and lead the cover-up. In fact, a case could be built that they organized the plot. All they needed was the green light from someone in the inner circle of the Rockefeller-dominated Council, like one of the Rockefellers.

this book helped give me a whole new meaningful perspective on the kennedy assasination..it sifts through all the misinformation, and the same tired trashy expose type books on the kennedy presidency that don't give any meaningful information, i am much more interested in a president's policies economic and otherwise as opposed to his sex life...i highly reccommend that anyone interested in politics, economics, or the kennedy assasination read this book twice and very slowly. gibson lays everything out clearly in an easy to understand way, i highly reccomend this book.

This book is a great read. The subject matter is interesting and thought provoking. I had the privilage of having Prof. Gibson in class. His knowledge is vast and inspiring. His passion has motivated me not only in the college realm but in life itself.

this book tells us about rfk,jfk and kenny o'donnel. it tells us about how they were, and it's very interessing. I suggest it to all people who are fan of the keenedys, like me. there are a few rares photos.

I used to work with the author's uncle, Cleo, who also plays a large part in this book. Over lunch and sometimes drinks after work, he used to tell us some of the wonderful stories of his and his brother's friendship with the Kennedy brothers. When I saw this book, I had to get it and it is bringing back wonderful memories of 25 years ago in Boston. In fact, if I am not mistaken, the author herself may have helped out in the office once or twice during school vacations. In any case, if you are a Kennedy fan, this is a touching, well-written book full of warmth and good stories about the Kennedys' and O'Donnells' as real people, written by someone who knew them. Don't miss it.

Kenny O'Donnell has done an outstanding job of providing insight to a man who figured largely in world history. He has drawn a very real, very strong portrait of a man who set and met many personal goals in his personal and professional life. Robert Kennedy was, in my opinion the most interesting of his brothers. Mr. O'Donnell does an excellent job of describing the aura of sincerity Robert Kennedy exuded. He helps bring a man into focus who has been dead for many years by describing the consistencies of his character. Robert Kennedy was clearly a very driven, very determined and very hard working man. He was also a very caring, very committed and very compassionate as well. He was a central figure in world history and I think the late Senator's works have certainly influenced the world for the better. This book is definitely worth reading.

A Common Good is an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It is a warm portrayl of Bobby, Jack and Kenny O'Donnel as people. There are laughs and poignant moments. It s a must for anyone interested in Robert Kennedy.

This is a very well written and, at times, touching book by (former JFK Chief of Staff) Kenny O'Donnell's daughter Helen (with a little help from former DNC advance man Jerry Bruno and her late father's audio tapes). There is great information about Kenny's relationship with RFK and, to a leser extent, JFK. As the elading civilian expert on the Secret Service, one word of caution, though: she misspells Secret Service agent Jerry Behn's name as "Bain" and she concludes that her father had a hand in planning JFK's Dallas motorcade route-he did not.
Vince Palamara
Secret service expert, History Channel, author of 2 books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.

Michael R. Beschloss' 1991 book, The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khruschev 1960-1963, is a literary rarity: a history book about a complex and critical period in the 20th Century that is so well-written that it reads like a novel.

Beschloss describes the dramatic events of the period that began shortly before the Presidential election of 1960 and ended with the dreadful events of November 22, 1963, focusing on the interplay between President John F. Kennedy and Chairman Nikita S. Khruschev. These two men from vastly different worlds -- one the son of a self-made millionaire from Boston, the other the son of Russian peasants who had been semiliterate until his thirties -- held the fate of the world in their hands.

The Crisis Years discusses in great detail the most dramatic events of the Cold War, including JFK's first meeting with the Soviet leader in Vienna, the Bay of Pigs fiasco, the building of the Berlin Wall (including a photo capturing the only time American tanks and Soviet tanks faced off), the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the signing of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that marked the first thaw in the frosty relations between the superpowers.

This book is sadly out of print, but it's definitely a must-read for readers who want to know more about this critical period in world history.

This book rescued me from the recent Taubman biography of Khruschev. Not that I didn't thoroughly enjoy Taubman...up until the point that Kennedy was assassinated. Somehow, without Kennedy to reflect off of, or react off of, or bark at, or explode at, Khruschev became rather dull.

This book, winding as it does completely around the relationship between the leaders of the two superpowers, their mistrusts of each other, their odd affection for each other, their correspondence, and their dangerous, global risk-taking flare-ups, proves far more interesting. Beschloss creates characters full of life and vigor, sympathetic and sometimes frightening, as when Khruschev threatens war over Berlin, or when we learn the details of the narcotics the President required to manage his back pain.

The book also manages to set the stage for years and years of politics to come, in space policy, in cold war strategy, and in the Vietnam war.

Interesting to note that Castro came to the UN after the Cuban revolution in the hope of normalising relations with the US but was rebuffed. There then followed the Bay of Pigs. If cooler heads had prevailed and approachement made at that point, we may have been living in a totally different world today. A banal observation, admitedly. Certainly, US intransigence led to a more absolutist and repressive Castro.
Kennedy indeed felt that Khrushchev had outclassed him when it came to discussing political ideology on first meeting, but Kennedy did focus on the crux of the whole matter. The nation that could provide best materially for it's people would be the winner of the cold war. Krushchev ended up in a hut in the country somewhere, an 'expendable hero' as Harry Palmer once joked to an old Bolschevic in the film 'Funeral In Berlin'.

Michael Beschloss has done what every history writer should aspire to...make complex history telling "readable". Even though this book is very long, it flows very smoothly without missing any of the details of that "Crisis" era. I love books on the Cuban Missile Crisis and have found very few that would be characterized above the "textbook" level, but this one surely meets that tough standard. This book should be included in every "Crisis" historians library.

This is a massive (700 page), comprehensive, if not especially analytic, study of the United States' relationship with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, told from the perspectives of the superpowers' leaders, John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. At the beginning of his administration, Kennedy may have had sincere desire to improve relations with the Soviets, but his famous inaugural address was interpreted by many as a committed cold warrior's call to arms, and, as Beschloss's title implies, a series of foreign policy crises followed. Often in minute detail, Beschloss discusses the disastrous invasion of Cuba by opponents of Fidel Castro at the Bay of Pigs, the construction of the Berlin Wall, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the Cuban missile crisis. For those who enjoy narrative history liberally sprinkled with portraits of colorful personalities, this is a fascinating book.

There is little in this book which is new, but much of it bears repeating, especially for readers too young to remember the early 1960s. However odious Castro's dictatorship was to become, the attempt to topple it in the spring of 1961 was destined to fail. According to Beschloss, one of Kennedy's advisers warned him that "he could not recall a single case in history when refugees returned and successfully overthrew a revolutionary regime." The Berlin crisis that summer did not escalate into a nuclear confrontation because, as Kennedy observed: "A wall is a hell of a lot better than a war." And Beschloss writes about the missile crisis that the 39 hours' warning of the naval quarantine that Kennedy gave Khrushchev "demonstrated the President's wisdom in starting his response not with an irreversible air strike but with milder pressures that gave Khrushchev time to ponder his move."

Some of Beschloss's observations about the leaders border on gossip. He lends credence to reports that Khrushchev could be a buffoon who occasionally drank too much and that Kennedy's enthusiastic womanizing continued while he was president. But personal traits and predilections often could not be separated from matters of substance. For instance, the author reports that Kennedy was regularly treated by a medical practitioner with "vitamin shots" which "also contained amphetamines, steroids, hormones, and animal organ cells." Beschloss proceeds to explain the importance of this revelation: "Even in small doses, amphetamines cause side effects such as nervousness, garrulousness, impaired judgment, overconfidence, and, when the drug wears off, depression." Beschloss implies that Kennedy may have been under the influence of amphetamines at his summit meeting with Khrushchev in the spring of 1961, when the Soviet leader, by Kennedy's own admission, "just beat hell out of me." Beschloss concludes that Kennedy "should have been vastly more careful in pursuing his medical experimentation than he had been as a Senator. The stakes now were not one political career but literally the fate of the world."

This book is not without its limitations. As I implied above, it is much stronger on narrative than analysis, and some passages give the impression that Beschloss was more interested in the personalities of Kennedy and Khrushchev than in the substance of the policies they devised and pursued. Beschloss's discussion of Kennedy's approach to the growing conflict in Vietnam is brief and generally superficial. The book's organization is quirky: The role of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in the development of Kennedy's national-security policy is barely mentioned until page 400. And the index is not entirely reliable. (For instance, the index's listing for Gen. Lyman Lemnitzer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, inexplicably omits reference to Beschloss's description of a critical briefing Lemnitzer gave to the President in September 1961 in which the "bottom line" was that "the United States enjoyed vast nuclear superiority.")

While I was preparing this review, I discovered that this book, which was published in 1991, is already out of print, and that surprised me a bit. Some aspects of it clearly have been superceded by more recent scholarship, such as Lawrence Freedman's Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam, which I reviewed here shortly after it was published last November, but I believe that Beschloss's book continues to be of value. The magnificent 19th-century English historian Thomas Carlyle once wrote: "The history of the world is but the biography of great men." Few eras provide more validation for Carlyle's perspective than the crisis years of 1961 and 1962, dominated as they were by the intensely personal diplomacy of Kennedy and Khrushchev. Beschloss's coverage of that aspect of U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations during this period is superb.

This is a excellent book full of safe practices, practical tips, and clear illustrations. In my opinion, this book is much better than the "classic" texts such as "Freedom of the Hills" and Selters' "GT&CR." It is also better than the Falcon Guide "Glaciers".

What sets this apart is the terrific illustrations of very practical systems/practices. It also contains innumerable tips that I learned only as lore handed down over 20+ years of mountaineering. I now teach glacier travel and crevasse rescue within a Mountain Rescue unit, and this book will become mandatory for all such sessions going forward.

Great book with awesome pictures that help explain complex concepts about glacier travel. I'd buy this before Freedom of the Hills.

I am the illustrator and co-author of this instructional book. This may seem like shameless self promotion, and I guess it is - but I am really proud of this totally cool book! There's two years of hard work crammed into these pages. Besides the all the drawings, I've done a whole lot of hands on work on glaciers in Alaska, Canada & the Cascades. Both Andy and I teach glacier rescue skills for an outdoor school (NOLS), and we've spent a lot of time trouble shooting and simplifying the complex systems you'll need know before setting foot on a glacier. Here's the bottom line - GLACIERS ARE DANGEROUS! Make sure you are educated (with this up-to-date book) if you plan on any kind of glacier travel! If nothing else, there are over 200 easy to read, step by step, technical illustrations that are fun to look at - and very informative!

This was a great book, short, concise and extremely descriptive. A lot of the descriptions for a knot or setup of a pulley system is covered in Freedom of the Hills and other books. But in any other book, you will be disappointed to only find a description, leaving the reader wondering...hmm..Now where would I use this? In the Illustrated Guide, not only do they provide great drawings and demonstrations for everything mentioned, but they also talk about when, and why. After reading this book I have felt so much more confidence in my level of knowledge about glacier travel. It's the perfect book for those wishing to learn or to teach others.

As a beginner/intermediate climber this book covers all the necessary glacier-related issues. The pictures are great and help make complex concepts very easy to understand. Much better than the traditional texts (e.g. Freedom of the Hills) for Glacier Travel.

The book reads fast--each story pulls you into the next one. Take it to the arena and read it while you wait for your kid's practice to start. You'll find you have to read on when you get home. You get to really like the kid/person portrayed in the book.

"Growing Up Hockey" is about a little boy, this one a real-life hockey player named Brian Kennedy. If you enjoyed "A Christmas Story" and love hockey, you'll be glad to know that reading Kennedy's account of his love affair with hockey is like listening to Ralphie Parker talk about his obsession for a Red Ryder BB gun. The major difference is that Kennedy schemes for not a rifle to fend off Black Bart but rather a hockey stick with a banana curve and then a Ken Dryden hockey card so that he can boast to his playground pals. You read this story, and you'll boast to your hockey friends that you've read the funniest hockey book you've read in years.

Brian Kennedy's Growing Up Hockey will take you back to the playground, reminding you of the politics of childhood. For Brian, this meant having the right hockey stick and having the rare hockey cards. But do not be fooled. This book is not just for hockey fans. Anyone can relate. As kids, we all wanted to be able to brag to our friends about our possessions or our accomplishments. And those things we loved as children we often take with us as adults. This is what this book is all about.

And the writing style? Brian writes in a way that makes it hard to put the book down. He does not waste words, but he gives all the detail needed. I read the book in three days, even after having to steal it back from my wife.

My husband bought this book and I was curious about it when I read the title. I started reading and just couldn't stop. This is a book full of memories and moments that stayed in the mind of the narrator, and they take us (as readers) back to our own memories. These stories made me think about friends in the playground, about that one fleeting moment of athletic success and how it feels to be so close to my dreams of glory. Reading story after story reminded me about that past that we very often take for granted and easily forget, but that will always be a series of defining moments that make us who we are. It's also gratifying to read where the narrator ended up, since he reflects also on his own present life. I am not a hockey fan, but I enjoy good stories, especially when they're written in a way that grabs you.

Brian Kennedy's story of the average hockey lover/player growing up in Canada is one I think everyone who loves hockey will enjoy. Growing Up Hockey chronicles Mr. Kennedy's life as he grew up in Canada and later went to the US and England for school or work. Although I grew up in the US, where hockey was not the main sport, I enjoyed reading about what life is like for those who grow up with hockey as an integral part of their lives.

It's great that the US has so many options, but I found myself wishing I knew what it was like to be able to discuss hockey with almost anyone around. Since I've been a fan of hockey, I've always had a couple friends who enjoy the game about as much as I do, but it would be something else to experience an environment where those who did not follow hockey were the exception.

Mr. Kennedy's detailed account of his life growing up with hockey as a central influence is very interesting. He tells stories about playing hockey, watching hockey, hockey cards, living without being able to see much hockey, the differences between the NHL and ENL (in England), and life in Canada. I couldn't recommend this book more for anyone in your life who loves hockey!