Posted on 09/15/2007 6:55:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK – Sen. Edward Kennedy has held preliminary discussions with publishers about writing a book on his career, an adviser to the senator told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Kennedy, whose books in recent years include a policy work and a children's story, has retained Washington, D.C., attorney Robert Barnett. Barnett's many literary clients include former President Clinton, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan.
“After many years of being requested to do so, and after writing several other books in recent years, Sen. Kennedy has decided to consider the possibility of writing a book about his career and his views about some of the most critical historical events in modern times,” said Kennedy adviser Stephanie Cutter.
“When and if the time comes, we'll announce further details.”
Asked if the book might go beyond his Senate record into such personal history as the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, Cutter said “there have only been a few preliminary meetings.”
“It's premature to even describe the book. It doesn't exist yet,” she said.
According to Cutter, the immediate inspiration for a possible book was an oral history project about Kennedy's public life that was launched in 2004 in conjunction with the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. The project, expected to last several years, will include interviews with the senator, family members, colleagues, journalists, foreign leaders and others.
Cutter said the project “refocused his attention on the enormous progress we've made in civil rights, equal opportunity and justice, as well as the critical challenges we face in the future.”
Despite his obvious interest in his own record, Kennedy, 75, has no plans to retire, Cutter said, noting that he was re-elected last year. The Massachusetts Democrat is the reigning patriarch of one of the country's most famous, and tragic, political dynasties.
He has served in the Senate since 1962, emerging as a leading legislator and voice of liberalism while enduring the deaths of his brothers, the breakup of his first marriage and numerous other personal trials.
“People would certainly want to hear what he has to say; among the Kennedys still living, he is one of the few who can go back into the relationships to his two brothers,” says historian Robert Dallek, who has written a best-selling biography of President Kennedy.
Kennedy's previous works include “My Senator and Me,” a children's story, and “America Back on Track.” He has been the subject of countless books and cooperated with one author, Adam Clymer, for a biography that came out in 1999.
I wonder if he’ll mention the trips he took to Russia, asking for their help in throwing elections.
Last and Least of the Kennedy Brothers
Why I Left Harvard
Making a Splash in Massachusetts
How I Helped Creat the Boat People
A Waitress Sandwich
And so on...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.