Interviews: Ariel Paredes (August 1, 2017); R. Couri Hay (July 2, 2010, September 16, 2017, September 18, 2017); Hugh “Yusha” Auchincloss III (October 12, 1998, November 1, 1999); Nini Auchincloss Strait (October 11, 1998); George Smathers (October 5, 1998, December 12, 1998); John Perry Barlow (February 1, 1999, April 15, 2015, August 28, 2017, September 10, 2017); Sister Pauline Joseph (March 1, 2011, March 1, 2017); Gustavo Paredes (August 20, 2016, October 7, 2016, July 21, 2017); Stephen Styles-Cooper (May 1, 1998, April 15, 2005, May 11, 2010, June 18, 2015); Stewart Price (July 12, 2013, September 1, 2016, February 1, 2018); Tammy Holloway (May 31, 2010, June 2, 2010); Bryan Holloway (June 1, 2010); Richard Bradley (June 5, 2010, September 14, 2017, October 1, 2017); Holly Safford (May 15, 2010); Phillip Bloch (May 20, 2010); Virgil McLyn (May 31, 2010); Christopher Lawford (May 5, 1998, August 3, 2009, September 2, 2017, January 23, 2018).
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s commentary about celebrity biographies—“what would be the point of writing about a celebrity if you weren’t going to reveal his or her secrets,” etc.—was made to the author in 1985 at Doubleday Publishing Company.
John Kennedy Jr.’s commentary about the responsibility of media was to the author after the announcement of his George magazine enterprise on September 7, 1995, in New York’s Federal Hall.
“Slightly more frightening…” Madonna to the author, June 1989.
The man at the center of Carolyn’s “emotional affair” asked to not be identified.
Max Kennedy’s commentary relating to his family’s view of the press (“… there’s a perception that we Kennedys are opposed to the public having a fuller understanding of who we are, of what makes us tick”) was to the author in 1998 at a book party celebrating the release of his work, Make Gentle the Life of This World: The Vision of Robert F. Kennedy.
President John F. Kennedy’s speech (“The hour of decision has arrived. We cannot afford to wait and see what happens while the tide of events sweeps over and beyond us…”) was given to the National Association of Manufacturers at the Waldorf-Astoria on December 6, 1961.
Articles: “Story of JFK Jr.: A Profile of Courage” by Michael Kilian, Chicago Tribune, July 22, 1999; “How Caroline and John Remember Their Father” by David E. Powers, McCall’s, November 1973; “Ted Kennedy’s Memories of JFK” by Theodore Sorensen, McCall’s, November 1973; “Crazy for Carolyn” by Tessa Namuth, et. al., Newsweek, October 20, 1996; “JFK Jr.’s Final Journey” by Evan Thomas, Newsweek, August 1, 1999. I also drew from my extensive research for the two-part series I authored, “The Life and Loves of the Prince of Camelot,” Woman’s Day, July 26, 1999, as well as my three-part series, “JFK Jr.—Golden Child,” Star, August 1999. Also, I started researching a book about JFK Jr. in 1998 and, upon his death, decided to switch to my book about the Kennedy wives, Jackie, Ethel, Joan. I’ve drawn from that original research for this volume.
Volumes: Fairytale Interrupted: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Loss by RoseMarie Terenzio; What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill; The Men We Became: My Friendship with John F. Kennedy, Jr. by Robert T. Littell; Jacqueline Kennedy Bouvier Onassis: A Life by Donald Spoto; The Bouviers: From Waterloo to the Kennedys and Beyond by John H. Davis; Times to Remember by Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy; Mother American Night: My Life in Crazy Times by John Perry Barlow.
Speeches: “Mud Wrestling with History: Snapshots of My Life as a Brother-in-Law to John F. Kennedy” by James Auchincloss.
Oral Histories: Dun Gifford/RFK Oral History Project; Roswell Gilpatric/JFK Library; Luella Hennessey/JFK Library; Robert Francis Kennedy/JFK Library.
Television: I drew from my research and report “JFK Jr.’s Argument with Carolyn,” Day & Date, March 4, 1996.
Interviews: Noelle Bombardier (September 5, 2017, September 29, 2017, as well as all interviews conducted for After Camelot in 2012); James Skakel (January 3, 1997); Josefina “Fina” Harvin (January 9, 2017); Joseph Gargan (March 17, 1999 and follow-up email questionnaire, April 1, 1999, October 3, 2002, December 1, 2016); Andy Williams (August 1998, May 2002, January 2011); Gore Vidal (April 8, 1998, June 2, 1998, May 1, 2010); Jamie Auchincloss (November 7, 1999, May 2, 2008, May 3, 2008); Barry Davis (October 15, 2016); Danine Barber (November 11, 2016, November 12, 2016); Ann Skakel McCooey (September 12, 2017); Leah Mason; Christopher Lawford.
Articles: “A Gift from Long Ago” by Bob Herbert, The New York Times, November 22, 2010; “The Kennedy of Hickory Hill” by Hays Gory, Time, August 25, 1969 (Note: This is Ethel Kennedy’s only cover story in Time).
Volumes: I referred to my extensive research for my books Jackie, Ethel, Joan and The Kennedys: After Camelot. I also referenced The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy by Jean Kennedy Smith; The Kennedy Legacy by Theodore C. Sorensen; With Kennedy by Pierre Salinger; Rose Kennedy and Her Family: The Best and Worst of Their Lives and Times by Barbara Gibson and Ted Schwarz; Ethel Kennedy and Life at Hickory Hill by Leah Mason (unpublished manuscript); Life with Rose Kennedy: An Intimate Account by Barbara Gibson and Caroline Latham; Rose: A Biography of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy by Gail Cameron; Moon River and Me: A Memoir by Andy Williams.
Documentaries: Ethel, the 2012 HBO documentary directed by her daughter Rory Kennedy and written by her son-in-law Mark Bailey, from which I culled quotes from Christopher, Maxwell, and Courtney Kennedy.
The note from Jackie to Ethel (“My Ethel, I stayed up…”) was put up for auction by Heritage Auction Galleries in 2006. It has since been returned to the Kennedy family.
Interviews: Eunice Kennedy Shriver (2002); Hugh Sidey; Neil Connolly (December 2, 1998, April 2, 2007); Theresa Lichtman (February 2, 2018); Christopher Lawford (October 20, 2009); Frank Mankiewicz (August 25, 1998); Dun Gifford; Ted Sorensen (April 1998; May 2008, in conjunction with the publication of his book Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History; March 2009); Patricia Seaton Lawford (June 1, 2017); Lois Aldrech (August 5, 2016, August 6, 2016); Arthur Schlesinger (March 1, 1997, March 28, 2003, April 18, 2006); Robert McNamara (June 2008); Jacques Lowe (December 15, 1998, July 11, 1999, November 7, 1999, October 12, 2000).
I also referenced the transcript of Mr. Sorensen’s speech at the Charleston School of Law on February 23, 2010.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s comment “I’ve come to believe that it’s not what happened to our family…” is from the author’s personal interview, 2002.
Kerry Kennedy’s comment “It’s difficult when your most private moments…” is from the author’s interview with her after the symposium on Kennedy women at the JFK Library, October 1996.
Articles: “Oprah Talks to Maria Shriver,” O: The Oprah Magazine, June 2008; “The Fall of the House of Kennedy” by Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2010.
Volumes: In the Kennedy Kitchen: Recipes and Recollections of a Great American Family by Neil Connolly and Elizabeth Benedict; Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Moments of Clarity: Voices from the Front Lines of Addiction and Recovery by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most by Timothy Shriver; A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver by Mark K. Shriver; American Values: Lessons I Learned from My Family by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John Kennedy by Michael Beschloss; Hostage to Fortune: The Letters of Joseph P. Kennedy by Amanda Smith.
Documentaries: Note that throughout this book, I referenced the CNN documentary series American Dynasties: The Kennedys, from which I culled quotes by Robert Kennedy Jr., Patrick Kennedy, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. I, too, was a commentator on each of the six episodes of that CNN series.
Forum: “The Kennedy Women” at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library and Museum, October 4, 1996 (after which I had the opportunity to meet and question Kerry Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Rory Kennedy, and Victoria Reggie Kennedy).
Oral Histories: From the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: Robert Shriver III and Maria Shriver, January 29, 2019; Victoria R. Kennedy, April 8, 2010; Caroline Raclin (daughter of Victoria Reggie Kennedy), November 11, 2008.
Lectures: Kerry Kennedy book signing and lecture, Cape Codder Resort & Spa, July 2, 2018; Robert Kennedy Jr. book signing and lecture, Cape Codder Resort and Spa, August 23, 2018.
Interview: Benedict F. Fitzgerald Jr. (April 11, 2004, March 30, 2014).
Articles: “The Kennedy Clan Decides to Cash in Last Big Business” by Mitchell Pacelle, David D. Kirkpatrick, and Calmetta Y. Coleman, The Wall Street Journal, January 26, 1998; “Merchandise Mart Sold” by J. Linn Allen, Chicago Tribune, January 27, 1998; “How the $1 Billion Kennedy Family Fortune Defies Death and Taxes” by Carl O’Donnell, Forbes, July 8, 2014; “Size of Billionaire-Bashing Chris Kennedy’s Fortune a Mystery, Still” by Kim Janssen, Chicago Tribune, June 1, 2017; “State’s Longest-Practicing Lawyer Looks Back on Drama-Filled Career,” by David E. Frank, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, March 13, 2014.
Television: “Kennedy’s Wealth Exceeded Tens of Millions,” CBS News, August 31, 2009.
Interviews: Kara Kennedy (January 3, 1998, April 4, 2011); Dun Gifford (2005); David Burke (1999, 2008); Richard Burke (August 23, 1999); Ted Sorensen (2008); Thomas Franken (May 12, 2018); Pat Bruno (January 23, 2018); Megan Strayhorn (April 11, 2018, April 12, 2018); Marcia Chellis; Sister Pauline Joseph; Dr. David Sugarbaker (January 5, 2017, January 15, 2017); Webster Janssen (November 14, 2011, November 16, 2011, December 1, 2011, and a follow-up telephone conversation on January 12, 2012, based on new information relating to Joan’s being able to lease the Squaw Island home in summer months).
Note that Joan’s court-appointed caretaker who witnessed the packing of the Squaw Island home asked for anonymity. Leah Mason was also present and corroborated her memories in interviews for my book The Kennedys: After Camelot.
I would also like to thank Mary Gillan, who was Dr. Sugarbaker’s assistant at Dana-Farber/Brigham. Her interviews were conducted on January 19, 2017, and January 26, 2017.
I would to thank the late author James Spada for providing me with a wealth of material on Ted, Joan, and their children, Kara, Teddy Jr., and Patrick, which he compiled during the process of developing a book about the senator. His in-depth research—including his interviews with many of their intimates—proved invaluable to this book, and I would like to gratefully acknowledge him. He was a good friend. He passed away in May 2017.
Joan’s comment about the difference between stumping for Patrick as opposed to the years she spent doing the same thing for Ted (“Well, for one thing, Patrick says thank you”) was to the author, November 1992.
The writer who happened upon Kara and Joan in an antique store in Hyannis Port in August 2011 (“… my little elf”) was the author.
Articles: “The Dream Lives On” by Kara Kennedy, Globe Magazine, April 3, 2011; “Kennedy, His Children, and Cancer: He Helped Them Beat It, but Now the Fight Is His” by Sally Jacobs, The Boston Globe, May 25, 2008; “Untimely Death Shocks Kennedy Family” by K. C. Myers, Cape Cod Times, September 18, 2011; “Funeral Mass Held for Kara Kennedy” by Jessica Gresko, Cape Cod Times, September 22, 2011; “Kennedys Disagree on Sale of Cape House” by Andrea Estes, The Boston Globe, April 12, 2005; “Kennedy Clan Clashes over Sale of Cape Cod Mansion” by Francis Harris, The Telegraph, April 13, 2005; “Democrat, Republican and a Bond of Addiction” by Mark Leibovich, The New York Times, September 19, 2006; “Patrick Kennedy Admits Addiction After Car Crash” by David Stout and John Holusha, The New York Times, May 5, 2006; “Patrick Kennedy Packs Up 63 Years of Family History” by Abby Goodnough, The New York Times, December 16, 2010.
Volumes: A Common Struggle: A Personal Journey Through the Past and Future of Mental Illness and Addiction by Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen Fried; The Senator: My Ten Years with Ted Kennedy by Richard E. Burke, William Hoffer, and Marilyn Hoffer.
Interviews: Joan Kennedy (2001, 2013); Richard Burke (August 23, 1999); Dominick Dunne (June 3, 2007, June 8, 2007); Webster Janssen; Pat Bruno; Dr. David Sugarbaker; Mary Gillan.
Articles: “Kennedy’s Battle in the Nation’s War Against Cancer” by Gina Kolata and Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times, August 27, 2009; “The Story Behind Ted Kennedy’s Surgery” by Lawrence K. Altman, The New York Times, July 29, 2008; “A Drum Major for Righteous Indignation” by Leonard Fein, Jewish Daily Forward, July 12, 2008; “A Left Coast Kennedy” by Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times Magazine, March 14, 1999; “Ted Kennedy on the Rocks” by Michael Kelly, GQ, February 1990.
Volumes: True Compass: A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy; Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy by the Team at The Boston Globe, edited by Peter S. Canellos; Ted Kennedy: The Dream That Never Died by Edward Klein; The Kennedy Men: 1901–1963 by Laurence Leamer.
Oral Histories: Charles L. Bartlett/JFK Library; Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy/Herbert Hoover Library Foundation; Frank Mankiewicz/RFK Oral History Project; Joan Braden/JFK Library; Maud Shaw/JFK Library; Nancy Tuckerman/JFK Library; Kenneth O’Donnell/Lyndon Baines Johnson Library; Pierre Salinger/RFK Oral History Project; George Smathers/U.S. Senate Historical Office; Charles Spalding/JFK Library. From the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: Edward M. Kennedy, June 3, 2005, June 17, 2005, October 13, 2005, March 20, 2006, May 8, 2006, August 15, 2006, November 29, 2006, January 6, 2007, February 12, 2007, February 27, 2007, April 3, 2007, May 7, 2007, May 30, 2007, August 7, 2007, October 8, 2007, December 8, 2007, January 7, 2008; David Axelrod, 2012; Melody Barnes (staffer for Edward Kennedy), undated; David Burke (chief of staff to Edward Kennedy), April 9, 2008.
Speech: Senator Ted Kennedy at Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, October 26, 1991.
Interviews: Dun Gifford (2005); Edmund M. Reggie (August 4, 1998). I interviewed a caretaker who has worked at the Kennedy compound for thirty years and who asked for anonymity.
Articles: “Victoria Reggie Kennedy Provided Stability for Ted Kennedy When He Needed It Most” by Lois Romano, The Washington Post, August 28, 2009; “Death of Edward ‘Ted’ Kennedy Raises Questions About Political Dynasties” by Lois Romano, The Washington Post, August 27, 2009; “How the Tragic Death of Ted Kennedy’s Only Daughter Brought His Widow and Ex-Wife Closer Together” by Meghan Keneally, Daily Mail, April 23, 2014.
Forum: “The Kennedy Women” at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library and Museum, October 4, 1996.
Oral Histories: From the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: Victoria R. Kennedy, April 8, 2010; Caroline Raclin (daughter of Victoria Reggie Kennedy), November 11, 2016.
Transcript: “Text: Interviews with Vicki Kennedy,” June 28, 1995, and May 13, 1999.
Video: “Dedication of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate,” March 30, 2015 (entire event); “Oprah Winfrey Interviews Victoria Reggie Kennedy,” The Oprah Winfrey Show, November 25, 2009.
Interviews: Joan Kennedy (November 1992/Joy of Classical Music book tour, March 2001, September 12, 2011, as well as a personal letter, November 19, 1998: “Fortunately, I am well and happy in his present stage of my life—the joy of spending a lot of time with my four grand children and enjoying my part time job as Chairperson of Boston’s Cultural Council and serving on the Board of Directors of four great Boston institutions. I am blessed with many dear friends whom, I have known since my college days, and I still play the piano or narrate with orchestras for a favorite charity”); Leah Mason; Dun Gifford; Dr. Gerald Aronoff; Webster Janssen; Marcia Chellis (January 14, 1998, March 1, 1998, and also I drew from Ms. Chellis’s comments on the television program “People Are Talking,” San Francisco, 1985).
I also relied heavily on my interviews with Joan Braden, originally conducted for my book Jackie, Ethel, Joan. Joan was married to CIA official and journalist Tom Braden, whose book Eight Is Enough was adapted by ABC as a TV series in 1977.
Articles: “The Fall of Joan” by Michelle McPhee and David Wedge, Boston magazine, May 15, 2006; “An Intimate Portrait of Joan Kennedy” by Barbara Kevles, Good Housekeeping, September 1969; “Joan Kennedy’s Story” by Betty Hannah Hoffman, Ladies’ Home Journal, July 1970; “Joan Had to Learn to Live with Heartache” by Eleanor Roberts, Herald American, December 7, 1982; “Prime Time with Joan Kennedy” by Sally Jacobs, Globe Magazine, July 9, 2000; “Joan Kennedy Treated for Alcoholism,” Associated Press, October 9, 2001; “After 24 Years, Joan Kennedy Ends Marriage” by Gail Jennes and Gioia Diliberto, People, December 20, 1982; “Joan Kennedy Surveys Her Sober Life” by Gail Jennes, People, April 7, 1978; “Joan Kennedy Finds Solace in Memories of Daughter, Kara” by Liz McNeil, People, September 20, 2011; “Kennedy, His Children and Cancer” by Sally Jacobs, The Boston Globe, May 25, 2008.
Volumes: The Joy of Classical Music: A Guide for You and Your Family by Joan Kennedy; Joan: The Reluctant Kennedy by Lester David; The Joan Kennedy Story: Living with the Kennedys by Marcia Chellis; Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot by J. Randy Taraborrelli.
I also referenced extensive research for my report “Joan Kennedy” on Entertainment Tonight, November 2000.
Interviews: Gustavo Paredes; John Perry Barlow; Stephen Styles-Cooper; Carole Radziwill (September 2005); Christopher Lawford.
Volume: On What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love by Carole Radziwill.
Interviews: Josefina “Fina” Harvin; Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason; Joseph Gargan; Theresa Lichtman; Tim Robbins (May 1, 2018); Jamie Auchincloss (December 1, 2016, October 11, 2017, November 2, 2017); Rose Burgunder Styron (February 21, 2013); Thomas Davis (March 2, 2018); Ben Bradlee (October 1, 1995); Linda DelVechio (June 8, 2017, June 10, 2017, August 11, 2017); (Police Chief) Brian Noonan (August 29, 2017, August 30, 2017); Ren Ayers (August 22, 2017); Philip Geyelin (March 1, 1998); Astrid Gifford (September 3, 2017); Gayle Fee (May 22, 2018); Bryan Holloway; Robert DuPont (June 15, 2017, July 5, 2017).
I drew from the lengthy conversation I had with Michael Kennedy in 1997, as described earlier in these notes.
I interviewed several people close to the family of Marisa Verrochi, including relatives of hers, all of whom asked for anonymity. I am granting them that request.
Articles: “Subpoena Eyed in Sex Scandal: Baby-Sitter Keeping Mum on Kennedy” by Helen Kennedy and Michele McPhee, New York Daily News, April 27, 1997; “Sitter’s Father to Talk to Cops” by Michele McPhee and Helen Kennedy, New York Daily News, April 28, 1997; “Kennedy Took Baby Sitter on Excursions: Maine Records Show Teenager Joined Family on Rafting Trips” by Scot Lehigh and Stephen Kurkjian, The Boston Globe, May 24, 1997; “A Betrayal in the Family” by Pam Lambert, People, May 12, 1997; “Controversy Surrounds a Kennedy’s Alleged Affair with a Baby-sitter,” The Boston Globe, April 25, 1997; “They’re at It Again! RFK Son ‘Slept with Schoolgirl, 14!’” New York Post, April 25, 1997; “The Kennedys in Aspen: A New Year’s Tragedy” by Matthew Malone, Modern Luxury, November 27, 2017; “Kennedy Family, Friends Say Farewell to Michael” by Elizabeth Mehren, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1998; “Tragedy Strikes Again” by Nancy Gibbs, Time, January 12, 1998; “Death in Aspen” by Patrick Rogers, People, January 19, 1998.
Volumes: American Values by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Symptoms of Withdrawal by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Moments of Clarity by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Fully Alive by Timothy Shriver; A Good Man by Mark K. Shriver; The Whole Ten Yards by Frank Gifford and Harry Waters.
The “Brain Trust” meeting was described to me by a source present who asked to not be named.
Television: “Kennedy Tragedy on the Slopes,” The Geraldo Rivera Show, January 8, 1998; “The Deadly Games the Kennedys Play,” The Geraldo Rivera Show, June 18, 1998.
Throughout, I also drew from the text of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s eulogy of his brother Michael Kennedy, 1997.
Interviews: Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason; Mickey Sherman (March 11, 2005); James Skakel (1994); Benedict F. Fitzgerald Jr. (April 11, 2004, March 30, 2014); Stephen Styles-Cooper; Randy Beattie (October 17, 2017).
Articles: “Michael Skakel Renounces Kennedys” by Neil Vigdor, Stamford Advocate, April 25, 2013; “Michael Skakel Was Convicted of Murdering Martha Moxley, So Why Is He Free?” by Leonard Levitt, The Daily Beast, April 22, 2017; “Opinion: Little Doubt That Michael Skakel Was Wrongly Convicted in the Martha Moxley Case” by David R. Cameron, New Haven Register, January 1, 2017; “Kennedy Cousin Michael Skakel Seeks to Suppress Audiotape in Upcoming Murder Retrial Where He Says He Pleasured Himself Outside Victim’s Window the Night She Died,” Associated Press, July 23, 2014; “It’s All in the Family” by Richard Lacayo, Time, July 26, 1999.
Volumes: Dead Man Talking (an unpublished manuscript by Michael Skakel); Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent over a Decade in Prison for a Murder He Didn’t Commit by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; The Mysterious Murder of Martha Moxley: Did the Political and Financial Power of the Kennedy/Skakel Families Trump the Truth? by Joe Bruno; Murder in Greenwich: Who Killed Martha Moxley? by Mark Fuhrman; Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments by Dominick Dunne; “Dead Man Talking: A Kennedy Cousin Comes Clean” by Michael Skakel and Richard Hoffman (unpublished book proposal).
Correspondence: Robert F. Kennedy “Impact Letter,” August 8, 2002.
Note: For more on this topic, go to www.marthamoxley.com.
Interviews: Josefina “Fina” Harvin; Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason; Christopher Lawford.
Articles: “A Kennedy Nanny, 100, Has Tales to Tell” by Georgia East, Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2008; “Ethel Kennedy Clan Attends Sunrise Funeral of Beloved Nanny Ena ‘Mimi’ Bernard” by Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, August 8, 2013.
Volumes: American Values by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Interviews: Allan Burke (March 10, 2018, March 11, 2018, April 5, 2018); Ben Bradlee; Andy Williams.
Volumes: Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship by David Pitts; Symptoms of Withdrawal by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; American Values by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; The Kennedys: An American Drama by Peter Collier and David Horowitz; The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings: A Five-Generation History of the Ultimate Irish-Catholic Family by Thomas Maier.
Kirk LeMoyne Billings’s Oral Histories: From the JFK Library: March 25, 1964, June 19, 1964, June 24, 1964, July 7, 1964, July 22, 1964, January 15, 1965, February 20, 1965, June 11, 1965, June 18, 1965, January 9, 1966.
Interviews: Josefina “Fina” Harvin; Andy Williams; Sister Pauline Joseph; Joseph Gargan; Joseph Fricke; Bob Galland (January 4, 2000); Allan Burke; Marjorie Dougherty (January 2, 2018, March 3, 2018, April 11, 2018); Alyssa Chapman (May 1, 2018); Noelle Bombardier; Christopher Lawford; Victoria Michaelis (September 27, 2017).
Articles: “Alcoholism Runs in Kennedy Clan, Son of RFK Tells Interviewers,” Associated Press, October 17, 1997; “RFK’s Sex Diary: His Secret Journal of Affairs,” by Isabel Vincent and Melissa Klein, New York Post, September 8, 2013; “RFK, Jr.’s Diaries Reveal Intense Family Drama after JFK Jr. Death,” by Josh Duboff, Vanity Fair, November 4, 2013; “Robert Kennedy Jr.’s Sex Diary Sounds like a Real Bodice-Ripper” by Juggalo Law, Above the Law, September 9, 2013; “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Diary Talks ‘Lust Demons,’ Slams Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson: Reports” by Paige Lavender, Huffington Post, September 9, 2013; “The Last Days of Mary Kennedy” by Laurence Leamer, Newsweek, June 11, 2012; “Mary and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Tragic Marriage Detailed” by Matt Pearce, Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2012; “Mary Richardson Kennedy, Wife of RFK Jr., Found Dead in New York,” by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 2012; “Autopsy: Mary R. Kennedy Died of Asphyxiation from Hanging” by Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2012; “Ode to My Best Friend—Mary Richardson Kennedy” by Kerry Kennedy, Huffington Post, May 22, 2012; “Autopsy of RFK Jr.’s Wife Finds Antidepressants but No Alcohol” by Lily Kuo, Reuters, July 7, 2012; “Mary Richardson Kennedy, Stepmonster?” by Wednesday Martin, Psychology Today, June 13, 2012.
Volumes: American Values by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; The Riverkeepers: Two Activists Fight to Reclaim Our Environment as a Basic Human Right by John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Jack and Lem by David Pitts; Ethel: The Story of Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy by David Lester; The Kennedy Women: The Saga of an American Family by Laurence Leamer.
Television: “Kerry Kennedy Press Conference Relating to Mary Richardson Kennedy’s Death,” YouTube; “Mary Kennedy’s Family Blasts Stories on Her Death,” CNN, May 18, 2012; “Kerry Kennedy Acquitted in DWI Trial,” CNN, February 28, 2014.
Interviews: Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason; James Skakel.
Articles: “Ethel Kennedy Today” by Adele Whitely Fletcher, Lady’s Circle, September 1969; “David Kennedy—1955–1984” by Peter Carlson, People, May 14, 1984.
Volumes: American Values by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon by Larry Tye; Symptoms of Withdrawal by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; The Kennedys: An American Drama by Peter Collier and David Horowitz; Behind Blue Eyes: The Biography of David Anthony Kennedy by Grahame Robert Bedford; The Senator by Richard Burke; RFK by Dick Schaap; Ethel by Lester David; Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Interviews: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (after “The Kennedy Women,” seminar at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library and Museum, October 1996; dressing room, Oprah Winfrey Show taping, November 1997); Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason; Jamie Auchincloss, Josefina “Fina” Harvin; James Skakel; David Burke (2000).
Articles: “The Daughter Also Rises” by Daniel LeDuc, The Washington Post, November 28, 1999; “Watching as a Race She Can’t Lose Slips Away” by Johanna Neuman, Los Angeles Times, September 1, 2002; “Kennedy Townsend Enters Race for Governor,” Times Wire Reports, Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2002; “Robert Kennedy’s Eldest Child to Run for Office,” United Press International, Los Angeles Times, January 27, 1986; “Daughter of RFK Opens House Campaign,” United Press International, Los Angeles Times, May 30, 1986; “Kathleen Kennedy Townsend: Just Like Her Father?” by Sally B. Donnelly, Time, August 2, 1999.
Documentary: Ethel.
Video: “The Young Kennedys: Interview with Joseph Kennedy II, Max Kennedy, Christopher Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Kerry Kennedy Cuomo,” The Oprah Winfrey Show. (As part of my research for my book Jackie, Ethel, Joan, I attended this taping in November 1997 in Chicago, where I had the opportunity to meet Christopher Lawford, Bobby Kennedy Jr., and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. Some of their quotes in this book are from that show, and also from questions I was able to ask them after the taping); “Kennedys of the Third Generation,” 60 Minutes, October 19, 1997.
Interviews: Sheila Rauch Kennedy (June 1998); Barbara Gibson (October 1, 1998, October 10, 1998, November 10, 1998, December 15, 1998, March 10, 1999, April 15, 1999, January 4, 2000); Ben Bradlee, Pamela Kelley Burkley (August 24, 2017); Josefina “Fina” Harvin; Noelle Bombardier; Senator John Tunney (1998); Amy Thompson-Huttel (August 25, 2017, October 3, 2017).
As indicated in the text, the meetings between the Kennedys relating to Sheila Rauch’s book were described to me by sources who were present for them and who asked for anonymity.
Articles: “Political Progeny Makes Tracks to Follow in Famous Footsteps,” Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, November 6, 1986; “A Kennedy Faces the Fallout from a Scandal” by Sara Rimer, The New York Times, July 10, 1997; “Another Kennedy Accident Victim Remains a Friend” by Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times, July 25, 1999 (updated January 4, 2011).
Volumes: Shattered Faith: A Woman’s Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage by Sheila Rauch Kennedy; Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.; A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House by Arthur M. Schlesinger.
Interviews: Helen Thomas (September 25, 1998), Alyssa Chapman; David Axelrod (2012).
I interviewed a number of people presently associated with Governor Andrew Cuomo for purposes of deep background only since they felt unauthorized to speak about their experiences with him.
Articles: “The Making of Andrew Cuomo” by Jonathan Mahler, The New York Times Magazine, August 11, 2010; “Andrew Cuomo and Kerry Kennedy,” People, June 25, 1990; “Kennedy-Cuomo Union Appears to Be Ending” by Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, July 1, 2003; “How Andrew Cuomo Gets His Way” by Jeffrey Toobin, The New Yorker, February 16, 2015; “The Cuomo Daughters’ Key Dual Role” by Erica Orden, The Wall Street Journal, August 7, 2010.
Volumes: All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life by Andrew M. Cuomo; Crossroads: The Future of American Politics by Andrew Cuomo; The Contender: Andrew Cuomo, a Biography by Michael Shnayerson.
Interviews: Matthew Johnston (April 11, 2017); Letitia Baldrige (2005); Benedict F. Fitzgerald Jr.; Marta Sgubin (October 22, 1998); Gustavo Paredes; Ariel Paredes; John Perry Barlow; Stephen Styles-Cooper; Joan Braden (1998); Lisa McClintock (2011); Olga Price (September 3, 2010); Adora Rule (April 1, 2015, May 1, 2016, August 1, 2016); Eleanor Doyle (1998); Rebecca Abelman (January 5, 2018, March 2, 2018, April 4, 2018); Sister Pauline Joseph (March 1, 2010, March 2, 2018); David Axelrod (2012); Dun Gifford; Oleg Cassini (June 5, 1998, March 5, 2004); Clint Hill (January 4, 1998, March 5, 2010, June 4, 2010, April 3, 2011); Jack Walsh (March 9, 1998); Joseph Paolella (September 11, 1998, September 17, 1998); Virginia Guest Valentine (July 22, 2016); Winthrop Rutherfurd III (October 14, 2016, November 19, 2016); Delores Goodwin (June 5, 2016, July 10, 2016, August 8, 2016); Mary Tyler Freeman Cheek McClenahan (January 11, 1998); Nancy Tuckerman (March 10, 2007); Mona Latham (May 4, 2009, April 3, 2010, January 11, 2011); Margaret Kearney (March 11, 1998); Marie-Hélène de Rothschild (May 15, 2016); Kiki Feroudi Moutsatsos (July 12, 2016); Jonathan Tapper (April 25, 2016, April 27, 2016, May 3, 2016); Michael Dupree (September 27, 2016, January 3, 2017); Lenny Holtzman (February 1, 2018, March 6, 2018); Richard Bradley (June 5, 2010, September 14, 2017, October 1, 2017); Christopher Lawford.
As well as the above, I interviewed a number of people presently associated with Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg for purposes of deep background only since they felt unauthorized to speak about their experiences with her. I also drew from my extensive research for my article “Caroline Kennedy,” Star, November 15, 1999, and my two-part series “Caroline Kennedy” for Woman’s Day, March 2000.
Articles: “Caroline in the Spotlight” by William Wright, Ladies’ Home Journal, August 2001; “Love and Loss” by Ellen O’Hara, Ladies’ Home Journal, August 1994; “Caroline Kennedy: You Just Keep Going” by Elizabeth Kastor, Good Housekeeping, October 2001; “Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg: Champion of Civility” by Romesh Ratnesar, Time, August 2, 1999; “A Kennedy Romance” by David Van Biema, People, March 17, 1986; “A President Like My Father” by Caroline Kennedy, The New York Times, January 27, 2008; “Kennedys for Clinton” by Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Kerry Kennedy, Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2008; “Younger Kennedys Continue Service to the Country” by Robin Abcarian, Los Angeles Times, August 27, 2009; “Caroline Kennedy Busts on New York Times Reporter in Interview” Fox News, December 28, 2008; “Transcript of the Caroline Kennedy Interview,” The New York Times, December 27, 2008; “Daddy Didn’t Want His Little Girl to Be a Kennedy” by Harriman Janus, Photoplay, May 1969.
Details of the meeting of Kennedys relating to the pros and cons of Caroline’s run for the Senate were relayed to me by an anonymous source.
Volumes: Symptoms of Addiction by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; Kennedy Weddings: A Family Album by Jay Mulvaney; The Kennedys by Peter Collier and David Horowitz; First Ladies: The Saga of Presidents’ Wives and Their Power, 1961–1990 by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; Just Enough Rope: An Intimate Memoir by Joan Braden; Death of a President: November 20–November 25, 1963 by William Manchester; As We Remember Her: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the Words of Her Family and Friends by Carl Sferrazza Anthony; Jackie, Ethel, Joan by J. Randy Taraborrelli; After Camelot by J. Randy Taraborrelli; Jackie, Janet & Lee by J. Randy Taraborrelli.
I also utilized my research for “Caroline Kennedy,” an Entertainment Tonight report that I produced, November 22, 2000.
Oral Histories: Janet Auchincloss/JFK Library, September 5, 1964, September 6, 1964; Letitia Baldrige/JFK Library; Luella Hennessey/JFK Library; Maud Shaw/JFK Library; Charles Bartlett/JFK Library; Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis/LBJ Library, 1974, as well as the newly released oral histories for the JFK Library in 2011; Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy/Herbert Hoover Library Foundation; Dun Gifford/RFK Oral History Project; Roswell Gilpatric/JFK Library; Frank Mankiewicz/RFK Oral History Project; Nancy Tuckerman/JFK Library; Kenneth O’Donnell/LBJ Library; Pierre Salinger/RFK Oral History Project; George Smathers/U.S. Senate Historical Office; Charles Spalding/JFK Library.
Television: “Meet Marta: The Nanny Who Cared for the Kennedys” by Max Barbakow and Cristina Costantini, ABC News, March 12, 2013; Clint Hill interview with C-Span, May 2012.
Interviews: Eunice Kennedy Shriver (April 2002); Sargent Shriver (April 2002); Mark Shriver (April 2002); Timothy Shriver (April 2002); Maria Shriver (2002); Arnold Schwarzenegger (1994, 1999, 2002, 2003); Randy Beattie (October 16, 2017); Janet Charlton (October 30, 2017); Jamie Auchincloss; Leah Mason; Hugh Sidey; Landon Parvin (October 9, 2017); Lenny Holtzman.
I also drew from informal conversations I had with Maria Shriver in April 1994—during a period of time when we were working on a segment about Michael Jackson for Dateline NBC—for this and other sections of the book.
Regarding my interview with Eunice Kennedy Shriver: it took place in the spring of 2002 for an article I was writing at the time on the Special Olympics for Redbook. I drew from that interview for this part and other sections of this book.
I also met Sargent Shriver at that time and drew from my conversation with him in this section of the book, as well as in others. I have always had a lot of admiration for Mr. Shriver, and I hope that much is clear in my writings about him. “I have a story about pretty much everything, don’t I?” he asked me. And that he did. (I also referenced the Sargent Shriver files from the LBJ Library for this section of The Kennedy Heirs.)
The Roman Catholic priest referenced in the chapter “Faith. Not Hope. Faith.” asked not to be identified by name.
Articles: “Mildred Baena, the Housekeeper Who Had a Child with Arnold Schwarzenegger Speaks Out for the First Time,” Hello!, June 14, 2011; “Mark Shriver Talks About His Family, the Kennedys, and Writing About His Dad’s Decline” by Lloyd Grove, Daily Beast, June 7, 2012; “Oprah Talks to Maria Shriver,” O: The Oprah Magazine, June 2008; “Mr. and Mrs. California” by Marie Brenner, Vanity Fair, May 18, 2011; “Arnold in Office” by Connie Bruck, The New Yorker, June 28, 2004; “Women Say Schwarzenegger Groped, Humiliated Them” by Gary Cohn, Carla Hall, and Robert W. Welkos, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2003; “Schwarzenegger Fathered a Child with Longtime Member of Household Staff” by Mark Z. Barabak and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times, May 17, 2011; “Schwarzenegger Plans Inquiry into Groping Allegations” by Nancy Vogel, Peter Nicholas, and Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times, November 7, 2003; “Schwarzenegger Whispers Become an Admission” by Adam Nagourney and Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, May 17, 2011.
Volumes: The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation by Edward Shorter; Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger; Fantastic: The Life of Arnold Schwarzenegger by Laurence Leamer; And One More Thing Before You Go … by Maria Shriver; I’ve Been Thinking…: Reflections, Prayers, and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver; What’s Heaven? by Maria Shriver; Ten Things I Wish I’d Known—Before I Went Out into the Real World … by Maria Shriver; Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver; The Shriver Report: A Study by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress (various reports); Fully Alive by Timothy Shriver; A Good Man by Mark K. Shriver; Sarge: The Life and Times of Sargent Shriver by Scott Stossel; Point of the Lance by Sargent Shriver.
Oral History: From the Edward M. Kennedy Institute: Robert Shriver III and Maria Shriver, January 29, 2019.
Video: Arnold Schwarzenegger interview with George Stephanopoulos, Good Morning America, ABC News, October 1, 2012; Arnold Schwarzenegger interview with Lesley Stahl, 60 Minutes, CBS News, October 1, 2012; Bobby Shriver interview, The Larry Elder Show, January 28, 2014; Maria Shriver interview with Diane Sawyer, Good Morning America, May 11, 2009; “Maria Shriver–Arnold Schwarzenegger Scandal Exposes a Familiar Kennedy Flaw” by Susan Donaldson James, ABC News, May 20, 2011; “Schwarzenegger’s Lawyer Slams Latest Double Whammy: Alleged Cover-Up and Mistress No. 2,” by Gina Serpe, E! News, May 25, 2011.
I also referenced videotapes of Maria Shriver’s testimony before Congress about Alzheimer’s as well as Ms. Shriver’s The Alzheimer’s Project for HBO and the eulogy for her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver; also, American Experience: The Kennedys, PBS, 1992.
I interviewed several people in the family of Mildred Baena, all of whom asked for anonymity.
For much more on the Shrivers, go to www.EuniceKennedyShriver.org.
I interviewed several people close to both Conor and Taylor in 2017 and 2018, all of whom asked for anonymity. Also: Gayle Fee; Leah Mason; Barry Thomas Sterling (May 12, 2018); Barbara Lewis (May 15, 2018); and Sister Pauline Joseph.
Articles: “Ethel Kennedy Explains the Taylor Swift Je Ne Sais Quoi” by Julie Miller, Vanity Fair, October 15, 2012; “Ethel Kennedy May Approve of Taylor Swift Marrying Her 18-Year-Old Grandson” by Julie Miller, Vanity Fair, September 25, 2012; “We’re Neighbours! Taylor Swift Moves Next Door to the Kennedy Compound as She ‘Buys $5m Cape Cod Mansion’” by Lizzie Smith, Daily Mail, August 13, 2012; “Taylor Swift Buys $4.9 Million Cape Cod Beach Home Near Boyfriend Conor Kennedy’s Family Estate” by Gina Pace, New York Daily News, March 6, 2013; “Taylor Swift made $1 Million Profit After Selling Hyannis Port House Near Ex Conor Kennedy’s Family Compound: Report” by Zayda Rivera, New York Daily News, March 7, 2013.
Volume: A Common Struggle by Patrick J. Kennedy and Stephen Fried.
Videos: “Taylor Swift New Hyannisport Neighbor Says Ethel Kennedy,” Capecast, YouTube, October 12, 2012; “Ethel & Rory Talk Taylor Swift and ‘Ethel’ at the Celebs.com Studio at Sundance,” Celebs.com, YouTube, January 31, 2012; “2012 Ripple of Hope Awards Ceremony” (entire gala).
Interviews: Joseph Patrick Kennedy III (March 1998; February 2011); Noelle Bombardier; Leah Mason.
Articles: “Meet Joe Kennedy, the Democrat Taking on Trump” by Tessa Stewart, Rolling Stone, January 30, 2018; “Joe Kennedy III Carries the Kennedy Legacy into Fight Against Trump” by Jon Ward, Yahoo! News, January 30, 2018; “Joe Kennedy III Reacts to Trump: ‘Bullies May Land a Punch,’ Don’t Win,” Associated Press, January 30, 2018; “A Life of Challenge” by Maxwell Kennedy, Inside Borders, June 1998; “Meet the Next President Kennedy” by Matt Viser, Town and Country, July 6, 2017.
Oral History: Frank Mankiewicz–RFK #3. August 12, 1969 (JFK Library).
Video: “Full Transcript and Video: Joe Kennedy Delivers Democratic Response to State of the Union,” The New York Times, January 31, 2018; “Rep. Joe Kennedy Weighs In on Trump,” The Daily Show, August 2, 2017.
Audio: “Representative Joe Kennedy III Reflects on Great-Uncle JFK’s Legacy,” JFK Library, May 29, 2017.
“Kennedy Makes Campaign Stop in Sterling” by Pam Eggemeier, Saukvalley.com, September 18, 2017; “For the Democrats, Chris Kennedy” by the editorial board, Chicago Tribune, February 21, 2018; “‘Untouchable’ Kennedys Boast About Bad Behavior All Over Hyannis Port,” by Gabrielle Fonrouge, New York Post, August 30, 2017; “How a Kennedy Family Party Devolved into an ‘Angry Mob,’ According to Cape Cod Police” by Kenzie Bryant, Vanity Fair, August 23, 2017; “Kennedys Are Hyannisport Hypocrites When It Comes to Racial, Ethnic Diversity” by Howie Carr, Boston Herald, July 8, 2018.