New Book on JFK Jr.
He was American royalty: young, handsome, charismatic, and wealthy. But until now, we've never gotten to know the real John Kennedy Jr.
Vanity Fair editor Wayne Lawson will publish revealing excerpts from a new book about John, written by Richard Blow, who worked side-by-side with JFK at "George" magazine and who's taken heat for selling some of the Kennedy family secrets.
Blow says he's haunted by his final conversation with John. The day of the fatal flight, Kennedy, who was suffering from a broken ankle, promised he wouldn't fly without an instructor.
But overall, John is portrayed as a kind and down-to-earth man, not someone to shove his family lineage in your face. His New York condo, though huge, was low key. Lawson says, “The amazing thing is there were no pictures anywhere, none of the expected pictures of the Kennedy’s. It was the apartment of a young man with good taste. It was not ostentatious."
John's wife Carolyn is portrayed as warm and funny. The two had a hot-blooded relationship, lots of fights and lots of making up. Blow says one night, after a huge blow-up, JFK refused to go home and checked into a hotel. But John Jr. always wanted to protect his wife, and for that reason, turned down a chance to run for the senate. Lawson says, “He felt he couldn't do it because of Carolyn. She was not ready for that. He had grown up with the press on top of him all his life, she hadn't."
Few people knew it, but John suffered from a rare thyroid condition, that often left him drained of energy. Despite that, he was determined to make George work, but he had his limits. Asked to interview director Oliver stone about his JFK conspiracy theories, John said no. When asked to interview Chelsea Clinton, no again. Wayne says, “Even though he was in the position where it would have sold endless issues of that magazine, he would not do it."
JFK was always the topic of outrageous tabloid stories and surprisingly he loved to read them. You have to wonder if JFK, who wanted to be an everyman, would have approved of this intimate and honest portrait.
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