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I find memoirs boring and

I'm not particularly in­terested in the Kennedy family, so I don't know why I plucked Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir off the library shelf. Perhaps it was the cover photo or the tone of the title but whatever it was, I was capti­vated from the very first page.

The author,

Clint

Hill (with help from award-win­ning journalist Lisa McCub­bin), retired in 1975 as the Assistant Director of the Secret Service but from 1960 to 1964 his assignment was to protect Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He considered the assignment a demotion from the presidential protection team he had served on for President Eisenhower but he was young and had a fam­ily to support so he resigned himself to days filled with "tea parties and grey-haired matrons". The reality of life with Mrs. Kennedy (he al­ways addressed her formally) was, of course, anything but staid and boring.

The subtitle, An Intimate Memoir, is very appropriate because Mr. Hill's story is tender and intensely personal. His relationship with Jackie was based on friendship, trust and mutual respect. He offers readers unique insights into the private world of Jackie Kennedy without being gos­sipy or disrespectful. His devotion and love for Mrs. Kennedy is evident on every page. Since I knew very little about Jackie Kennedy or the "Camelot Years", I was intrigued by his descriptions of family life at Hyannis Port, her many trips abroad and her day to day efforts to live a "normal" life shielded from the prying eyes of a public who adored her.

Mr. Hill's protective ser­vice for Jackie ended one year after JFK's assassina­tion. I found the chapters devoted to the hours and days before and after the tragedy in Dallas, Texas riveting. I've seen the famous pictures of the Secret Service man climbing up the back of the presidential limo to shield the first lady as the car speeds away. That man was Clint Hill. The world will never forget the images of Jackie in her blood-splattered pink suite or John Jr. saluting his father's casket, but Mr. Hill was THERE. His story is enlightening and at times, heart-wrenching. I highly recommend this book.

 

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