My Kennedy Years: A Memoir

Description

Fifty years after his assassination John F. Kennedy is still a towering figure in the history of our times and across the world. The young Senator from Massachusetts, elected President in 1960, embodied the hopes of a generation who were attracted by his open and relaxed style. One of the creators of that image was the photographer Jacques Lowe, who first met Kennedy in 1958 and quickly established a rapport with him. For the next five years, Lowe had privileged access to the Kennedy family and was not only the official photographer of Kennedy's campaign for the presidency but also his personal photographer following his election. Lowe's skills as a photographer were abundantly demonstrated by how much at ease the President and other members of the family were in the presence of his camera. Gathered in this book are over 250 images that capture the personal and political life of this almost mythic figure: at home with Jackie and daughter Caroline, on the campaign trail, politicking behind the scenes at the convention, at work in the White House and as a leader on the world stage, culminating in his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, mourned by millions. The photographs are complemented by Lowe's personal record of his friendship with the Kennedy clan and his years at the heart of American politics. Jacques Lowe died in May 2001, and the first-person recollections have been made possible by the discovery of several unpublished interviews and oral histories that he took part in before his death, as well as drawing on the memories of his daughter Thomasina. In 1999, Jacques Lowe placed his archive of 40,000 Kennedy negatives in a safe-deposit box in a vault at Five World Trade Center. They were all destroyed in the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers but fortunately contact sheets and several prints - some published here for the first time - survive. They provide a unique record of one of the most enduringly fascinating politicians of the modern era.

Jacques Lowe (1930-2001) was born in Germany, and after a wartime childhood spent in hiding because of his mother's Russian Jewish origins, emigrated to the USA. He met Robert F. Kennedy in 1956 and two years later was introduced to the future President. He became the official photographer of John F. Kennedy's campaign for the presidency in 1960 and was subsequently personal photographer to the President.

'Evokes sadness, admiration and empathy ... The humanity of Kennedy, his family and entourage - laughter, love, anguish, innocence and, in the case of his wife, Jackie, beauty - leap out of the page' - David Miliband, The Times 'John F Kennedy lives again through the pages of this memoir ... a very personal, revealing narrative has been distilled from unpublished interviews and oral histories' - Saga Magazine 'Lowe had an all-access pass as far as Kennedy was concerned, and his images mature throughout the years to show every side of a fascinating president' - Amateur Photographer 'Lavish ... era-defining' - Observer 'An unusually intimate portrait of the politician and his family' - Daily Telegraph 'This account of my father's time in JFK's inner circle is a remarkably intimate complement to his era defining images' - Thomasina Lowe