A new book will tell the life story of John F. Kennedy Jr. through the words of the people who knew him well, People magazine reports.
Gallery Books will publish RoseMarie Terenzio and Liz McNeil’s JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography this summer. The press describes the book as “an extraordinarily intimate, comprehensive look at the real man behind the myth.”
Kennedy, the son of President John F. Kennedy, was born in Washington, D.C., just two weeks after his father won the 1960 presidential election. A photograph of Kennedy saluting his father’s coffin after the 1963 assassination became one of the most enduring American images of the 20th century.
He was educated at Brown University and worked as an attorney and journalist before his death in 1999, when the airplane he was piloting crashed near Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. His wife, Carolyn Bessette, and his sister-in-law, Lauren Bessette, were also killed.
In their biography, Terenzio, Kennedy’s former executive assistant, and McNeil, a People editor-at-large, share stories from Kennedy’s “closest friends, confidantes, lovers, classmates, teachers, and colleagues,” Gallery says.
“There was no one like John F. Kennedy Jr.,” McNeil told People. “He was so curious, not only to learn about other people but also to figure out who he was apart from his famous family. This book is our exploration into who John really was from the voices of those who knew him best.”
JFK Jr. is scheduled for publication on July 16, the 25th anniversary of his death.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
