Count me in with the throngs who always looked for the latest gossip about JFK Jr. When he married the beautiful Carolyn Bessette, it seemed like you couldn’t go a day without some sort of story about them, true or not. When they both died, along with Bessette’s sister Lauren, in a tragic plane crash, people mourned as if they knew them. RoseMarie Terenzio really did know them, as John’s administrative assistant at George magazine, and is sharing her memories in Fairy Tale Interrupted.
Even though RoseMarie worked for John, she quickly became a personal friend. Kennedy was a very private person, as was his family, and did not let too many people into his circle. When John met Carolyn, “Rosie”, as John called her, became one of the few people they both trusted. Terenzio eventually saw herself as John’s “chief of staff”, guarding his time and privacy, even from his employees. She and Carolyn were great friends, with Carolyn taking RoseMarie shopping for designer duds and buying her expensive haircuts. RoseMarie also had the grim task of cleaning out the couple’s apartment after the plane crash.
I’m sure Terenzio’s goal was to give her readers the “truth” about John and Carolyn’s life. Carolyn especially was portrayed as an “ice princess” in the media, and Fairy Tale Interrupted definitely disputes this fact. However, considering how private they both were, would they really want Terenzio writing a book filled with personal memories (not all of which are flattering, especially in John’s case)? In addition, be warned that much of this book is not even about John and Carolyn at all. It’s about Terenzio herself….boasting about having John’s ear, getting thousands of dollars of Christmas presents from them, and lamenting the fact that she was out of a job after the tragic crash. It seems if she was as loyal to the couple as she says she was, that she would keep her memories private…just like the Kennedys would want.
MY RATING - 2
