A very happy natal day to Sarah’s dad, Dave Sr., who plans to celebrate by…not being the Zodiac. We’re going to celebrate by throwing open a thread to talk about another case that occurred on or around 7/17: the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
I haven’t read/consumed widely on Chappaquiddick — the fact is, there isn’t much to it, as a “case,” and even the reasons Ted Kennedy didn’t do a day following Kopechne’s death aren’t exactly a mystery — but I did read Joyce Carol Oates’s Black Water and find it very affecting (her frozen prose isn’t always for me but it was just the thing this time). And there’s something about it, for me…something about how we’ll never really know what happened. How Kennedy himself, even if he were inclined to confess, probably didn’t really remember.
Is Chappaquiddick the Kennedy crime you care about the most — or the least? Have any of you seen the 2017 movie, and should I bother? Any good general reading to recommend on Ted’s life? (I loved the McGinniss but also understand that as a piece of “journalism” it’s a catastrophe.) — SDB
The book titles are lost to time, but I'm sure that in 1989-1991, I read whatever about Chappaquiddick was available, pre-Internet, via my public library and high school library. I was totally obsessed with all things Kennedy in high school. (My best friend and I got in trouble when we were supposed to be researching something for our psychology class because we were using the library databases to look up things about the Kennedys. Our teacher sneaked up behind us and boomed, "J. EDGAH HOOVAH?!" in her accent of unknown northeastern origin, and gave us detention. )
I was always most interested in the more shad(ow)y characters in ancient Kennedy history, like Honey Fitz and Black Jack Bouvier, and of course all the JPK and Gloria Swanson intrigue.
I can't remember where I read a detailed article about it, probably Vanity Fair, a few years back - I'd never heard of the case before. I do think it's fascinating but have still not seen the movie yet.
Save yourself two hours of your time unless you want to see the actress who plays Ted's wife tell him to fuck off in the car on the way to Kopechne's funeral. I think it's the actor, who is fine but I've never cared for, playing Ted. Not so fun side bar: I once dated a guy who, as a high school student, was doing volunteer work for Bobby Kennedy's campaign. Bobby swung by the high school to meet the kids and thank them before heading off to the Ambassador Hotel. Yep. That close.
I know I have recounted in my comments before that it was likely my grandmother's trashy book, Teddy Bare, about Chappaquiddick, that likely gave me my true crime jones. Reading that book, which I was much too young to do, gave me a lifelong fear of being in a car that plunged into water to such an extent that I read everything I can about waiting to equalize air pressure in the car before opening the car door easily, AND I have the seat-belt-cutter-cum-window-smasher tool in the car. [Side note: everyone needs one; what if you meet SDB's and Eve's dads out Zodiac killing one night? If you can get close enough, it's a great self-defense weapon.] So that is a piece of crap/trash that I would highly recommend if you dislike the Kennedys and lurid reading material is your dream. I have not yet finished making my way through Leo Damore's Chapaquiddick, which I think is the basis for the film. He did get me going when I learned that there were two women's purses in the car that night, which seemed to imply three people in the car that night: I had always assumed there were only two, and that Ted was very well aware he had run from the scene of a crime leaving a live person in a sinking car. By drinking/driving and refusing to head directly to the police following the accident, he was the proximate cause of death and heartache. I've got no love for the Kennedy men; I'm much more fascinated by the women whose lives they ruined or saddened - now THAT would be a book I'd like to read, from Rose Kennedy to Kick, Joan, and even Carolyn Bessette and Caroline Schlossberg. If anyone knows of a good book like that, let me know. I can then add it to my already-groaning table of to-be-reads.
Weekend Discussion Thread: Chappaquiddick
The book titles are lost to time, but I'm sure that in 1989-1991, I read whatever about Chappaquiddick was available, pre-Internet, via my public library and high school library. I was totally obsessed with all things Kennedy in high school. (My best friend and I got in trouble when we were supposed to be researching something for our psychology class because we were using the library databases to look up things about the Kennedys. Our teacher sneaked up behind us and boomed, "J. EDGAH HOOVAH?!" in her accent of unknown northeastern origin, and gave us detention. )
I was always most interested in the more shad(ow)y characters in ancient Kennedy history, like Honey Fitz and Black Jack Bouvier, and of course all the JPK and Gloria Swanson intrigue.
I can't remember where I read a detailed article about it, probably Vanity Fair, a few years back - I'd never heard of the case before. I do think it's fascinating but have still not seen the movie yet.
Save yourself two hours of your time unless you want to see the actress who plays Ted's wife tell him to fuck off in the car on the way to Kopechne's funeral. I think it's the actor, who is fine but I've never cared for, playing Ted. Not so fun side bar: I once dated a guy who, as a high school student, was doing volunteer work for Bobby Kennedy's campaign. Bobby swung by the high school to meet the kids and thank them before heading off to the Ambassador Hotel. Yep. That close.
I know I have recounted in my comments before that it was likely my grandmother's trashy book, Teddy Bare, about Chappaquiddick, that likely gave me my true crime jones. Reading that book, which I was much too young to do, gave me a lifelong fear of being in a car that plunged into water to such an extent that I read everything I can about waiting to equalize air pressure in the car before opening the car door easily, AND I have the seat-belt-cutter-cum-window-smasher tool in the car. [Side note: everyone needs one; what if you meet SDB's and Eve's dads out Zodiac killing one night? If you can get close enough, it's a great self-defense weapon.] So that is a piece of crap/trash that I would highly recommend if you dislike the Kennedys and lurid reading material is your dream. I have not yet finished making my way through Leo Damore's Chapaquiddick, which I think is the basis for the film. He did get me going when I learned that there were two women's purses in the car that night, which seemed to imply three people in the car that night: I had always assumed there were only two, and that Ted was very well aware he had run from the scene of a crime leaving a live person in a sinking car. By drinking/driving and refusing to head directly to the police following the accident, he was the proximate cause of death and heartache. I've got no love for the Kennedy men; I'm much more fascinated by the women whose lives they ruined or saddened - now THAT would be a book I'd like to read, from Rose Kennedy to Kick, Joan, and even Carolyn Bessette and Caroline Schlossberg. If anyone knows of a good book like that, let me know. I can then add it to my already-groaning table of to-be-reads.
I recently listened to this 2-year-old podcast about the case; don't be put off by the People Magazine label - it's very good.
https://people.com/crime/cover-up-podcast-how-to-listen-chappaquiddick-kennedy-scandal/