Sunday Feb 27 2011
Caroline Kennedy kicks off the new Gemini Ink Series called Breakthrough Thinkers focusing on her upcoming anthology of women's poetry, She Walks in Beauty.
Class, note two important words form the above quote, thinker and anthology.
Now before I go any further, let me say that I believe Jackie Kennedy did a wonderful job raising her two kids, Caroline and John, to be someone other than what we have often read about the rest of the Kennedy clan. Well behaved, sincere, and no bad manners, which is more than we can say for well, some of the others. But....this is the same Caroline that could not manage a two minute interview for a Senate nomination without dozens of 'ya-knows' hardly displaying a coherent thought.
But Caroline will headline an event at Trinity University. To wit with San Antonio's functional illiteracy rate hovering at 25%. Caroline is a perfect fit to begin the new series. The spotlight she shines on literacy is crucial.
Caroline describes the act of compiling his latest anthology as follows I dreaded it for months and was relieved when it was over and life seemed much the same as before.
What, that is the experience of an, what, author? Yep, Caroline is an AUTHOR! Really I marveled, and so I logged on to Amazon.com to discover just what she has authored.
Well surprise surprise, she has authored several anthologies. Now recall that an anthology is a collection of works written by other people. In short, the author does not write anything, the author compiles a laundry list. I did find a couple of books co-authored with another woman, which of course made me wonder why Author Caroline needed any assistance. Or hmmm perhaps the other gal figured the book would sell a lot better with Caroline's name in the lead, do you think that could happen? These two legal books are the usual left wing mantra, the Bill of Rights is outdated, etc.
At any rate, the article in the Sunday Express News gushes of Author Kennedy. I guess the idea that she would become a US Senator following Ted Kennedy and the resulting embarassment over her inability to conduct an interview never happened.
I am all for women authors. But I expect them to be, well, authors. Compiling an anthology is not writing. Co-authoring so that we have no idea who contributed what is not exactly how Ann Coulter or Patricia Cornwell or Michelle Malkin got where they are today either.
The kids of famous people have traded on their heritage for centuries, after all, that's the nature of Kings and Queens in Camelot. But this one is a bit much for me, if you or I put together our favorite poems, songs, photographs, all done by someone else, I doubt we would be hailed as the role model for literacy.
Well no such thing as a failed Kennedy
Posted by: Dennis Elam | February 28, 2011 at 05:31 PM