Current Book Selection

An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Our next book is one that has been shelved for awhile. We have chosen, An Unfinished Love Story by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Doris and her husband, Dick, were in very close in DC and the White House during the late 1950's into the 60's. This will be revisiting those years for us but with a much stronger lens to see through. Dick Goodwin was a speechwriter for RFK and Doris worked as an aide to President Johnson. They were both there during the tumult of the sixties, the Vietnam war, 3 assassinations and  the early days of the civil rights movement. 

Here are the notes on the book from Amazon:

Dick and Doris Goodwin were married for forty-two years and married to American history even longer. In his twenties, Dick was one of the brilliant young men of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier. In his thirties he both named and helped design Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and was a speechwriter and close advisor to Robert Kennedy. Doris Kearns was a twenty-four-year-old graduate student when selected as a White House Fellow. She worked directly for Lyndon Johnson and later assisted on his memoir.

Over the years, with humor, anger, frustration, and in the end, a growing understanding, Dick and Doris had argued over the achievements and failings of the leaders they served and observed, debating the progress and unfinished promises of the country they both loved.

The Goodwins’ last great adventure involved finally opening the more than three hundred boxes of letters, diaries, documents, and memorabilia that Dick had saved for more than fifty years. They soon realized they had before them an unparalleled personal time capsule of the 1960s, illuminating public and private moments of a decade when individuals were powered by the conviction they could make a difference; a time, like today, marked by struggles for racial and economic justice, a time when lines were drawn and loyalties tested.

Their expedition gave Dick’s last years renewed purpose and determination. It gave Doris the opportunity to connect and reconnect with participants and witnesses of pivotal moments of the 1960s. And it gave them both an opportunity to make fresh assessments of the central figures of the time—John F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, and especially Lyndon Johnson, who greatly impacted both their lives. The voyage of remembrance brought unexpected discoveries, forgiveness, and the renewal of old dreams, reviving the hope that the youth of today will carry forward this unfinished love story with America.

We have heard from other readers that Doris Kearns herself reads the audio version of her memoir. One of our regulars has already started listening to the audio and says it's wonderful! The book is available in all formats on Amazon. I'll ask Levin & Co put it on our shelf as well!

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, August 4th at 7:00 pm. If you would like to host please let us know!