Ethel Kennedy: The Extraordinary Life and Bold Legacy
About this audiobook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Read by award-winning actress Kate Mulgrew
"What an incredible life of triumph and tragedy, faith, and love." — Anderson Cooper, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Vanderbilt
A vivid, intimate biography of American icon Ethel Kennedy by her daughter Kerry Kennedy, told through her firsthand memories and exclusive access to Ethel’s personal papers
When her husband Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968, Ethel Skakel Kennedy—then pregnant with their eleventh child—drew national attention for her grace, dignity, and resolute commitment to furthering his work in human rights, even in her grief. But as her daughter Kerry witnessed, Ethel was so much more than a dutiful wife and keeper of Robert's legacy of service. She was courageous, curious, compassionate, boisterous, and witty, always guided by faith and an instinct for speaking truth to power.
Kerry delves into her own memories, her family's recollections, and her mother's private papers, describing:
- Ethel's family's journey from a working-class Chicago background to life in tony Greenwich, Connecticut
- Ethel's fairytale romance with Kerry's father RFK—a courtship that inspired a Taylor Swift song half a century later
- How the bold, athletic Ethel quickly became "more Kennedy than the Kennedys"
- The years on the famed family properties in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and the Hickory Hill estate in Virginia, where Kerry and her ten siblings grew up amidst presidents and politicians, Olympians and Hollywood stars, and a rambunctious menagerie of pet animals
- Moments of pain and loss—RFK’s death just five years after that of his brother; and the tragic deaths of two of Kerry’s siblings
- Ethel’s unflagging commitment to global human rights causes that carried on through the decades
Ethel Kennedy inspires us to reject cynicism and to live bigger and bolder.
Kate Mulgrew is an award-winning actress of film, television, and theater. She has been a friend of Ethel Kennedy’s and the Kennedy family since childhood. Her mother worked as John Kennedy’s assistant in his first Congressional race and was a good friend of Kerry’s aunt, ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith.
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About the author
Kerry Kennedy is a human rights lawyer, activist, New York Times-bestselling author, and daughter of Ethel Skakel Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. Kerry is the president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the organization Ethel founded in 1968 to continue Robert's unfinished work, and served as chair for the Amnesty International USA Leadership Council for over a decade. During her forty years working in human rights, she has led hundreds of delegations and negotiated with leaders around the globe. She is the author of three previous books: Robert F. Kennedy: Ripples of Hope; Speak Truth to Power; and Being Catholic Now.
Kate Mulgrew, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, is an actress and author with an extensive career on stage and screen. From her start as Mary Ryan, the lead role on the popular soap opera Ryan's Hope to the groundbreaking first female starship captain on Star Trek: Voyager to her acclaimed performance as Galina ""Red"" Reznikov on Netflix's smash hit Orange Is The New Black, Kate brings a formidable presence and deep passion to all her projects. Her 2016 book, Born With Teeth, allowed her to add ""New York Times bestselling author"" to her resume.
