{"object":[{"sourceId":{"label":"Source ID","value":"66793"},"creditline":{"label":"Credit Line","value":"The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza Collection"},"labelText":{"label":"Description","value":"Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated March 8, 1964. The letter is three pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in black ink on letterhead that reads \"Mrs. John F. Kennedy\" in black printed text. There is a black border around the edge of the front of each page. In the letter Jacqueline Kennedy reiterates her request for John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband. She describes the pain of reminiscing about her late husband and that \"It was HE that mattered - he was so alive.\" She encourages Steinbeck to decide soon about whether or not he will write a book about President Kennedy because she and the rest of the Kennedy family will need to move on with their lives and \"stop thinking about Jack every minute of the day and night.\" She states that she can speak of him now only because it is how she remains connected to him. Jacqueline Kennedy was accustomed to carefully crafting and controlling the public image of her family, and ultimately, she recognized the importance of trying to control the story of President Kennedy's death and legacy, particularly through publications. In a touching and very personal conclusion she pleads with Steinbeck to make the effort on behalf of her husband: \"But I feel one thing so strongly - we must all make the most awful effort - no matter what it costs us - for John Kennedy - because he made that effort all his life for us - in a little way it is me tonight writing you this letter - just sitting at my desk with mail piled over my head - and all I want to do is go to sleep - because that is the most longed for time of day - when you are unconscious - but you put it off 2 hours and answer letters for and about Jack. So if you loved Jack you must do that too - and make people know that we are back to the Stone Age now - but if they will just believe in all that Jack believed in - they will see some little ray of light before they die.\""},"invno":{"label":"Object number","value":"2019.104.0002"},"description":{"label":"Description","value":"Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck dated March 8, 1964. The letter is three pages, front and back. The body of the letter is written in black ink on letterhead that reads \"Mrs. John F. Kennedy\" in black printed text. There is a black border around the edge of the front of each page. In the letter Jacqueline Kennedy reiterates her request for John Steinbeck to write a book about her husband. She describes in detail how she wants Kennedy\u2019s legacy to take shape and how he should be memorialized. The letter reads:\r\n\r\n(Page 1)\r\nMarch 8, 1964\r\nDear Mr. Steinbeck\r\n\r\n\tI do thank you for your letter \u2013 Even if\r\nyou never write your book about Jack \u2013 I will have\r\nyour letter \u2013 which says \u2013 when our belief gets\r\nweak, the hero that we need comes \u2013 and you\r\nspoke of Jack with Budha, Jove, Jesus\r\nApollo, Baldur and Arthur. That is where I\r\nknow he belongs \u2013 and with all the bitterness and\r\nvengeance and strength left in me \u2013 that is how\r\nI am going to make sure other people see him\r\nbefore I die \u2013\r\n\tI never bridled at your using the word\r\n\u201cmyth\u201d \u2013 I just bridled when Max (my beloved\r\n\r\n(Page 2)\r\nMax) asked when Jack\u2019s dedication started\r\n-\tIn 1955? He said \u2013 I know when it did \u2013 \r\nso much earlier in a pain wracked childhood with a \r\nbully for an older brother \u2013 \r\nAnyway \u2013 we met \u2013 we talked \u2013 we left\r\neach other \u2013 Tom Quinzberg\u2019s book can wait \u2013\r\nI cant worry about that now. If he wants to do such\r\na book he should start to work on it in a most\r\nthorough and beautiful way \u2013 and come to me in a \r\nyear or so when he has something \u2013 He knows that\r\nI care and will always be receptive \u2013 \r\n\tAs for your book \u2013 please don\u2019t ask me to\r\ncome and reminisce. That is so painful and I\r\ncannot do it without a reason \u2013 If you ever decide \u2013 \r\nor are on the verge of deciding to write your book,\r\n\r\n(Page 3)\r\nand hearing me talk about Jack would help \u2013 then\r\nyou must get in touch with me \u2013 I will do all I can\r\nfor you, and it won\u2019t be pleasant for me \u2013 \r\n\tI wish to leave you alone \u2013 I know the pain\r\nof writing \u2013 I do not wish to urge you to do\r\nanything. Sometimes I think in this bitter way\r\n-\twhat can books be \u2013 now that we don\u2019t have Jack\r\nanymore? It was HE that mattered \u2013 he was\r\nso alive \u2013 \r\n\tIf you do write your book \u2013 just one thing\r\nI would like to say to you \u2013 the two people you will\r\nfind who loved Hack the most and knew him the\r\n\r\n(Page 4)\r\nbest are Bobby and me \u2013 You should decide\r\nto write or not write your book soon \u2013 because\r\nwe cannot stay in the state that we are in now and \r\nsurvive \u2013 we will have to build up walls of\r\nprotection for ourselves \u2013 and stop thinking about Jack\r\nevery minute of the day and night \u2013 or we wont\r\nbe able to do the dreary little tasks left to us \u2013 \r\nbringing up our children etc \u2013 always with a sad\r\nface \u2013 \r\n\tBut now I (I cannot speak for Bobby \u2013 whom\r\nI love so much and who suffers so quietly) can speak\r\nof Jack \u2013 it is my only pleasure \u2013 a way still to be\r\nconnected to him \u2013\r\n\tMaybe I will still be able to in 5 or 10 years \u2013 \r\nbut it wont be like now \u2013 \r\n\tSo the whole point of this endless incoherent\r\n\r\n(Page 5)\r\nletter is to tell you that I hope you decide\r\nsomething soon \u2013 If you don\u2019t \u2013 it doesn\u2019t really\r\nmatter I suppose, as you can write about\r\nJohn Kennedy without my deepest thoughts \u2013\r\nhe belongs to everyone now \u2013 and if you decide\r\nnever to write \u2013 I will understand that \u2013\r\n\tBut I hope you will decide to do something\r\nsoon \u2013 though I have the terrible feeling I\r\nmay not even like what you write \u2013 you will see him\r\nthrough different eyes \u2013\r\n\tBut I feel one thing so strongly \u2013 we must all\r\nmake the most awful effort \u2013 no matter what it\r\n\r\n(Page 6)\r\ncosts us \u2013 for John Kennedy \u2013 because he\r\nmade that effort all his life for us \u2013 in a little\r\nway it is me tonight writing you this letter \u2013 just\r\nsitting at my desk with mail piled over my head \u2013 \r\nand all I want to do is go to sleep \u2013 because that is\r\nthe most longed for time of day \u2013 when you are\r\nunconscious \u2013 but you put it off 2 hours and answer\r\nletters for and about Jack \u2013 \r\n\tSo if you loved Jack you must do that \r\ntoo \u2013 and make people know that we are back\r\nto the Stone Age now \u2013 but if they will just\r\nbelieve in all that Jack believed in \u2013 they will\r\nsee some little ray of light before they die \u2013 \r\n\tWith my apologies \u2013 your querulous correspondent\r\nnow passes into silence \u2013 I promise \u2013 Sincerely\r\n\t\t\t\tJacqueline Kennedy\r\n\r\nCondition Note: Letter is in excellent condition with no bleeding of smudging in the ink visible. [Stephanie Allen-Givens, 10/28/2020]"},"medium":{"label":"Medium","value":"Paper"},"onview":{"label":"On View","value":"0"},"media":{"label":"Media","value":[{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55499/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55499"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55500/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55500"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55501/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55501"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55502/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55502"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55503/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55503"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/55504/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Image","mediaId":"55504"},{"mediaURL":"https://emuseum.jfk.org/internal/media/dispatcher/62278/full","displayOrder":"0","mediaType":"Document","mediaId":"62278"}]},"title":{"label":"Title","value":"Handwritten letter from Jacqueline Kennedy to John Steinbeck, 03/08/1964"},"classification":{"label":"Classifications","value":"Documents"},"primaryMedia":{"label":"PrimaryMedia","value":"/internal/media/dispatcher/55503/full"},"depth":{"label":"Depth","value":["0E-10"]},"thesconcepts":{"label":"Terms","value":["Letters","Memoirs","Memories","Letterhead","Author","Kennedy, John F.","Kennedy, Jacqueline","Steinbeck, John","Washington, D.C."]},"culture":{"label":"Object","value":"Letter"},"displayDate":{"label":"Date","value":"03/08/1964"},"width":{"label":"Width","value":["15.8750317501"]},"textEntriesTextentries":{"label":"Curatorial Commentary","value":["While Nobel prize-winning author John Steinbeck appreciated President Kennedy's patronage and support of the arts and even attended the President's Inauguration in 1961, he never ended up writing the book Jacqueline Kennedy begged him to write before his death in 1968. - Stephanie Allen-Givens, Collections and Exhibits Manager","Steinbeck scholar Dr. William Ray described John Steinbeck as a \"staunch New Deal Deal Democrat with small town Republican roots and a record of wartime advice to his hero Franklin Roosevelt...\"  Steinbeck supported two-time Democratic presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson over John F. Kennedy in 1960. However, once Kennedy secured the Democratic nomination, Steinbeck actively supported him and attended Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, after being personally invited by the Kennedys. Steinbeck met with President Kennedy on several occasions and was selected by the president to receive the Medal of Freedom, though Kennedy did not live to present the honor himself. (It was presented by President Johnson in September 1964.) On November 22, 1963, Steinbeck and his wife Elaine were in Warsaw on a U.S. cultural mission. Deeply impacted by the assassination, the Steinbecks attended a memorial service at a cathedral in Vienna. Upon his return to the United States, Steinbeck wrote a condolence letter to Mrs. Kennedy. According to Steinbeck biographer Jackson Benson, Mrs. Kennedy thought that Steinbeck was \"the writer most suitable\" to write President Kennedy's definitive biography. Ultimately, Steinbeck declined because the book idea he had in mind was not an \"orthodox biography.\" Benson writes that Steinbeck never completed his own autobiography for much the same reason. Steinbeck died at the age of 66 on December 20, 1968. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator"]},"id":{"label":"Id","value":"66139"},"dimensions":{"label":"Dimensions","value":"9 1/4 × 6 1/4 in. (23.5 × 15.9 cm)"},"height":{"label":"Height","value":["23.4950469901"]}}]}