Today marked sixty-one years since JFK’s assassination, and as certainly seemed apparent to me last year, I think interest in it and/or John Kennedy in general has officially waned in the popular consciousness.
This is both sad and I guess expected. Public memory is relatively short. What we obsess over today becomes tomorrow’s trivia. There was a time when it seemed 11/22/63 was inescapable, even just the obsession with conspiracy theories, but even that has become marginalized. Rob Reiner did a whole ballyhooed podcast series promising names, and by the time it reached its conclusion all the hype had completely dissipated, but even supermarket tabloids (which themselves are now consigned to a bygone era) couldn’t interest anyone with their ideas just a few years back, claiming surefire Cuban connections, or Martin Scorsese, in The Irishman, claiming a certain mob association.
Some of us remember. For some, Kennedy remains a giant. Years ago I skimmed a book extolling the 100 greatest persons of the 20th century, which claimed he simply didn’t accomplish enough to warrant serious consideration.
Well. Personally I can think of fewer more consequential lives. His legacy endures to this day, and stood like a specter over the Democrats who followed him in the White House straight through Obama. They were all chasing him. All of them.
One day I will write a novel and Hamilton and Burr, despite that fancy musical that created such a fuss. I think that’s one of the defining stories of American history, and has plenty of juice left in it. And one day I will write a novel about Kennedy and Oswald. I have no idea how any author could ever struggle for material. I have stories I’ve burned decades to write. Whatever you think of Oswald, he’s beyond fascinating subject matter, and his story is perfect counterpoint to Kennedy’s. There is great material in there. I might only help contribute. But I know I will have to.
I can’t ignore it. I can’t forget it. And a little bit of time makes no difference at all. It heightens the drama, if anything.
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