“John gave an interview once,” reminisced his former executive assistant RoseMarie Terenzio, “where he said, ‘I can get in my plane and just fly away….’”
On July 16, 1999, JFK Jr. did just that and never returned.
Torenzio who served as the scion’s chief of staff at George magazine, previously authored the New York Times best-seller Fairy Tale Interrupted, in 2019 on the 20th anniversary of his tragic death. This time around she teamed up with People editor at large Liz McNeil to write JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography
For almost two years, the pair tracked down those who knew John and conducted over 250 interviews–among them, close friends and colleagues with a smattering of celebrities; some of whom have never spoken publicly about him–to paint an insider’s portrait of the forever-young man who still can fascinate and surprise us a quarter-century after his passing.
Told in sound bites, as opposed to quotes weaved into a narrative, it makes the 400-page story of John’s life more like being in on an intimate conversation with mutual acquaintances.
It’s a particularly engaging structure if, like me, you have a few tales of your own about intersecting briefly with JFK Jr. on the streets of NYC.
In the early 90s, I lived on the UWS in the Ansonia, and on my way to work, I’d often run into John coming out of Daryl Hannah’s building on W. 70th St., hopping on his bike and heading down Broadway to the DA’s office. Years later, when I moved to the UES, I’d see him going into his sister Caroline’s building in the area.
Back then, I was also a cyclist and would catch him on Central Park’s bike path. One particular time I and a pack of other bikers stopped peddling to watch John go by, not just because he was shirtless, but because he was going in the wrong direction on the one-way road. If that had been any other rule breaker, yelling would have ensued with a sprinkling of colorful language. We all just stood in silence as he made his way to the nearest park exit.
I can say honestly that nothing I ever read, watched on TV, or witnessed with my own eyes had touched upon some of the subject matter that the authors of this oral biography have uncovered.
Former Collegiate classmates let on that going to school with the son of the late 35th president could be more burdensome than glamorous, with bomb scare threats made to the school and all. Biographer Steve Gillon points out that John single-handedly took Brown “from being a money-losing, second-tier Ivy League school to being the most popular university in America.”
The heir to a dynasty was notorious for borrowing money. He coined the phrase, “the JK Factor,” which meant that he could, among other things, get a table at a fully booked restaurant. And who knew he’d been at odds with Sean Penn over Madonna? (They eventually got over it.)
Straus Media spoke to the co-authors whose relationship began in the ‘90s when McNeil was at People and Terenzio was at George. A year after JFK Jr. died, the seasoned journalist reached out and the colleagues became friends who have since become collaborators.
Talk about why you structured the book as you did?
Liz McNeil: Oral histories are a really interesting format. It’s all about the voices—the diversity, the range, the breadth. It’s like [the contributors] are talking to each other. The reader is part of a conversation about John and learning about him in a new and different way.
RoseMarie Terenzio: I just felt the best way to remember John, to honor him and bring him to life, was through all the voices who knew him well, who he touched and who touched him.
After all this time, why were those who never did so willing to speak out?
LM: The way we presented [the book] was more of as a tribute. It’s been 25 years and we don’t want him to be forgotten. People began to feel that enough time had passed and that they were celebrating him rather than mourning him.
RT: Also, they weren’t just answering an interviewer’s questions. These were their quotes and could decide what they wanted to share.
This book is “warts and all.” Talked about why you chose to do that.
RT: As human beings, we all have human frailties and failings. To give people a full picture of who [John] was as a person, rather than this larger-than-life celebrity bubble, we had to do that; we wanted to do that because we wanted people to see the humanity. You fall in love with him even more when you see how human he is.
LM: [Showing] his vulnerabilities, weaknesses, honesty…all those things are what make John interesting. It makes [the book] more real.
There are quotes from people from all walks of life, making clear that JFK Jr. was an equal-opportunity socializer.
RT: That’s what made him so special and so beloved. There’s a quote in the book about how he was the same person with everyone–from the maintenance man at Hachette to the CEO.
LM: And again, that’s the beauty of the format. We’re not just talking to historians or politicos or just the people at George. We wanted to show the range: from 96-year-old Martha Bartlett, the woman who introduced Jack [Kennedy] and Jackie [Bouvier], to his favorite waitress. His friend Jack Merrill is quoted in the book saying, “John wasn’t interested in the VIP section; he didn’t want to be behind the ropes. He wanted to be on the dance floor, in the middle of it.” The book reflects that.
It also quotes John as saying, “I’m a New Yorker and I belong here.” He was one of us. And JFK Jr.: An Intimate Oral Biography has the stories to prove it.
Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of three novels, most recently THE LAST SINGLE WOMAN IN NEW YORK CITY.
