Reminiscent of the elegant simplicity of her mother, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy captivated the approximately 300 guests of the Highland Park Library with stories about her family and love of poetry.
She was the keynote speaker on April 5 at an event celebrating the library's 125th year.
Kennedy discussed her new book, "Poems to Learn by Heart," a companion to her bestselling "A Family of Poems."
Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering introduced Kennedy, reciting the Eugene Feld poem "Wynken, Blynken and Nod" that she had learned as a fifth grade student at Highland Park's Braeside School.
"I haven't heard too many mayors do that lately," Kennedy said. "Maybe they get the profile in courage award if they do."
Kennedy said she was fortunate to grow up in a family that cared about words and ideas, and said her father, President John F. Kennedy, spent a lot of time reading because he was so sick as a boy.
"The time he spent reading about heroes, soldiers and leaders really shaped his view of patriotism and bravery and courage and really led to 'Profiles in Courage' and that indispensable virtue in public life that he is known for," Kennedy said, referring to her father's book.
Kennedy said that many people didn't understand her mother's love of the written word.
"After my mother died," Kennedy said, "People were so focused on her sunglasses and her fashion and all that, that I felt they were missing the really special person she was — and that was from her love of reading and words."
And so Kennedy began to look through the many poems her mother insisted she and her brother John Jr. copy and illustrate and give her for birthdays, Xmas and mother's day.
In her search, she came across this poem, her brother gave to her mother one Mother's Day:
Careless Willy with a thirst for gore
Nailed her sister to the door
Mother cried with humor quaint
Careful Willy don't spoil the paint
"I realized this summed up our entire relationship," she said. "I learned poems about flowers and love and he waltzed off with that."
Her grandmother Rose Kennedy loved the poem "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," which they recited when they were young.
"She absolutely loved that poem, because she grew up in Concord. We thought she was so old that maybe Paul Revere stopped by her house," Kennedy said.
Kennedy spent some private moments with two finalists in the Poetry Out Loud: Poetry Recitation Contest before she addressed the crowd.
She met with Rapheal Mathis, 18, a senior at Plainfield High School who won first place and will travel to Washington D.C. to compete in the national contest, representing the state of Illinois.
"I was sort of in shock to meet her," Mathis said. "She was so down to earth and such an inspiration."
Eli Singer, 16, a sophomore at Deerfield High School, said he was "a little star-struck" to meet Kennedy. He said he found her serious "but in a good way" and will relish this once in a lifetime experience.
Both students performed poems before Kennedy spoke.
Kennedy spent almost an hour signing books for the crowd. Among them was Pat Lee of Highland Park, who came to the event because she grew up in New York City with Kennedy's husband, Edwin Schlossberg.
Lee said she and Schlossberg attended The Birch Wathen Lennox School in Manhattan and walked to school together every day.
Kennedy promised to tell her husband she met her.
"I am nothing less than delighted to meet her," Lee said. "She is so much prettier and younger in person."
