Rep. Kennedy: Obama should be Special Olympics 'hugger'

March 20, 2009

U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy -- whose aunt, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founded the Special Olympics -- said he spoke with his cousin Timothy P. Shriver, who is chairman of the Special Olympics board, this morning about President Obama's comment on the Tonight show.
"The president called him and said he was sorry for the choice of words," Kennedy said.
"But you know, frankly, it's not about the choice of words. It's about understanding the impact that these words have on these families that, as Timmy said, woke up this morning crying at the thought that the president was that insensitive to their children -- and, as Timmy said, his children because all those Special Olympians are his children."
Kennedy said Shriver was "swamped with e-mails" from "parents who felt the hurt of what it was going to mean to their children to have that message sent to them."
Kennedy, who supported Mr. Obama in his Democratic primary contest against Hillary Clinton, said the president is "like many Americans" who "don't quite get how the nomenclature is important until they see what impact it has on the very people who feel those words and what it means to them."
Kennedy said Mr. Obama "knows full well -- I mean, this is a civil rights issue -- it's people feeling dissed [disrespected]."
Like everybody else, Mr. Obama makes mistakes, and it's good that he apologized, Kennedy said.
"But the best way to apologize is to go to a Special Olympics event and be a 'hugger,' " Kennedy said, referring to volunteers who cheer on Special Olympians, often hugging them at the finish line.
"I think it would be really great if he went to a couple of Special Olympics events. I think it's a really great opportunity, frankly."
-- With reports from Edward Fitzpatrick, Journal political columnistThis morning, Michael McGovern, the executive director of Special Olympics Rhode Island said his phone had been "ringing off the hook" in the wake of the president's comments.
"There are a lot of misconceptions about the athletes and our program, and this time it's happened at the highest level. We're not pleased by them. It does give us an opportunity to try to put a positive spin on the thing," McGovern said.

Go to:
http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/03/rep-kennedy-cal.html

From a forgotten rescuer, a simple tribute makes its way to JFK's gravesite

In a small, private ceremony in November at Arlington Cemetery, members of the Kennedy family watched as an unusual but heartfelt item was placed on President John F. Kennedy's grave: a simple, bracelet-size ring made of cream-colored shell, sent by an elderly man who lives on a remote island halfway across the world.

Why the fuss? Because without Eroni Kumana, the man who asked that the item be placed on the grave, Jack Kennedy, the young PT boat captain, might have not made it back from World War II.
Kumana was one of two Solomon Islanders who helped rescue Kennedy and his crew after his boat, PT-109, had been rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer.
When the destroyer smashed into the small boat in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 1943, two crewmen died. Kennedy, then 26, led his remaining 10 crew members in a weeklong fight for survival, swimming to a series of tiny, deserted islands.
Kumana and another native, Biuku Gasa, found the men, who had been surviving on coconuts. They took a message from Kennedy written on a coconut husk (an item currently on display in Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston) to the nearest Allied base 35 miles away. A rescue was launched.
Fast-forward more than 60 years. Mark Roche, an investment banker whose hobby is World War II history, traveled to the Solomon Islands in March and, on a whim, looked up Kumana, now 83, who lives on Ranongga Island. After they talked for about an hour, Roche said, he asked if Kumana would like him to place some of the flowers from his yard on Kennedy's grave.
At that point, Roche said in an e-mail to the Kennedy Library, Kumana went into his hut and pulled out the ring of shell, which was a piece of custom money or shell money. The money, carved from a fossilized giant clam shell, could once be used to pay for a bride, buy land, and apply to other purposes in the Solomon Islands.
Kumana's son explained that another traditional use of the custom money was to lay it on a chief's grave.
Roche, 52, of Houston, agreed to lay it on Kennedy's grave for Kumana. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, he was able to get in touch with the Kennedy family and the ceremony was arranged.
The Kennedys treated Roche with "incredible graciousness," he said. "I was raised in a Nixon household. Honestly, we were raised, sort of, 'We don't like Kennedys.' . . . I take offense against anybody who says a bad thing about a Kennedy now."
The ceremony took place Nov. 1. Those attending included President Kennedy's sister Eunice Kennedy Shriver; his nephew Tim Shriver; and his niece Sydney Lawford McKelvy.
The item is now part of the museum's collection and will one day be displayed next to the coconut husk bearing Kennedy's message, museum officials said.

Go to:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/02/20/from_a_forgotten_rescuer_a_simple_tribute_makes_its_way_to_jfks_gravesite/

Big Dig park named for Rose Kennedy

The Rose Kennedy Greenway was abloom yesterday as families from across the area showed up for the park’s inaugural celebration.
“It’s nice to come in here and see this on the way to the waterfront and not just steel,” said Paul Lakus, 62, of Medford, who enjoyed the park with his wife, Alma, also 62.
The park sits where the Interstate 93 Central Artery once dissected the city’s skyline. The Big Dig brought the ugly roadway underground and made way for the narrow, 1.5-mile-long urban park.
Lilacs, day lilies, geraniums and other blooms fill the park’s gardens and offer a respite from the constant stream of cars buzzing by on either side.
Yesterday’s festivities included local musicians, dance troupes and a Ferris wheel.
“What the Greenway has always been about is beauty and connection,” said Nancy Brennan, executive director of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. “You can really see people remember how much joy there is in city life.”
Brennan said thousands of people attended yesterday’s celebration. Among the attendees were Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg - Rose’s daughter and granddaughter, respectively - as well as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Medford native, and Hub Mayor Thomas M. Menino.
Urban Adventours offered free bike tours of the park yesterday, though bicyclists usually must use the surrounding roadway..
“This is miles better than what it was,” said operations manager Mike Maker, who credits the end of the Big Dig with making the area more bike-friendly, with fewer potholes and detours.
Deb Murphy, 32, of Acton stopped by the park with her daughter Hannah, 1.
What’s their favorite part? “The highway that’s gone,” Murphy said. “But isn’t that a given?”

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1123482

Shrivers’ $11.7M pad up for sale

The Maryland mega manse owned by Peace Corps founder Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who started the Special Olympics, is on the market for $11.78 million.
Well, it is an excellent time to buy!
The Shrivers built the 10-bedroom, Georgian-style home, which sits on seven acres in Potomac, in 1986, and are unloading it because the elderly couple is spending more time in Los Angeles, Miami and Hyannisport.
Their broker, William F.X. Moody, said it’s not unlikely that the estate will sell for close to its asking price since a similar-sized home on their street sold for $10 million in April.
“What this Shriver property has is acreage and privacy,” making it more valuable than the $10 million estate, the broker told the Associated Press. “These prices aren’t as unusual to Washington as they were just a few years ago.”
Apparently, news of the meltdown in the financial markets hasn’t made it to Maryland.
Anyway, the 22-year-old manse has 11 bathrooms and includes staff quarters, a grand foyer with a circular staircase, a 567-square-foot library with a wet bar and a swimming pool.
There’s also an exercise room, where maybe, just maybe, son-in-law, Terminator-turned-Calee-for-neeya Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pumped iron! That may be worth a few bucks . . .

Go to:

http://www.bostonherald.com/track/celebrity/view.bg?articleid=1119333