Dean’s letter to Kennedy’s widow foreshadowed career of service
| March 11, 2010 | |
Dr. Barbara K. Rimer
Now that Barbara K. Rimer thinks about it, earning Master of Public Health and Doctor of Public Health degrees, the research she did, the period of leadership at the National Cancer Institute and the path that led her to be dean of the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are the fulfillment of an adolescent promise to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. When she was 15 years old, Rimer wrote a letter of condolence to the First Lady after President Kennedy’s assassination.
She told Mrs. Kennedy, “I promise you that I will give body and soul to perpetuate the very ideals President Kennedy lived for.”
Rimer’s condolence letter was one of about 1.5 million sent to Mrs. Kennedy by people caught up in a family’s and a nation’s grief. Now, it’s one of 200 included in a book, Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation, released this month by HarperCollins. The letters were compiled by historian Ellen Fitzpatrick.
When Fitzpatrick called Rimer, seeking permission to publish the letter, it brought back that time 45 years ago.
“When I saw the letter, it made me realize how long I’ve been on a path,” Rimer said.
“Most people of my generation did not grow up thinking they were going to be in public health. But public health is the actualization of the commitment I made. I’m really grateful to the author of this book for giving me back a piece of my history,” she said.
Note: Rimer has been interviewed about the book and her letter by several media outlets. Read more at:
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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