Friday, biographer Kate Clifford Larson is with us to talk about the life of Rosemary Kennedy. She was a sister of John F. Kennedy, a vivacious beauty, and also intellectually challenged. As the Kennedy family’s power grew, her parents were anxious to keep her from the public eye. So at 23, she was lobotomized and institutionalized. Larson joins us to explain what Rosemary’s story reveals about the way we once dealt with disabilities, and how her life eventually inspired the Kennedys’ activism. (Rebroadcast)
Kate Clifford Larson has written biographies of Mary Surratt and Harriet Tubman. Her most recent book is called Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter [Indiebound|Amazon|Audible]