The Family (101 page)

Huckleberry Finn had it right. “If I’d a knowed what a trouble it was to make a book,” he said, “I wouldn’t a tackled it.” I wouldn’t a tackled this one, either, except for the galvanizing force of John Bennett, a journalist of thirty years who was retired when I started knocking on his door. Since it was January and too cold for golf, he agreed to spend the winter in the Library of Congress, gathering more than five thousand articles on the Bushes. In Connecticut, Diane Stamm did the same thing, poring through the archives of the Connecticut State Library and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut to assemble the background material on the family. In Greenwich, I was fortunate enough to meet Stephanie S. Gaj, who responded generously to all my requests, and in New York City Marsha Berkowitz retrieved numerous records and documents while researching everything from the files of Brown Brothers Harriman to the Social Register. In Boston, Margo Howard became my beloved leg woman, chasing down everything she could, which blossomed into a mother lode of information. In Washington, D.C., I needed assistance organizing the vast amounts of material pouring in, and was blessed by Sumner MacLeish and Rebecca Hunter. I also received assistance with some of the nearly one thousand interviews conducted for this book. Throughout the process, I also was guided by Patti Pancoe, who has worked on every book I’ve written. A year into the project Stephanie K. Eller became my full-time assistant, and brought the scholarship of her PhD studies to the detailed research required. She worked tirelessly with no concern for the clock or the calendar, putting in long days and nights, and forgoing vacations until the manuscript was completed. Her commitment has been exemplary and I’m most grateful.

For the last four years, Stephanie and I have been helped every day by Internet retrievals from the California journalist Richard Brenneman. He showed us there is no better resource than a generous journalist, and we also found such a treasure in the investigative reporter David Robb, who sent all of his files on the Bushes, including original taped interviews, which are cited when used. Jefferson Morley from
The Washington Post
was equally generous with his tapes and notebooks, and Carol Taylor Gray’s scrapbooks, complete with pink ribbons, were a colorful addition to our Gray files.

The best part of completing a long project is publicly thanking those who have been loving and long-suffering. My list is long and my heart is full, especially for Margaret Engel, managing editor of the Freedom Forum and director of the Alicia Patterson Foundation; for Colleen Ryan, whose friendship sets the gold standard; for Judy (Demetra) Green, a constant support for over thirty-five years; for Tom and Jean Gilpin, who make Clark County a paradise; for my wonderful book club—writers all, who understand: Linda Cashdan, Patricia O’Brien, Patricia Shakow, Susan Tolchin, Irene Wurtzel, and Catherine Wyler; for the board of directors of the National Women’s Health Resource Center, its president, Julie Johnson, and executive director, Amy Niles, who tolerated my absences from meetings; for the Sisters of the Holy Names, who taught me years ago, and who, despite my lapses, continue to send up their prayers; for those who kept life on an even keel while I was in the bunker: James Henderson, Maria DiMartini, Fabiola Molina, Marvin McIntyre, Bob Parr, Steve Weisman, Tracy Noble, Gretchen and Jeremy Zucker, Seymour Zucker, Felice Ross, and Amanda and David Bowker.

My thanks to the Washington Biography Group led by Marc Pachter, who always inspires; to my sister, Mary Cary Coughlan, who honors every publication with a Chicago book party; to Marc E. Miller of McLeod, Watkinson and Miller, who read the manuscript with care, as did Mervin Block and my revered agent, Wayne S. Kabak, co–Chief Operating Officer, in the New York office of William Morris Agency, Inc.

Now comes praise for the magicians who turn a manuscript into a book. I’m ecstatic about the publisher of Doubleday, Steve Rubin, whose enthusiasm is exceeded only by his charm. His choice of Peter Gethers as my editor was the best professional break of my life. I loved every exhilarating moment of working with this wonderful man and I finally understand why F. Scott Fitzgerald worshipped Max Perkins.

It’s fair to say that in the course of publishing this book I’ve fallen in love with everyone at Doubleday: Kathy Trager, general counsel of Random House; Bill Thomas, editor in chief; Rebecca Holland, publishing director; Frieda Duggan, production editor; Ingrid Sterner, copy editor; Katherine Duffy, managing editor; John Fontana, art director; Lorraine Hyland, production manager; Elizabeth Rendfleisch and Gretchen Achilles, designers; Jeff Ward, family tree illustrator; Ada Yonenaka, production editor; Karen Broderick, photo researcher; Claudia Herr, Gethers’s assistant; Suzanne Herz and David Drake, publicity; and Janet Renard, proofreader. All have my gratitude.

My deepest thanks to my husband, Jonathan E. Zucker, the dear and glorious physician to whom this book is dedicated. He came into my life twelve years ago and continues to fill my heart with joy.

June 8, 2004

ALSO BY KITTY KELLEY

Jackie Oh!

Elizabeth Taylor: The Last Star

His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra

Nancy Reagan: The Unauthorized Biography

The Royals

PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
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DOUBLEDAY
and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
has been applied for.

Copyright © 2004 by H. B. Productions, Inc.

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eISBN: 978-0-385-51405-7

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