Simon Barrett on The Kennedy Detail (+Vince Palamara, etc)

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Coming Soon: The Kennedy DetailPosted on November 2nd, 2010 by Simon Barrett in Literary NewsRead 420 times.
There are few people fifty and older who can not remember with clarity where they were on November/22 1963. I had just turned 8 years old, I had never even visited America, my world was a small village in the north of England. but I remember watching a news flash on the family black and white TV, “President Kennedy has been assassinated” the well spoken BBC announcer told us all.

I had never even heard of Dallas, and indeed it would be three decades before I visited the city. But even at the tender age of 8 I realized that the news I had just heard was profoundly disturbing.

Over the intervening years I have read many JFK books, I have watched watched more documentaries on the subject than most people. I have been entertained and appalled by some of the conspiracy theories. Magic bullets, the Grassy Knoll, the reload time of the bolt action riffle used, been there, done that!

Do not get me wrong, this is not an obsession, it is just a subject that I find interesting, As we approach the 47th anniversary of that black day in Dealey Plaza it is clear that this is one puzzle that may never be solved.

Some books and documentaries on the subject of JFK would be more accurately labeled as Fiction or Fantasy, occasionally one does however have genuine historical significance. A chance to add another piece to the jig saw puzzle. We may well be on the verge of such a book.

The Simon & Shuster publishing company are about to publish The Kennedy Detail. Authored by Gerald Blain with the help of Lisa McGubbin it takes us inside the very small and very private world of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect President Kennedy. Gerald Blaine was one of the very select and numerically small group of agents tasked with his safety.

S&S have been keeping this book very close to their chests. Although it is slated for release today, it was only yesterday that I received a Galley for it!

I have only read about 70 pages, but I know a quality book when I see one, this will be on the must have list for anyone interested in the JFK story.

My review of the book will be coming soon!

For those of you that want to be first in line, you can order from Amazon. OK, back to reading….

Simon Barrett

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Loading ...3 users commented in " Coming Soon: The Kennedy Detail " Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback Vince Palamara said,in November 2nd, 2010 at 1:38 pm Very well written propaganda, more like it. “The Kennedy Detail”, while with some merit, seeks to blame JFK for his own death, which most people find repugnant. President Kennedy was a very nice man, never interfered with the actions of the Secret Service, and never ordered them off the car. I base this on many interviews with many members of the Kennedy Detail, Blaine included. This book was written to counter my research.
Tom Del Toro said,in November 2nd, 2010 at 4:43 pm I have to agree with with Vince Palamara in his assessment of the book. Seems Gerald Blaine is something of a coward, too: keeps deleting Mr. Palamara’s blogs. Why? Could it be Mr. Palamara has information contrary to the wisful thinking found in “The Kennedy Detail”, perhaps?
Audrey Cromwell said,in November 2nd, 2010 at 7:15 pm Vince Palamara is the REAL authority on the Secret Service, not Blaine, a nobody agent who can’t even get his facts right

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Book Review: The Kennedy Detail by Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbinPosted on November 8th, 2010 by Simon Barrett in All News, Book Reviews, ReviewsRead 217 times.
There is little doubt in my mind that if of you were to ask a group of fifty people to name the two biggest conspiracies of the 20th century most would cite the assassination of President John F Kennedy, and the happenings at Roswell/Area 51. Both events illicit huge amounts of heated discussion.

I am not a conspiracy theorist but I am a person with a keen interest in the JFK story, I am old enough to remember the events, although too young at the time to have grasped their true significance.

Over the years I have read many books on the events of November/22 in Dealey Plaza, some have been scholarly and well researched, others have been written by ‘wingnuts’ espousing theories that only a fellow wingnut could love!

Rarely does a Kennedy book cause any serious level of controversy. People read them and just move on. That is not true of The Kennedy Detail. Within 24 hours of posting a harmless article about the upcoming release I had messages from JFK ‘researchers’ that were mainly negative.

So what makes The Kennedy Detail such a controversial book? At face value it would seem to be the ideal companion for and collector or historian. It is not a rehash of the many books before, it is the telling of the story through the eyes of Gerald Blaine. Blaine was part of the elite secret service detail tasked with keeping the president out of harms way.

This viewpoint of the JFK assassination is not one that I had read before.

In retrospect I now understand the frustration from the researchers that contacted me, but I do feel they are completely off the mark. Gerald Blaine is not trying to rewrite history, he is telling his story, the way he remembers it. The Kennedy Detail for me was more of an autobiography than an analysis of the events.

There is an old saying about history, there are always three versions, there is mine, there is yours, and then there is the truth, which is somewhere in between. Read Don Brackens excellent book Words Of War for concrete evidence of this. Gerald Blaine is like every other author writing what I call ‘living history’, they are his recollections, they are his feelings, and they form a very important part of the mosaic surrounding the assassination of JFK and the fall out that followed.

Certainly he is very soft on criticism of the Warren Commission, but surely that should come as no surprise. And most certainly he avoids treading in the mire of JFK’s supposed womanizing world, but again, this is not surprising. Gerald Blaine as part of the presidents personal security team swore an oath of allegiance to JFK. It is clear that even after 47 years Gerald Blaine keeps that oath. I admire him for doing so.

I enjoyed The Kennedy Detail a great deal, for me it revealed a side of the story that I had never heard. It puts a face on those Trench Coated, Black Suited, White Shirted, Aviator Sunglasses wearing and generally unsmiling gentleman that protect our presidents.

Kudos to Gerald Blaine! I did notice that The Kennedy Detail is moving faster than a snipers bullet up the Amazon Bestseller list, so if you know someone that is interested in the JFK story this would make a perfect addition to their collection. You can order your copy by clicking on the Amazon link above.

Simon Barrett

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Loading ...1 user commented in " Book Review: The Kennedy Detail by Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin " Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback Vince Palamara said,in November 8th, 2010 at 5:44 pm Vince Palamara is not just a ‘researcher’: he has appeared on the History Channel (and dvd), in over 55 books, in a government report, and has interviewed over 80 former agents, including Blaine and many who died before his book came out. There is value in “The Kennedy Detail”, but there is also selected fiction.
Steven Tramonelli said,in November 8th, 2010 at 5:46 pm Blaine blames the victim in his book. Who cares whether Oswald acted alone or not. The point is-JFK did not order the agents to do anything and Blaine and Co. KNOW this.
Steven Tramonelli said,in November 8th, 2010 at 5:51 pm P.S. “Climbing up the best-sellers list”? More like bombing and diving. Not even in the top 200 (let alone the top 10-50: true best-sellers) and already half off. Next…
Dave Moran said,in November 8th, 2010 at 6:01 pm Gerald Blaine owes EVERYTHING to Vince Palamara~if it wasn’t for his anger towards Palamara’s research, HE NEVER WOULD HAVE WROTE HIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!