I loved reading this. As an avid reader of all things Kennedy, this was a wonderful portrayal of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Highly recommend.

Inspiring life story

Some people will interpret this book as a disgusting story of wealth and privilege. I find it inspiring. It reminds me of a bygone era where political strength was built on service; a time when public responsibility came with wealth. Whether this can be seen in the Kennedy family as a sign of older Catholic civic values, similar motivations are seen in non-Catholics of the era.

The Kennedy family, all of them, were competitors, and Joe and Rose never let them slide. The kids were well trained in history, debate, rhetoric, expository writing, and sports. Once upon a time, these were the tools of statesmen. Family wealth provided tutors and coaches, and the family work and play ethic is to strive to be the best you can be. I was particularly charmed by the intra-family mini-grant program that funded public service projects the college-age grandchildren thought up. Only the good ideas got the money.

Be the best you can be was the motto and with it the corollaries: Surround yourself with advisors who are the best you can find, and be sure that within your circle of advisors are people who do not agree with you. Contrast that with today when barely-educated, poorly read people, who happen to be rich or celebrities, surround themselves with people just like themselves forming a homogenous mass of people who know no history and then pronounce THE TRUTH.

Eunice's lifetime of hard work for the mentally retarded and the Special Olympics is fully described in the book. Her and Sergeant Shriver's work with Peace Corps and related youth jobs programs is less thoroughly presented but still adequate.

I received a review copy of "Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World" by Eileen McNamara (Simon & Schuster) through NetGalley.com.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

This is a superbly researched, well written story of the life and times of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She was, indeed, the star of the Kennedy family overcoming her gender and wisely using her father's money to do good in the world.
The book goes into considerable detail about the work that Eunice did to develop services for the mentally retarded and her development of the Special Olympics. The book does not read like a novel and occasionally became tedious but I forgave this since it told a story that needed to be told. The Kennedy family was portrayed truthfully but did not stoop to gossip or sensationalism. I am glad to see this book recognizing the work of this strong Kennedy woman.

5 empowered, emboldened stars to Eunice: The Kennedy Who Changed the World! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟

Prior to reading this book, I familiar with Eunice Shriver’s enormous contributions to society on behalf of individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families, creating the Special Olympics, among many others, but this book quickly illuminated all of Eunice’s accomplishments, her strength of character, her passion in advocating for individuals with disabilities, and her love and devotion for her family.

I read a nonfiction book a couple months ago about Rosemary, Eunice’s sister, who had an intellectual disability and had a very difficult time obtaining schooling tailored to her needs, and Eunice’s book had some overlap with family backstory, while clearly focusing on Eunice’s perspective.

Eunice grew up in a male-dominated family, and she was often limited by her father (and society) in what she had access to as a female, but she forged ahead, accepted challenges, and made her own destiny based on her strong faith and family values.

Bottom line, Eunice’s life was fascinating, empowering, inspiring, and I can’t imagine living in a world where her contributions had not laid the foundation for a more accepting society for individuals with disabilities.

Thank you to Eileen McNamara, Simon Schuster, and Netgalley for the ARC. Eunice is available now!

"Eunice: the Kennedy Who Changed the World," by Eileen McNamara, is an insightful, well-researched biography of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics and advocate for the disabled. McNamara traces Shriver's story from her childhood competing for attention in the Kennedy family to an adulthood where she turned relentless drive, sharp elbows, and privilege into an unstoppable force for people with special needs.

McNamara describes a woman driven by conflicting, passionate emotions often diametrically opposed. For instance, McNamara suggests that the roots of Shriver's commitment to the disabled stem from her rage over the treatment of her sister Rosemary, yet Eunice uses that rage demand a more compassionate, caring world for the disabled. And, the same woman who cared so little for appearances that she would travel across the country with only the clothes on her back used every advantage and entitlement to accomplish her goals. In her personal life, the Eunice who campaigned for and bound together the Kennedy family seemed to spend comparably less time and effort on her own marriage and family by this account.

McNamara's book leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of -- and lots of questions about -- an impressive and sometimes impossible woman. It's an interesting, enjoyable read.

EUNICE by Eileen McNamara, subtitled "The Kennedy Who Changed the World," was an eye-opening read which I think our students, particularly those who need to write about someone who made a difference, will appreciate. As the publisher notes, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was "a woman both ahead of her time and out of step with it: the visionary founder of the Special Olympics, a devout Catholic in a secular age, and a formidable woman whose impact on American society was longer lasting than that of any of the Kennedy men." It was interesting to read the many details about her childhood and adolescence, the influence that her sister Rosemary's disability likely had on Shriver's future actions, and the global magnitude of the changes she made as a determined activist. One estimate was that the Special Olympics, after 50 years of operation, had served more than 4.9 million athletes from 172 countries with more than a million coaches and volunteers. McNamara, an award-winning journalist from The Boston Globe, describes Shriver's "compassion as the engine that propelled her to fight for the forgotten."

To learn more about an extremely influential woman, read EUNICE, a compelling biography which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal. Added NOTE: Author Eileen McNamara will be speaking Thursday, April 26th (7:00pm to 8:15pm) at the Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Avenue for a program in partnership with The Bookstall.
More details here: http://www.thebookstall.com/event/eileen-mcnamara-eunice-kennedy-who-changed-world

This book showed how Eunice's stubbornness and compassion led her to prove not only her father, but other people that doubted her. She did so much for individuals with intellectual disabilities at a time when little was known about these disabilities and when there was a stigma attached to them.

Eunice
The Kennedy Who Changed The World
Eileen McNamara

MY RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
PUBLISHER Simon and Schuster
PUBLISHED April 3, 2018

Eunice is an incredibly informative and spellbinding biography about a woman who would not be written off, not by her father, not by her family nor by anyone who stood in her way.

SUMMARY
While Joe Kennedy was grooming his sons for careers in politics, his daughters were largely invisible to him. They were not his priority. Eunice would allow her brothers to have the spotlight, but she would use her name, her intelligence, her father’s money and her brothers’ position to make her own mark. Her mark was advancing the rights of people across the world with intellectual disabilities. Using her family’s charitable foundation for this purpose, she funded scientific research across the nation, and developed the Special Olympics into a program of international prominence. She fought to empty mental institutions, and garnered a national commitment to community-based group homes, educational inclusion and job training. For four decades, she intimidated lawmakers and influenced public policy on a variety of social justice issues. Very few lawmakers could ever say no to Eunice Kennedy. And yet, until now, little has been written about this tireless, formidable and complicated woman.

REVIEW
This compelling biography sheds light on the significant societal contributions made by the fifth child of Joe and Rose Kennedy. With access to Eunice Kennedy’s personal papers, family and friends, Eileen McNamara has written a intimate portrait of a woman who overcomes numerous personal obstacles to accomplish tremendous social change for the intellectually challenged. This immensely satisfying account of Eunice Kennedy will leave you both inspired and amazed. McNamara’s chapters are smartly structured and beautifully written to highlight accomplishments, but weighted with brutally honest descriptions of Eunice’s brazen, insistent and impatient personality. She was a woman who had little time for idle chatter about things she could not change. EUNICE is chocked full of memorable stories about the Kennedy family exploits and will be most appreciated by Kennedy fans and those interested in the social justice issues she pursued. Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchanged for an honest review.

When I started reading this book, I basically knew two things about Eunice Kennedy Shriver: she started the Special Olympics and she was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mother-in-law. I have read many books on the Kennedys over the years, but information on Eunice is usually scant. The focus is on the Kennedy men most of the time, just as the focus of the Kennedy family - and especially the family patriarch Joseph Kennedy - was always on the men. This book does a tremendous job of showing what a force Eunice was in her own right, and her accomplishments definitely put her on equal footing with her more famous brothers.

Despite the many pages filled with policy regarding abortio and mental retardation (Eunice’s two main areas of interest), the book reads like a train. It provides the perfect balance between public policy and politics, and the private life of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. The book includes many anecdotes from friends and family, and excerpts from Eunice’s private diary, which makes it all the more interesting. The book progresses at just the right pace as Eunice grows into her own right, taking over the running of the family foundation with her husband Sargent Shriver, growing the Special Olympics into an international organization and using her influence on Capital Hill to influence policy with regards to issues that matter to her most.

A well written biography of Eunice Kennedy that gives the reader insights that were previously unknown. Eunice was the one Kennedy that should have been pushed to run for president. Her legacy is astounding and her accomplishments-too many to count. Certain populations have a much better life prospects because of her and her efforts.

Having received a digital copy of "Eunice" for review, as well as a fictional story about Jack, I thought it would be interesting to read both.

This book is definitely packed full of information. So much so, that I found it to be too much at times. Every bit of nitty-gritty you would want to read on the Kennedy's is here. I found myself skimming at times, simply because I did not want to read about every detail. That said, there were parts which did capture my attention.

A fascinating life of one of history's most well known family.

A very insightful read that shares inside untold stories to one of America;s most loved families