CONTENTS Preface 1. Useless People 2. Joe Senior 3. Eunice and Sarge 4. Camelot 5. Special Olympics 6. Power 7. Image 8. Dynasty Postscript Notes Index
An account of mental retardation through the eyes of the Kennedy Family
Edward Shorter is a Professor at the University of Toronto where he holds the Hannah Chair in teh History of Medicine. He is the author of A History of Psychiatry from the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac, as well as many other books in the fields of history and medicine.
"A unique and compulsively readable book by a distinguished social historian and historian of medicine. Through his access to the records of the Kennedy Foundation, Shorter illuminates the Kennedy Family's philanthropic interests in a way that no one has done before, despite all that has been written on nearly all aspects of the Kennedys. And he tells us a great deal about America's public and private responses to mental retardation. This book deserves the attention of political historians, historians of disability, philanthropy and medicine, and the general public alike. It represents a singular and quite impressive achievement." --Edward Berkowitz, Chair, Department of History, George Washington University, and author of Disabled Policy: America's Programs for the Handicapped "A lively, wonderfully engaging account of the momentous contributions of Eunice Kennedy Shriver to the Mental Retardation movement, the book is also a deserved tribute to the families of the mentally retarded. Moreover, Shorter details the chilling history of how the treatment and perception of the mentally retarded only recently evolved from the barbarisms to commonly practiced in prior decades. Shorter's unique professional perspective adds cachet to the deft sensitivity with which he tells this compelling story. A fascinating study, it will resonate with many audiences." --James W. Hilty, Professor of History, Temple University, and author of Robert Kennedy, Brother Protector (Temple)
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