About the Author

JAMES W. GRAHAM was a senior advisor to former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and the Illinois House of Representatives. He races and cruises his sailboat, Venturous, at Wilmette Harbor, north of Chicago.

Reviews

"Say what you will about the Kennedys and you will they know their way around a boat. James W. Graham gives a behind-the-mast look at the connection in his new tome, Victura: The Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea." Boston Herald"

"The little ship Victura became part of the Kennedy family in 1932, and for five decades, it remained the brightest star in the ever-growing Kennedy fleet. Pictures of the vast Kennedy clan sailing off Hyannis Port, Mass., secured the Kennedy family brand in the media adventurous, wholesome, vigorous, all in the same boat. In Victura: The Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea, author James W. Graham proposes that sailing defined the family who defined America. Victura tells the stories of Joe Jr., Jack, Bobby, and Ted, along with their sisters, wives, political offices, and children. It tacks through their glamorous successes and heartbreaking defeats, always with the sea as a background. Opening with Tennyson and closing with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Graham s poetic nod to Victura and the Kennedys embracing all of Camelot s triumphs and tragedies is a love story of life." Practical Sailor"

For readers, this book may serve as an introduction to the world of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, his family, and the beautiful blue sailboat at the center of it all. Wooden Boat"

Graham deftly moves among family history, political history, and sailing lore to present a compelling story that is at times exciting, heartbreaking, and fascinating. Chicago Book Review"

In chronicling their exploits on the water, this book provides a fresh perspective on the famous clan. The Kennedys are a unique family, but their generational connection to the sea is one that many readers will find familiar. Mystic Seaport Magazine"

This is the story of politics, sailing, and a famous U.S. family. It s a real sail through history. Ontario Sailor"

Victura is a carefully and extensively researched work written in a warm, sensitive voice, clearly friendly to the Kennedys, but at the same time shining a light in the darker corners of their complicated lives. . . . Victura is a celebration of the Kennedy spirit that derives from traditions that continue to this day in Hyannis Port. Points East"

Victura is more than Graham recounting the sailing experiences of the Kennedys. In this well-researched but warmly written book, Graham sometimes goes several pages describing an election, or a Kennedy family intrigue, and then gracefully brings the story back to the sea, showing how, in the best and worst of times, the family pulled together around sailing. Sailing"