FROM OUR EDITORS

In the spirit of her father's Pulitzer Prize–winning Profiles in Courage, Caroline Kennedy has assembled a collection of essays celebrating the winners of the prestigious annual Profiles in Courage Award. The pair-ups are impressive: Michael Beschloss on Carl Elliot; Anna Quindlen on James Florio; Pete Hamill on Henry Gonzalez; Bob Woodward on Gerald Ford. An attractively packaged book about civic heroes.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Nearly fifty years have passed since the publication of John F. Kennedy's Profiles in Courage, the then-senator's Pulitzer Prize-winning homage to American political greatness.

To recognize annually the legacy of individual courage in the pursuit of justice, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation created the Profile in Courage Award in 1989. The recipients -- a diverse group of men and women who share the distinction of being elected officials at the national, state, or local level -- have each served their country by taking a stand in the face of public opinion or political pressure. Now, some of our greatest writers have brought their formidable talents to the task of chronicling these heroic episodes. Profiles in Courage for Our Time, edited and introduced by Caroline Kennedy, recognizes that the journey of conscience undertaken by each of these courageous public servants is a story that must be told. Profiles in Courage for Our Time inspires us always to ask more of ourselves in the effort to bring about change for the greater good.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booklist

High-profile names of the editor and writers will attract wide interest.

Publishers Weekly

In 1957, then-senator John F. Kennedy won a Pulitzer Prize for Profiles in Courage. In 1990, the Kennedy family resurrected the concept and established the Profiles in Courage Award for selfless public service. Now, in this expertly packaged anthology, Caroline Kennedy and over a dozen prominent writers bring the sacrifices of those award winners to life. Some essays address famous leaders like the Good Friday peacemakers in Ireland and campaign-finance-reform stalwarts John McCain and Russell Feingold. Others hail lesser-known local officials, like school superintendent Corkin Cherubini, who braved a firestorm to end race-based tracking in Georgia. All the winners acted with a rare breed of selfless courage but sometimes this courage came at a terrible cost. U.S. Representative Carl Elliot Sr. was chased out of office in 1964 because he fought segregation in Alabama; by the time he won the first Profile in Courage Award, he was living alone in a ramshackle house, confined to a wheelchair by diabetes and hounded by creditors. Kennedy has assembled an impressive roster of writers to compose these mostly inspirational stories: Michael Beschloss, Anna Quindlen, Albert R. Hunt. The most audacious essay in the collection belongs to Bob Woodward, who reverses 25 years of conventional wisdom in arguing that former president Gerald Ford should be applauded for his pardon of Richard Nixon after Watergate. Of course, not all of the essays have the same level of distinction, but all share the same Kennedy spirit. Unabashedly liberal and pro-government, this collection is a stirring look at people who rarely thought about what they could do for themselves, but always about what they could do for their country. (May) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT - William Kircher

In the original Profiles, John F. Kennedy cites Ernest Hemingway's "Grace under pressure," to define courage. But this definition is more a reflection of the Kennedy penchant for style than a useful description of the virtue. His daughter has stretched that qualification again, suggesting that these new "profiles" reflect a more contemporary understanding of courage. One does feel the weight of generational narcissism posed in the subtitle, "For Our Time," which perhaps anticipates that not everyone will agree with all 16 Profiles-In-Courage Award winners and nearly a dozen "Irish Peacemakers" also feted with the "Silver Lantern" Award. All, of course are worthy recipients, if in some cases, controversial. There are those who raise courage to a higher level of recognition; people who knowingly lay their lives on the line for high principle or to save others. John Lewis, now Congressman from Georgia and Nickolas C. Murnion, a prosecuting attorney from rural Garfield County, fall into that category and are by far, the two most compelling stories in this book. Lewis pitted his life against attack dogs, the permanently crippling aftermath of brickbats and skin-peeling fire hoses to bring the first glimmer of real freedom and dignity to African Americans. Murnion, from small-town Jordan, Montana (pop. 365), "took on a band of home-grown terrorists, anarchic, coherently livid, armed-to-the-teeth "Freeman," endangering his own life when he confronted the lawlessness of this militia who seized the town, cowed the local police and were only a few miles and minutes away from lynching him." Compare these profiles to James Florio, former Governor of New Jersey, who is praised for standing up to theNational Rifle Association on laws banning automatic weapons even though all the police institutions in the state and most of New Jersey voters supported the ban. Florio was defeated in a brilliant sub-rosa attack by the NRA, not for his stand on assault weapons but for his tax increases. The Governor never knew what hit him until it was too late. President Ford is cited for his "courageous" pardon of Richard Nixon, a decision he made after a particularly nettlesome press conference in which he complained, "too many questions are about Nixon." Responding privately to aides he added, "We can't have this for the next two and half years." The prism of history filters our emotions in a way not possible when we evaluate the character or the times of contemporary figures; particularly those who are still with us. Teachers might consider assigning students a comparative analysis of the characters in both the original and latter-day Profiles. How would John McCain, Lowell Weicker and Kofi Annan stand up to the bravery of Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton and Sam Houston as each faced the demon issues of their times? KLIATT Codes: SA;Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Hyperion, 361p.,

Kirkus Reviews