Culture Essay > Culter Essay > Caroline Kennedy

2016 11 9

Sunshine Lee's Culture Essay Written in Poetry

Spirit of Poetry in Korea, America and Japan

I still remember clearly November 22, 1963. John F. Kennedy, the 40th president of the United States who appeared like a comet, was killed in Dallas. The world was shaken. It was a time when the rest of the world was far away, but how much the whole world loved him was conveyed to my young mind.

Ask not what your country can do for you –

ask what you can do for your country

I can still hear his booming voice. After the human race landed on the moon, and after the Cuban missile crisis, he gave the famous anti-communist speech "Ich bin ein Berliner" in West Berlin which was at the center of cold war tensions. Nowadays, when the good old times of the U.S. seem to be fading away, I miss Kennedy’s “new frontier” leadership that greeted the new generation and new world 50 years ago.

When I went to Boston for the first time in 1975, I visited the two-story house where Kennedy grew up. I was given a tour and saw the table the Kennedy brothers used for debates. I also remember reading an educational biography where Rose Kennedy, the daughter of a former mayor of Boston, read to her young son.

While living in the U.S. for a long time, I saw a street, bridge, town and an airport that were named after him. There was a red-brick house next to Georgetown University where the young senator Kennedy had lived. And there was the Kennedy Center in front of where I was living in my Georgetown years.

I have numerous other memories related to Kennedy.

And there’s Jacqueline Kennedy, too. President de Gaulle and the French people, who used to look down on Americans, were charmed by her intellectual and graceful figure. She was loved by people from around the world for her unparalleled elegance and charm that rivaled even royalty and celebrities. She later remarried a Jewish man and grew old with him – whenever I was passing by the 12-bedroom apartment in front of Central Park in New York, I thought of these things.

While there are many episodes of Jacqueline Kennedy, the one that impressed me the most was about how she worked as an editor for Doubleday Publisher and edited books like Michael Jackson’s biography until her later years. She had all the wealth, power and fame a person could want – yet she went to work at a small office in a publishing company every day and did what she loved to do. That touches me.

I thought of this as I met Caroline Kennedy, their daughter. It was like meeting an old friend. The photo of young Caroline playing under the desk of President Kennedy in the White house came to my mind. When I couldn’t help but start talking, “When you were young,” she smiled and said, “I know.” Of course, she would have heard that all her life.

Caroline Kennedy, the United States Ambassador to Japan, is very popular among Japanese leaders and people, despite her lack of experience in the public office. When she was volunteering at Dream Yard – an education volunteer organization in New York, she used to hold a poetry reading competition in New York. Now that she was an ambassador to Japan, she made it an international event, and students o fPoongsan High School in Korea students were now participating in the event,too. Chairman Ryu Jin of Poongsan Group who knew Kennedy well, sponsored the event.

Dale Kreisher, whom I used know 25 years ago in Washington, came as a cultural attaché of American Embassy. He says that Ambassador Kennedy, despite her lack of experience in the public post, is very capable, and she had planned this event in New York.

Poet representatives from Japan and the U.S. came to judge poems written by fifty students from three different countries. Parneshia Jones, the American representative poet, was awarded many international awards. Ikegada Missey the Japanese representative poet, also won major awards at the age of 21.

Overwhelmed by their impressive career, I tried to console myself by telling myself that I had lived in the U.S. and Japan, so I also had an advantage of encompassing the three countries of Japan, Korea and the U.S.

After the screening, I gave a speech, starting with these words: “35 years of colonial rule that Japan imposed on Korea gave birth to a great Tanka poet in Korea. That’s my mother, Hoyon Son” I recited our most major works in Korean, Japanese and English. I talked about the spirit of our poetry.

Ambassador Kennedy said: “When I came across the Korea-Japan relationship after coming to Japan, I felt sorry and tried expanding the American-Japanese poetry competition to include Korea. I was impressed by Sunshine’s endeavor to improve Korea-America-Japan relations, inheriting her mom’s spirit. I also hope that this event will contribute to improving the relationship between Korea, Japan and the U.S.”

I saw that Caroline Kennedy had edited one of Parneshia Jones’ book. I was glad to see that she edited books just like her mom Jacqueline had done. I also edited and translated four books of Son Hoyon. So, even though we met for the first time, we share one thing. We have inherited our moms’ spirits, edited and published books, and used them as a tool to link a neighboring country and a remote country.

Recollecting the memories from my old days with Caroline, and being impressed by Caroline, who is serving in public office and putting Japan and Korea together with poetry as the current head of the Kennedy family, I spent the day arousing the taste for poetry of teenagers from the three countries – it was very satisfying.

The taste for poetry built in a young heart lasts forever

The hearts of Korea the US and Japan are gathered here this night