JACKIE WHO?

There are many people with the name Jackie that I find interesting. But the person I chose to write about is also mentioned briefly in my first novel.

First, I'll list a few of the others I considered. There's Jackie from That 70's Show, the on-screen girl friend of Kelso - Ashton Kutcher, BDM-before Demi Moore. After the show ended, Mila Kunas took on less comedic roles in movies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Black Swan.

Another Jackie, a child star from the same era as Mickey Rooney, Shirley Temple and Elizabeth Taylor, is Jackie Cooper, one of the ruffians in the Our Gang movies. He also directed episodes of TV's M*A*S*H and played editor Perry White in the Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. 

One of my favorite people called Jackie is the opera singer, Jackie Chan. Ah, bet not everyone knew this martial arts superstar sang so well. I had the opportunity to hear him sing at a benefit he held in Honolulu some years ago. Along with everyone else in the audience, I enjoyed his musical side. He also wrote and sang the title song for his first serious acting role in the movie, Police Story.

But the Jackie I chose for this article is Jackie O, aka Mrs. John F. Kennedy, the only Jackie on my list who didn't appear in a movie. Though I'd always admired Jackie's elegance and quiet determination, I respected the staunch independence she demonstrated when she chose to work as a book editor in 1975.

A beautifully written article entitled Jackie O, Working Girl, appears in the January 2011 edition of Vanity Fair. Included in the story is this quote: If you produce one book, you will have done something wonderful in your life. --Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.