Author Jan Pottker To Read From Her Biography Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, February 5

Chestertown, MD, January 22, 2004 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Lecture Series and Gender Studies Program present a reading by author Jan Pottker from her book, Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Thursday, February 5 in the Sophie Kerr Room uptairs in Miller Library. A reception will be held at 4 p.m.in the Hodson Hall Study Lounge with the reading to follow at 4:30 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Although many biographies of Jackie Kennedy Onassis have been written, most focus on her relationships with the men in her life. Pottker takes a different approach and examines the role of her mother, Janet Lee Auchincloss, in the shaping of her identity and personal destiny. The book presents a portrait of Auchincloss and surprising facts about this mother-daughter relationship.

A writer and public speaker fascinated with the history and personalities behind America's political and financial family dynasties, Pottker has been is a guest lecturer for Celebrity Cruise Line and has appeared on NBC's Inside Edition, ABC's Working Woman, CNBC'sBusiness Today, and CNN's Sonia Live. In addition to her regular lectures, she has been interviewed on more than 200 radio shows and has spoken to more than 60 social, business and professional groups nationwide. Her published works include, Crisis in Candyland: Melting the Chocolate Shell of the Mars Family Empire, Born to Power: Heirs to America's Leading Businesses, and Dear Ann, Dear Abby: An Unauthorized Biography of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, which sold more than 270,000 copies. Pottker lives in Potomac, MD, with her husband, Andrew S. Fishel.

The reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series, named in honor of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor,” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.