My Mother’s JFK Treasure Leads
To Finding Author Who Hasn’t Spoken To Media in 58 Years
By Mary Ann Van Osdell
A 15-year-old New York
sophomore’s class assignment on President John Kennedy’s assassination went
viral so to speak before social media even existed.
Barbara Jones Maher’s poem,
“Special Delivery from Heaven,” was famous in 1963 and is still found on eBay. It
was one of my mother’s treasures. It has been translated into 10 languages and
made into a recording. People from all over the world (Europe and Asia) sent Barbara
letters when they read it.
“This is the only time I have
ever responded to someone wanting to talk about my JFK poem despite many such
requests over the years,” Barbara said, adding that said has had her reasons
for not speaking about it. “There seem to be a number of compelling reasons for
me to do so at this moment in time,” she said.
“I felt the poem had little literary
merit,” said Barbara, now 73, who has enjoyed writing since she was 5.
Her English class at Sacred Heart
High School in Yonkers was asked to submit a eulogy for Kennedy for the school
newspaper. Always obedient since it was a Catholic school, Barbara is still
surprised she didn’t write a eulogy. “It was out of character for me.” She wrote
the poem in 10 minutes.
“It came from my heart and was
never meant for anyone else,” Barbara said. Yet it touched the city in which
her father served as police lieutenant and later deputy chief (he worked on the
Son of Sam case). He shared the raw copy with his precinct and so many others wanted
copies that it was sent over the teletype system.
The school newspaper was being
dedicated to the slain President. Because of Barbara’s sentiments, the New
York Journal-American did a Sunday feature and other large newspapers also published
-- before the Sacred Heart Green-Gold Echoes. The school newspaper lost
the scoop.
“It went from friend to friend,”
Barbara said. Her brother Edward, a student at Iona College, showed it around
campus and he was also swamped with requests. More and more newspaper reporters
got a hold of it.
“It just blew up,” Barbara said. “It
gave people comfort.” Barbara said camera crews began following her around,
even at the bowling alley.
The Post Office delivered
mailbags to her high school and some put money in their letters. Barbara’s
parents returned the money and responded personally to hundreds of letters “despite
the expense of postage." The letters were kept in several large suitcases
and poem-related articles and clippings were in several scrapbooks, but sadly
their house was completely destroyed by fire. Barbara only has a few in her
basement. Her father died as a result of the fire and her mother not long
after.
Barbara got a formal thank you
from Jacqueline Kennedy. The poem is in the Congressional Record. On Jan. 15, 1964, in Rep. Jacob Gilbert’s
extension of remarks, he called the poem “splendid” and added that it had beautiful thoughts of a
young lady that will touch everyone.
Notoriety was unwelcome to Barbara.
She called herself a “nerd,” and most importantly, was someone who never wanted
to profit from a murder. Barbara refused compensation for appearances in the
tri-state area beyond gas and tolls.
Barbara did agree to read
occasionally at her father's urging and they attended the annual Alfred E.
Smith dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria. She wore a velvet gown and her father
donned a tuxedo. She met Cardinal Francis Spellman and Bishop Fulton Sheen.
Spellman founded the event in 1945 to raise funds for Catholic charities
supporting children.
Barbara is also a lifetime member
of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.
She turned down four
academically-earned college scholarships as well as two others offered by
generous benefactors touched by her poem. Instead, she married her high school
sweetheart Bobby at age 19. Sadly, he died of cancer just ten years later,
leaving Barbara to raise their two little girls alone.
She lucked into a teaching job at
her alma mater, later got a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in psychology in
three years and has taught college classes.
Barbara said she never gave an
English assignment that she wouldn’t do herself. The students did not write
their names on their papers, but used identification numbers. Therefore, they
could talk about the papers, not knowing who wrote them. She put her own work
in the mix.
A giant laminated copy of her
poem was placed at Sacred Heart and later sent to her parents.
Barbara is now retired and enjoys
a memoir writing group with a dozen talented people. Barbara takes great joy in
having her daughters and teenage grandson living nearby.
Barbara said she never set out to
defy her parents about getting a free education, but thought marriage was the
right thing and has no regrets. “We had nothing and we had everything,” she
said.
“I value the same things as
before,” she added.
She met “wonderful, generous
people” as a young poet. She says sometimes she just says, “It happened and I
can’t believe it happened.”
However, “any number of people
claim to have written it” and one could buy copies on plates and placards from
others. It’s disheartening, but Barbara has come to terms about everything and will
no longer rule out going to Kennedy memorials or conferences in the future.
She doesn’t have an opinion on
who killed Kennedy. “I don’t know. At the time I knew little,” she said. “I was
enamored with him and deeply moved, but have no strong feeling on who did it.”
Barbara remembers being in Mr.
McCormick’s American history class when a rare notice came over the public
address system. The announcement said, “Something terrible happened and we need
to say a prayer.”
Later, the students were told about
the assassination and Barbara said you could hear a pin drop. Class was dismissed
early.
Years later she was teaching in
her classroom and watched the Twin Towers burn.
Editor’s Note: With the
possibility that this story stirs up more media requests of Barbara, I wanted
to make sure she was prepared. She answered, “Yes, I’m an adult now.”
Sidebar
Everything happens for a reason.
Nothing happens by accident.
Barbara said there are some
really strange parallels/coincidences that appear to be at force after being
tracked down for this story. She said she keeps humming a spiritual from a key
scene in The Color Purple, “Maybe God’s trying to tell you somethin’.”
“I hope you don’t mind that I Googled
you,” she told me after I also used Google to find her. I found her father’s
obituary since his name was on the explanation of the poem. It led to finding
Barbara’s sister on Facebook. Her sister passed on my phone number.
“Your interests are important to me,”
Barbara texted.
Since reading “Gone with the Wind
“ as a young girl, she’s been obsessed with all things Southern, from culture
to cuisine and all things in between. Visits one day to New Orleans, Savannah
and Charleston are at the top of her bucket list.
The ninth annual JFK Assassination
Conference (where I have been asked to give the opening prayer and sparked my
interest in finding Barbara) is being held at the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas
where the famous Pegasus Flying Red Horse adorns the roof. Barbara’s brother
flew F-15s and his squadron was called Pegasus. He died Nov. 5.
Barbara found that I love memoir
writing. She does, too. She knew that I wrote a book called Hands Pointed Up,
which includes inspirational sayings that include the word "up” to help
people keep a positive attitude. She is always inspired by her late husband's
positivity and his favorite expression in the face of ANY adversity--big or
small--was “It’s Just A Little Inconvenience.” In fact, J A L I is the title of
the memoir she is currently writing.
She noticed I once served on the
Food Bank board of directors and said she, too, worked on food drives.
She thought my name was German
and her brother loved to visit Germany. My maternal grandparents were born in
Germany.
Yes, something, rather Someone, was
at play for us to connect. Thank you, God.
