Time It Was: Bobby Kennedy in the Sixties by Bill Eppridge, Bill Eppridge (Photographer), Pete Hammill

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Synopsis

On June 6, 1968, at the age of 42 and at the height of his popularity, Robert F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated. Presidential candidate, U.S. Senator, environmentalist, father-Kennedy was all of these things-and, to many Americans, he embodied the power of possibility and positive change during a period of social unrest, racial inequality, and war.

Renowned Life photographer Bill Eppridge followed and photographed Kennedy during his early campaign days up to his untimely death, and A Time It Was features dynamic images of the public Kennedy, as well as rare, intimate ones, many of which have never before been published. An introduction by John E. Frook places the events in historical context, while Eppridge shares his insider's perspective on Kennedy. Released to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Kennedy's death, A Time It Was reveals why the memory and legacy of Kennedy and his dreams continue to be relevant today.

200 full-color and black-and-white photographs.

Publishers Weekly

From the "tens of thousands" of photographs he took of Robert Kennedy, former Life magazine photographer Eppridge has culled his most evocative images for this "photographic history of one of the nation's most compelling figures," published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his assassination. Following Kennedy from 1966, Eppridge chronicled Kennedy's '68 presidential campaign trail, his battles with Eugene McCarthy in the Democratic primaries and victory in California, which would have sent "his campaign into orbit." Soon after the victory speech, Eppridge heard eight gunshots-"the sound I will never forget"-and snapped the grim final images of Kennedy, bleeding in the arms of a stunned supporter. A devastated Eppridge captured the national grief that followed, the funeral train from New York to Washington, D.C., attended everywhere by "a cross-section of America... old, young, women, men, black, white." The photographer's dual focus on the candidate (whose back, legs and hands are caught more often than his full face) and his audience (caught reaching, touching, running alongside, and lastly, saluting) speaks powerfully and wordlessly of Bobby Kennedy's charismatic presence in the late '60s. (June)

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Biography

Bill Eppridge is one of the most accomplished photojournalists of the twentieth century and has captured some of the most significant moments in American history. Over the last 50 years, his work has appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic, Life, and Sports Illustrated. Pete Hamill is a journalist, essayist, and author of two collections of short stories and ten novels, including Snow in August, Forever, and North River. He is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. John E. Frook is the former Los Angeles Bureau Chief for Life magazine.