The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford

Author:Jessica Mitford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780307809391
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2011-11-23T10:00:00+00:00

The scene now shifts to Washington. Brigadier General Godfrey McHugh told Robert Kennedy that the solid bronze casket had been badly damaged in transit: “It’s really shabby. One handle is off, and the ornaments are in bad shape.” RFK decided that “he could scarcely permit a state funeral to proceed with a battered casket.” Four aides were dispatched to Gawler’s, the selfsame old, established Washington firm that had supervised President Roosevelt’s funeral. They reported their findings to RFK.

Manchester’s description of the casket-price negotiations roughly parallels Schlesinger’s, but with elaboration:

Robert Kennedy had read Miss Mitford’s carefully documented exposé of the gouging of bereaved relatives, and so had Dr. Joseph English, the Peace Corps psychiatrist who stood at Sargent Shriver’s elbow Friday afternoon. Robert Kennedy … believes he spoke to O’Donnell … (special assistant to the President) about price … and he has a clear memory of a girl who told him … “You can get one for $500, one for $1,400, or one for $2,000.” She went on about water-proofing and optional equipment. Influenced by the Mitford book, he shied away from the high figure. He asked for the $1,400 coffin, and afterward he wondered whether he had been cheap; he thought how difficult such choices must be for everyone.… (p. 432)

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