Photo: Gallery Books
It was the discovery of an old trunk buried away in the basement ofClint Hill’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, that sparked the idea for his latest book.
The 90-year-old former Secret Service agent had forgotten about the trove of gifts, letters and a long-lost diary that he’d packed away from his world travels with First LadyJacqueline Kennedy.
But as Hill rediscovered the contents, the memories came flooding back: Columbia, Croatia, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Venezuela. Antigua, Greece, Morocco, Paris.
And, as he recalls, “three glorious weeks in Ravello” on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Hill got to work — and on Wednesday announced the cover and title ofMy Travels with Mrs. Kennedy, slated for publication later this year.
According to Hill and co-writer Lisa McCubbin Hill — who previously worked together on 2012’sMrs. Kennedy and Me, aNew York Timesbestseller, and other projects — the new book will feature personal stories and more than 200 rare or never-before-seen photos.
Clint Hill with Jackie Kennedy.Getty
“At the White House, she was more buttoned-down. But once we got away, she was more open, carefree, enjoying life,” Hill says of Mrs. Kennedy, who enjoyed international celebrity and weathered darkest tragedy while in Washington, D.C.
Hillwas her dedicated agentand saw a side of the first lady — who could be very private, despite her fame — that was available to few others.
Hill was in the motorcade on that fateful November day in 1963 and risked his life in an attempt to save President Kennedy and his wife after the first shots rang out from Kennedy’s assassin.
It was only in the last decade that Hill began to share his stories — both historical and personal — in bestsellers likeFive Days in NovemberandFive Presidents, co-written with McCubbin-Hill, whom he married last year.
Clint Hill (left) in 2016.Gary Miller/Getty
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“This book takes you on this journey, back to that time through the eyes of Clint and Mrs. Kennedy,” says McCubbin-Hill. “It’s very uplifting. It provides history but also shows what a great ambassador she was as first lady for America. And there’s the very sweet story of the great relationship she and Clint had. You feel the magic and the bond that develops along these travels.”
Plus, McCubbin-Hill adds, “The world could use a little bit of ‘Camelot’ right now.”
source: people.com
