As a new book reveals, Stanley Tretick
was an eyewitness to Camelot.
I
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
I
t was Labor Day weekend 1960 when
John Fitzgerald Kennedy kept up with
Democratic Party campaign tradition
by riding in a motorcade along Woodward
Avenue.
In those times, he could sit up high at the
back of a convertible, smiling and waving
enthusiastically to lines of people hoping to
elect him president.
Likely to be following along to take pic-
tures was Stanley Tretick, a rabbi's grandson
gaining his own measure of fame as a photo-
journalist.
Winning the most coveted political assign-
ments, Tretick would later capture historic
images of toddler John Jr. playing under his
father's Oval Office desk.
Tretick, who covered presidents from
Harry Truman to George H.W. Bush as well
as Hollywood stars, built an archive filled
with thousands of acclaimed pictures intend-
ed for news services and high-powered
magazines.
To the surprise of the photographer's close
friend, celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley,
Tretick gave her power of attorney as he was
dying in the 1990s. Eventually, she decided
not to let his singular prints and negatives
collect dust.
Her most recent initiative — and tribute
to her longtime pal — is a coffee-table
book, Capturing Camelot: Stanley Tretick's
Iconic Images of the Kennedys (A Thomas
Dunne Book/St. Martin's Press; $29.99).
Some 200 pictures — most in black and
white; some iconic but the majority never
before published — reach from the cam-
paign days through the White House years
and into the assassination aftermath.
The text and photos recall Tretick's busy
career with United Press International as
well as Look and People magazines. Also
recalled are Tretick's personal memos
and the oral history he gave to the John F.
Kennedy Library and Museum.
The book title is taken from what came
to be the association of the Kennedy admin-
istration with the King Arthur legend of
hope and promise.
Kennedy, who triumphed over the Soviet's
Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban missile
crisis, is shown with him and many other
world leaders. The late president also is seen
in more personal settings, such as with niec-
es and nephews vacationing in Hyannis Port.
"There's so much mishpachah (family)
in this book:' says Kelley, in a phone con-
versation from her Georgetown home in
the nation's capital. "It represents the family
feeling I have for the photographer, his quite
special friendship with the president and
The President and First Lady escorted President Habib Bourgiba of Tunisia to Blair
House, May 3, 1961. On the way back to the White House, the President brushed his
wife's hair out of her eyes. She later told Stanley Tretick that it was her favorite
picture of herself and her husband "because it shows such great affection."
F,‘
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"1 \
Stank}, Treti=nic Images of the Kennedys
KITTY KELLEYz§
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
Tretick's photos of President Kennedy
relaxing with his children lent the
president an endearing image that
greatly contributed to his popularity.
the most important [relationships] of the
Kennedys.
"It's not just about the president, the first
lady and their two children, who are capti-
vating, but it's about this big Irish Catholic
tribe that was so cohesive and close:'
Kelley decided to put together the book
as the Kennedy term of office approached
Photographer on page 52
Capturing Camelot author Kitty Kelley
and photographer Stanley Tretick in
the East Room of the White House,
1982. Kelley decided to put together
the book as the Kennedy term of office
approached its 50th anniversary.
December 13 • 2012
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