Buying Kennedy Memorabilia

Re “Buying a Piece of Divinity From Where Jackie Dwelt,” by Neal Gabler, Opinion, April 28:

No doubt Gabler is correct in his analysis of the purchase of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis “relics,” but I think he missed a very important point. I believe people bought Jackie O’s things not only because of the person but also because of the time she represented to many.

When she and Jack were in the White House many of were just starting our life’s journey. They gave us hope for the future, faith in our government and pride in our country. After the conformity and stagnation of the ‘50s, we were moving. Thousands of us were volunteering for the Peace Corps in response to JFK’s call, “Ask what you can do for your country.”

Who wouldn’t want to remember those days, and recall the feeling, by being near or possessing an item of Jackie’s? Maybe buying the “relics” is in actuality an escape from the greed, violence, despair and insensitivity we see in our society and government today.

Memory has a way of filtering out the bad, and maybe Camelot wasn’t as shiny as we would like to remember it. That’s OK. For those of us who lived then we have our memories, and for some, our relics.

GLORIA A. DIZMANG

Palmdale