{"id":2880,"date":"2025-12-14T03:33:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T11:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2025-12-14T08:44:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T16:44:06","slug":"meet-jack-a-personal-endorsement-and-a-humble-request-or-two-wink-wink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/meet-jack-a-personal-endorsement-and-a-humble-request-or-two-wink-wink\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Jack: A Personal Endorsement and a Humble Request or Two (wink, wink)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">December 14, 2025<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dear Jack,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was a genuine pleasure meeting you and your assistant Hannah this past Friday\u2014what a delightfully and totally unexpected chance encounter! Initially I thought you Harper were panhandling. Her homemade cardboard sign with big black scrawny letters \u201cMeet Jack\u201d caught my eye. I\u2019ve been connecting with remarkable people ever since adopting my \u201cJane Goodall approach\u201d (patient immersion and genuine relationship-building), here in the Verdi Square neighborhood blended with strategies from the wonderful folks I\u2019ve met on my journeys. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">G-d works in mysterious ways.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First off, you truly have that unmistakable Kennedy charm\u2014I first learned of it from Mrs. Kelly and her daughter, my godmother, Barbara Ann. As I mentioned, my mother was half Irish, with her own mother hailing from D\u00fan Laoghaire, Ireland and her uncle none other than Cardinal MacCabe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned we have many connections. My mother worked for your family back in the 1960s and was an extraordinary woman. In one harrowing incident, a brick fell nine stories from a construction site, striking her directly on the head\u2014 she heroically threw herself over my baby pram to save me from harm. Debilitating her for the rest of her life. Despite the crippling injury, she returned to work to earn the credits needed for Social Security eligibility. She later graced the cover of the American Express quarterly report in April 1967. In 1968, she ran a humorous spoof campaign for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.life.com\/history\/new-hampshire-primary-1968\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Austin Burton in the presidential primary<\/a>, promising to \u201csell New York back to the Indians.\u201d She never stopped advocating: after surviving yet another serious accident while riding her motorcycle, she felt called to champion motorcycle helmet laws, even traveling to Carson City to\u00a0 give powerful testimony before lawmakers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tragically, when she later suffered a massive stroke, she was left in an emergency room hallway for three days without admission, mistaken for a homeless woman. She did not recover. Against family objections\u2014and our pleas to at least wait until loved ones could gather by her bedside\u2014the hospital pulled the plug, declaring her brain-dead. It will be 26 years tomorrow. My second pilgrimage across the USA (of three in total) was dedicated to her memory, and I\u2019m now contemplating a fourth pilgrimage from the good old New York to D.C.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The primary reason I\u2019m writing this letter, Jack, is to call upon you to embrace the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">noblesse oblige<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of your extraordinary family legacy and join me in the urgent quest to finally pass the Equal Rights Amendment. As we touched on your reference to a \u201cconstitutional crisis,\u201d we\u2019re facing major issues that will shape governance for generations. We live in a brave new world\u2014one unimaginable to the Founders\u2014where the Constitution must evolve. We are only in the infancy of Information Technology and that which will spring forth from those developments are in our hands. I do not agree that President Trump is the problem; the real challenge isn\u2019t any one person or branch of government, but the toxic cycle of misinformation and rage amplified by social media. It\u2019s time to break that pattern.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Americans are exhausted by division and craving true leadership. With your unparalleled experience growing up in the spotlight, and from our brief yet inspiring conversation, I\u2019m convinced you\u2019re the best person for this congressional seat\u2014and that you could be a transformative voice for unity in the 21st century.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, I\u2019m feeling deeply called to introduce you to the amazing network of people I\u2019m building right here in the neighbourhood\u2014extraordinary souls who would make powerful allies for your vision. There\u2019s Iva Kaufman, the brilliant philanthropy consultant whose lifelong work empowers women, entrepreneurs of color, and sustainable causes across the city; Herb Bardavid, the compassionate Upper West Side psychotherapist and gifted photographer who for decades has captured the resilient stories of New York\u2019s elders; Joshua Reisner, a resourceful young man who quietly becomes a lifeline for so many living on the edge\u2014delivering essentials, securing small contracts, and stepping up wherever help is needed; and a slew of others equally inspiring. My patient, trust-building approach is working wonders, and I know they\u2019d be moved to support a leader like you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Championing the ERA is in the Kennedy blood, laddie! It would mean so much to feature it prominently on your campaign website. This is the defining civil rights issue of our time\u2014a true game-changer\u2014especially now that New York State has passed its own equality bill. Removing the outdated ratification deadline is the key step forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even though we may not agree on every point, I believe you\u2019re made of the right stuff. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve signed up for your newsletter and to volunteer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you\u2019re open to it, I\u2019d very much appreciate an informal follow-up\u2014perhaps over coffee or a call\u2014to discuss how we can work together on the ERA and beyond. In the meantime, I look forward to volunteering for your campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/jackfornewyork.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jack for New York<\/a> and am eager to contribute, including phone-banking or any other way I can help. Please let me know how to get started.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">God works in mysterious ways\u2014bringing families together like this across generations and shared Irish roots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00c1 c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte romhat, a She\u00e1in.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Love and Light,<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helene P. de Boissiere-Swanson<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">P.S. Because I\u2019m utterly shameless and proudly carrying on the grand Irish tradition of begging (with a wink), I\u2019ll be asking folks to tossing a few pennies into your\u00a0 coffer myself\u2014and humbly asking if <a href=\"https:\/\/gofund.me\/d836a5e22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">you\u2019d spare a few<\/a> more to help this poor pilgrim keep the family obligation alive. LOL And while you\u2019re at it, Jack, would you kindly<a href=\"https:\/\/c.org\/4rq5TmMqLP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> sign and share my petition urging Senator Murkowski <\/a>to step up and champion SJ Res 38. Every Kennedy voice added would be pure gold!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Link to JackforNewYork <a href=\"https:\/\/jackfornewyork.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/jackfornewyork.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Link to Petition <a href=\"https:\/\/c.org\/4rq5TmMqLP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/c.org\/4rq5TmMqLP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Link to $20 for 20 &#8211; Ignighting Equality<a href=\"https:\/\/gofund.me\/d836a5e22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> https:\/\/gofund.me\/d836a5e22<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 14, 2025 Dear Jack, It was a genuine pleasure meeting you and your assistant Hannah this past Friday\u2014what a delightfully and totally unexpected chance encounter! Initially I thought you Harper were panhandling. Her homemade cardboard sign with big black scrawny letters \u201cMeet Jack\u201d caught my eye. I\u2019ve been connecting with remarkable people ever since&#8230;<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/meet-jack-a-personal-endorsement-and-a-humble-request-or-two-wink-wink\/\">Read more <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[614,660],"class_list":["post-2880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-equalrightsamendment","tag-jack-schlossberg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2880"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2885,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions\/2885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.katrinasdream.org\/dreamscape\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}