93. A Patriot's Handbook: Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love

A Patriot's Handbook: Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love - Caroline Kennedy

This is an awesome idea for an audiobook. It is a collection of Caroline Kennedy's favorite patriotic poems, readings and speeches. She selected many outstanding little diddies. Some were the original recordings. Some were read by people such as James Earl Jones or Vanessa Williams. Overall, it was quite enjoyable.

Here are some of my favorite selections from this collection. I will attach links to audio versions where I can find them.

The Mike Christian Story, John McCain, 1971...read by John McCain. Concerning his experience as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton.

Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address, 11 January 1989. I remember watching it live and getting a tear in my eye.

A poem entitled "I Like Americans" written by Edna St Vincent Millay in 1924. It was read by Kate Burton.

There was a pretty interesting and very cool reenactment of the the hearing of Susan B. Anthony where she was allowed to make a statement in her own defense. It is read from the original court transcripts. It is entitled "The United States of America v. Susan B. Anthony", 1873. That was a very powerfula nd memorable performance.

Frederick Douglass' "If I Had a Country, I Should Be a Patriot", 24 Sep 1847 read by James Earl Jones...AWESOME!

John F. Kennedy gave a speech on 12 Sep 1960 to the Greater Houston Ministerial Association concerning the Freedom of Religion. This was a recording of the original speech and it was excellent.
A very sad reading of a speech by Chief Joseph when he surrendered to the U. S. Army in 1877. This one was quite moving and I had never heard it before.

There was an "Ellis Island Interview" by Manny Steen from 22 Mar 1991. "I am in America one day and I am on Broadway!"  :-)

There was also a reading from Upton Sinclair's book, "The Jungle". This was from the part where Jurgis is disabled and his life has become a nightmare. One line stood out..."There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where things are behind bars, and the man is outside."