Viewfinder: Poems From Caroline Kennedy

Underscoring the importance of poetry in her family, Caroline Kennedy appeared before a large audience in Skokie on Wednesday to launch a new book of poems.

The only surviving child of the late President John F. Kennedy and wife Jacqueline, Caroline greeted an estimated 500 people and signed her book She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems at Barnes and Noble in Old Orchard Mall on Wednesday.

In her new book, which is inpsired by her reflections after turning 50 years old in 2007, Kennedy writes, "When everyday life distracts us, poetry can help us feel centered."

The poems are categorized according to different milestones of her life, including marriage, motherhood, work, love and grief. 

The collection includes works by poets Pablo Neruda, Queen Elizabeth I and W.B. Yeats among others.

Recalling her mother Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis' love for poetry, Kennedy included in the volume her mother's favorite "Ithaka" by Constantine Cavafy, a passage of which reads:

                                 Ask that your way be long.
                                At many a Summer dawn to enter
                               with what gratitude, what joy -
                              ports seen for the first time; 

Kennedy recalled that she and her late brother John F. Kennedy Jr. were required to present a poem during their mother's birthday.

She also said that her mother memorized poems at an early age.

Eeva Lungin and son Robert, 8, drove all the way from Buffalo Grove to catch a glimpse of Kennedy. When their turn came to get an autograph, Robert handed Kennedy a bouquet of pink tulips.

Lungin, who is originally from Estonia, said that it is a tradition in her country to give flowers to a favorite artist or writer.

Katia Novi, 12, and brother Johnny, 10, also lined up with their parents to get their books signed. Katia  then delighted Kennedy with her history project, a cardboard panel featuring the life of the former First Lady.

"I heard about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, so I just wanted to learn more about her," said Novi, now a sixth grade student at Springman Middle School in Glenview.

Her mother Effie Novi said she encouraged her daughter to learn more about Jacqueline who "contributed quiet a bit to the White House" while she was the First Lady.   

Another Glenview resident Nancy Rooks brought along her mother Shirley Chalfin from New Jersey to line up with her and meet Kennedy. 

"I am thrilled, I am fascinated and I think she is beautiful, charming and I'm just delighted to be here," Chalfin said who recalled meeting Kennedy in New York years ago. 

Char Edmiston and husband Bob of Mt. Prospect also decided to drive to Skokie see a historic figure in person. 

"It's part of history. Obviously we remember when her father was killed," Edmiston said. "I was just interested in her thoughts and poems for women. I like her little speech talking about how women really kind of set the tone of the family."

On Tuesday, Kennedy also signed books at Borders in Oak Brook. Several people returned to the Skokie book signing after her books sold out in Oak Brook.

"She Walks in Beauty" is Kennedy's eighth book. She is also set to launch another book about her mother in the Fall.  

Kennedy, who briefly eyed the U.S. Senate seat in New York in 2009, is a graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School. She is also the president of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.