Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

JFK’s FINAL HOURS IN TEXAS: An Eyewitness Remembers the Tragedy and Its Aftermath By Julian Read
  • USA - English


News provided by

RosettaBooks

Oct 07, 2013, 14:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX


“Across the dark hall only feet away sat Jackie Kennedy, also unaccompanied, outside of trauma room 1, where her husband was facing even longer odds to survive.” — Julian Read

Post this

New York, NY (PRWEB) October 07, 2013 -- The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin, and leading independent digital publisher RosettaBooks today announced the publication of JFK’s FINAL HOURS IN TEXAS: An Eyewitness Remembers the Tragedy and Its Aftermath by Julian Read, as a hardcover and eBook, respectively. The national media representative for Texas Governor John B. Connally in 1963, Read is one of the few remaining eyewitnesses to the tragedy who was on the White House press corps bus as part of President John Kennedy’s motorcade in downtown Dallas on November 22. Now, for the first time, Read describes the agony of that day and the weeks immediately following for those at the epicenter of the tragedy, and the history-changing legacies of the Kennedy assassination for Texas and our nation.

Julian Read rode within full view of JFK’s limousine, which was driving slowly less than 200 yards ahead, uncovered so enthusiastic crowds could see the charismatic first couple and their Texas hosts, Governor and Mrs. Connally. From his front seat, Read had a clear view across the bus driver onto Dealey Plaza, looking down the incline at the presidential car as it rolled past the School Book Depository. Suddenly, he heard a loud pop—and then, two more—that changed the course of history.

He rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where he found the First Lady, in her pink suit, and Nellie Connally in the deserted hall outside the trauma rooms where their two husbands were fighting for their lives. There, Mrs. Connally told Read what occurred in the limousine—information he used to give the first briefing to the press and the world at Parkland, moments after White House Deputy Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff announced to a stunned gathering that the president had died.

As an 18-year-old cub reporter for the venerable Fort Worth Press, Read had founded his own fledgling advertising and publicity shop and had gained recognition in helping to elect an underdog politician named Jim Wright, who later became speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Intimately involved from the beginning in John Connally’s successful campaign for governor of Texas in 1962, Read—like Connally, the son of a poor Texas dirt-farming family—became and remained his counselor, confidant, and “consigliere” for more than 30 years.

In JFK’s FINAL HOURS IN TEXAS, Read covers fifty years of history in the making from the perspective of a native Texan present for the incomprehensibly shattering body blows of that horrific day in Dallas, the weekend that followed and throughout the traumatic months—and years—of recovery in the aftermath. He recreates the momentum of the presidential visit and the unfolding political and social change afterwards, including:

• The maneuverings, machinations, and plays for influence in planning the five-city Texas trip
• Speculation on support for the president’s reelection the following year
• Crowd reaction to the first public appearance of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy since the loss of their infant son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, a few months earlier
• More than 60 pages of archival images including Jackie Kennedy speaking in Spanish to Mexican Americans at a LULAC meeting in Houston; Kennedy leaving his security force to greet crowds at Love Field; and Read’s scrawled notes from the immediate aftermath of the assassination
• How JFK’s martyrdom and the political genius of Lyndon Johnson hastened policy including the Voting Rights Act, civil rights legislation, and a broad collection of Great Society measures
• The previously overlooked consequences of the aborted portion of the trip, and more.

JFK’s FINAL HOURS IN TEXAS is available as a hardcover (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History; $24.95) and an eBook (RosettaBooks; $9.99). The print edition also includes an inserted “mini-guide” to a number of events and activities planned in Texas to honor President Kennedy in commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death.

Julian Read traces the assassination’s aftermath, and the intense bitterness against Dallas and Texas. In what he calls “the long journey from anguish to reconciliation,” he follows the decades-long struggle to create the Sixth Floor Museum in downtown Dallas, located in the space where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots. His personal, behind-the-scenes account, incorporating previously obscured facts of the president’s Texas trip, constitutes a worthy addition to the record of a turbulent time.

Read is also featured in the upcoming National Geographic documentary, “The Final Hours,” focusing on president and Mrs. Kennedy’s visit to Fort Worth, scheduled to air on the National Geographic channel on November 8th. Read moderates scenes recreating the Fort Worth breakfast, at which JFK gave his final speech.

###

About Julian Read: Julian Read, who as Governor John B. Connally’s press representative delivered the first eye¬witness report of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination to the media, is a nationally prominent Texan corporate communications and public affairs counselor who has been part of the state’s business and political scene for more than half a century. He founded and operated his own firm, Read-Poland Associates, for five decades before partnering with New York public relations executive Jeff Hunt to merge it with a global industry leader. Based in Austin, Read continues to provide senior counsel for Cohn & Wolfe, a worldwide unit of London-based WPP.

About The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History: The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin is an internationally renowned history research center. Through stewardship, scholarship, and outreach, the Briscoe Center increases knowledge and fosters exploration of our nation's past. To that end, the center collects, preserves, and makes available documentary and material culture evidence of the stories, people, and ideas that have shaped Texas and United States history. The Briscoe Center’s vast archival, artifact, and library collections are used by researchers, students, and the general public. The collections also inspire the center's own research projects, documentaries, exhibitions, and book publications.

About RosettaBooks: RosettaBooks is the leading independent digital publisher. Its prominent author collections include 52 works of Winston Churchill, 35 titles by renowned science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, 20 works by Kurt Vonnegut, and 12 titles from international bestselling business author Stephen R. Covey. RosettaBooks also publishes eBook lines in collaboration with AARP, Harvard Health Publications, and Mayo Clinic. Publisher of ten Kindle Singles, including Ray Bradbury’s The Playground, RosettaBooks has launched nine of them to bestseller status. RosettaBooks is an Inc. 500 company, on the exclusive list of the nation's fastest growing private companies. For more information, please visit RosettaBooks.com and follow the e-publisher on Facebook.

Contact: Sandi Mendelson; 212-725-7707, smendelson(at)hmieast(dot)com

Navjot Khalsa, RosettaBooks, http://www.RosettaBooks.com, +1 (917) 338-0779 3, [email protected]

Modal title

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.