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Jack and Lem explores the enduring friendship between John F. Kennedy and Kirk Lemoyne Billings (aka "Lem"). "But Billings had once told Bobby that when he died he wanted the pall-bearers to be members of Bobby's circle of young friends, whom he knew well and with whom he had done drugs. None of it came as a surprise to his roommate, Fanning. The book is set in 1981, in New York City, where Jackie has settled after becoming the Widow Onassis and joining the working world. "And I think he might have been, honestly. While JFK is legendarily known as a master womanizer who frequently cheated on his first lady, his curious three-decades long intimate friendship with Billings suggests more than a simple bromance. ', Rose Kennedy, however, had a different, more positive view of Billings. Inside the intimate relationship between JFK and Lem Billings (2023) and helped gather delegates at the Democratic convention in Los Angeles when JFK Of course, that gave most ofus the thought - does this guy have a job other than caring for Bobby? Kirk LeMoyne Billings was Jack's very best friend from their time at Choate prep school in 1933 to that fateful day in Dallas 1963. But Kennedy's reaction to Billings gay come-on soon changed and he became more amenable to his friend's advances, according to the writer Lawrence J. Quirk, author of "The Kennedys in Hollywood." Were I to search his facehis souldown to the most granular level, I would find no clue, for there is perhaps none to find. With "Jack and Lem," Pitts has indeed turned over a new stone. He truly loved the Kennedy's and as Jack's best friend. How chilly it is for March. From 1946 to 1948, Lem attended Harvard Business School. Kennedy was allegedly on the receiving end of oral sex. Jfk And Jackie Kennedy. 'I can't say that I saw him put a needle in his arm,' he stated, 'but he talked like he was and he bragged about it. It was Bobby Kennedy Jr. who gave the eulogy. They shared an insatiable intellectual curiosity, a robust sense of humor, and a disdain for petty rules. Remembering JFK's Bond with His Boyhood Best Friend, Who Never Got Over the Assassination, Robert McNamara's Son Craig Remembers Playing with JFK Jr. and Caroline Kennedy After JFK's Death, PEOPLE Picks the Best New Books of the Week, Jackie Kennedy Knew JFK Relationship Would Involve 'Heartbreak' & More Details from New Book, How Lady Bird Johnson and a Pregnant Jackie Kennedy Worked Together: 'The Wren Protected the Dove', Santana Talks New Album 'Africa Speaks', 20th Anniversary of 'Smooth' and Return to Woodstock, The Truth About Jackie Kennedy's Turbulent, Loving and Dramatic Bond with Sister Lee Radziwill, Happily Ever After: See All of the Celebrity Weddings of 2021. Wanting to be around family . through his life. The family went back Young Bobby replaced Jack in Lem's heart of hearts, one source told Oppenheimer, who is the author of the book Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And The Dark Side Of The Dream. While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, "Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem book by David Pitts Mr. Billings and Mr. Kennedy were roommates at Choate and then at Princeton before Mr. Kennedy transferred to Harvard. If we had made that very different choice, we would've gone down a completely different road. Because Jack had no intention of ever being a faithful husband. their summer trip through Europe prior to World War II. "Will we be chauffeuring her fianc, too? Jack Kennedy and Lem Billings met at Choate and remained friends until the Dallas gunfire that ended Kennedy's life thirty years later. Girls in these days are instructed to shoot out a clean, firm thread of inquiry at all times. Brode had liberal views, didn't mind that Bobby smoked pot with Lem Billings in Bobby's room. But for this kid to say that to me at that time was pretty deep and dark. 'But Lem,' he clearly recalled, 'was around a lot, and we as faculty were told who he was and that he was Bobby's caretaker, as it were, in a loco parentis kind of role. Mind you, there's nothing in that honorific Miss to signify a lady of distinction. I'm sure there were moments where they drew aside together and talked about this problem called Jack Kennedy because he was a problem for a young woman that was looking for love and attachment.". Like the rest of the free world, Billings was devastated when President Kennedy was assassinated. Ethel Kennedy "booted" Bobby, Jr. out of the Hickory Hill home at age 14 and basically fed him to Billings. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings and Mary Lasker attend a party at the New York City home of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. On June 14, 1977. When the President was assassinated in Dallas, Lem was in 2023 Meadowrockalpacas. You didn't want to get too close to him.'. Something quickens in the column of her neck. Extent: 82 digital pages Collection: When Jack Kennedy and Billings were at Choate and later, when they were seemingly joined at the hip at Princeton for a time before Kennedy transferred to Harvard at his father's behest, Billings always accompanied him home on vacations. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. Pitts said. He is survived by a brother, Dr. F. Tremayne Billings, and a sister, Lucretia Billings Fisher. He was born to Otis and Anna Speer on July 14, 1928, in Glasgow, Montana. Billings had once told Bobby that when. Jack Johns. 'He seemed a very pleasant fellow,' said Bontecou, a classmate of Bobby's. Introduction: My name is Rubie Ullrich, I am a enthusiastic, perfect, tender, vivacious, talented, famous, delightful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you. I am sure the good Lord knows that heaven is Jesus and Lem and Jack and Bobby loving one another.'. It was he, not Ethel, who handled all of Bobby's expenses 'He would come over fairly frequently for dinner whenever he was in town,' she recalled. They met in 1933 in their sophomore year at Choate Rosemary Hall, the exclusive Connecticut prep school, when both were teenagers, working together on their class's yearbook, and Billings instantly became attracted sexually and otherwise to the handsome scion of America's self-styled royal family. According to Jerry Oppenheimer, author of RFK Jr.: Robert F. Kennedy and the Dark Side of the Dream, Kennedy responded, please dont write to me on toilet paper anymore. ', But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. Lem Billings. The biographer Sally Bedell Smith, referred to Billings in one of her books as 'probably the saddest of the Kennedy widows.'. 'It was disgusting and it wasn't my idea of having a good, healthy time with my hawks, so I let him do his falconry in the dead cow pit, and I went and chased rabbits in the woods,' said Bierregaard, still revolted years later by the memory. Where sits a girl. guest every weekend of my married life." Their very intimate relationship would last from those school days to Billings even having a room in the Kennedy White House - distressing for the first lady - to the day of Kennedy's assassination. At fourteen and fifteen, Bobby was proving his bad-boy bona fides with Jesse Pinkman zeal. But was reportedly upset that her husband spent so much time with him, and that he often stayed overnight at the White House. quoted from the book: "Jack made a big difference in my life," RELATED VIDEO: Carly Simon Opens Up on Unlikely Friendship with Jackie Kennedy and Jackie's Thoughts on JFK, Aristotle Onassis & More, By now, of course, I'm extricating myself from the front of the car and inserting myself with no great grace into the back, and the operation is so consuming that, for a second or two, I lose all consciousness of her, and then I hear her sayin that voice, like a ghost whispering through the pipes"You must be Lem.". Lem P. Speer, 93, died peacefully in his home on November 20, 2021. "Its the story of a really close friendship She told him, 'I don't really care if you have a girl sleep here, but I want it to be the same person all the time because I want my kids to grow to understating that love is good with one person.'. He'd be expelled from Millbrook and later be ordered to leave the second school, Pomfret, in rural Connecticut, for using drugs and displaying bad, often bizarre behavior. He thought Published in The Elkhart Truth from Feb. 20 to Feb. 21, 2023. As depicted in Netflix's The Crown, Queen Elizabeth II did actually host President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy at Buckingham Palace in 1961. I took drugs with him. Lem Billings Fotos | IMAGO But, the Skakels had previously been homophobic to Billings. "He [Billings] was a witness to so much of what was going on. But I think he was using heroinstudents were saying, "Mr. Merjian, he passes out at night. at the Manhattan advertising firm Lennen & Newell. Monroe and JFK were first introduced in 1954 by Peter Lawford, JFK's brother-in-law. Lem Billings Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Then she leans toward Jack and, in a whisper stagy enough for me to hear, says, "I like your friend.". According to Billings' biographer David Pitts, Once JFK decided that Billings was his best friend like it or leave, everybody in the family sort of fell in line with that. He later received The content produced by YourTango is for informational and educational purposes only. Bobby was an edgy, edgy guy. ', Their arrangement, Quirk asserted, 'enabled Jack to sustain his self-delusion that straight men who received oral sex from other males were really only straights looking for sexual release,' and he further observed, 'Jack was in love with Lem being in love with him and considered him the ideal follower adorer. Lem was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1916 Writer Gore Vidal once called Billings the chief f****t at Camelot and said Kennedy felt quite comfortable in the company of homosexuals as long as they were smart enough to hold his interest.. President Kennedy was the first US president to meet Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace, when the Queen and Prince Philip hosted the president and first lady for dinner in 1961, according to the US Embassy and Consulates in the UK. had no problem with his eye sight and saw action in North Africa. Kirk LeMoyne Billings, a retired advertising executive and a friend of President John F. Kennedy, died Wednesday at his Manhattan apartment. Jackie, I imagine, is now asking the name of Bobby's daughter or wondering if Eunice will be there and which one is Pat? ', Quirk, who acknowledged his own bisexuality, asserted that Billings 'believed that this arrangement enabled Jack to sustain his self-delusion that straight men who received oral sex from other males were really only straights looking for sexual release. 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Jerry Oppenheimer For Dailymail.com "I'm sure he's already organizing everything in heaven so it will be completely ready for us - with just the right Early American furniture, the right curtains, the right rugs, the right paintings, and everything ready for a big, big party. "Because of him, I was never lonely. While on the road, the only person he touched base with was Lem Billings. As Billings' biographer David Pitts told me, 'Once JFK decided that Billings was his best friend like it or leave, everybody in the family sort of fell in line with that. ", But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms - he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. It was Bobby Kennedy Jr. who gave the eulogy. When Joey Brode heard the story years later, she said that what Bobby had done, if true, was 'disgusting. Leave your condolences to the family on this memorial page or send flowers to show you care. 'Bobby wasn't just a pothead. The Cold War was still raging, and there was fear Russian agents might use the friendship against Kennedy. The biographer Sally Bedell Smith, referred to Billings in one of her books as "probably the saddest of the Kennedy widows.". the two men was friendship. Knowing the kind of intimate relationship that he had with the president, advisers were concerned about political repercussions, and even blackmail. Jack for his health reasons and Lem for his eye sight. While the 35th president has been legendarily known as a womanizer who frequently cheated on his wife, Oppenheimer alleges that JFK's three-decades-long relationship with his former prep school. Well, where? Genealogy profile for Lem Billings Kirk LeMoyne Billings (1916 - 1981) - Genealogy Genealogy for Kirk LeMoyne Billings (1916 - 1981) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. LeMoyne Billings and Ethel Kennedy attend Liza Minnelli Concert on May 23, 1970 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. We have 2 volunteers within fifty miles of your requested photo location. Given that Billings was a heavy-drinking Funeral Home in Elkhart IN | Billings Funeral Home He refers to virtually all his girls that way. Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. Or see our headlights slicing through the trees? Billings was buried near his mother's grave in his hometown of Pittsburgh. He was also plagued by ill health. Bobby's next school on his difficult road to a high school diploma was Pomfret, which was having its own troubles. Two months after Bobby was expelled, he along with a cousin, Bobby Sargent Shriver III, son of the former U.S. 16. "I just became fascinated with Lem because he was a closeted but as they used to say 'practicing homosexual,' and he was very much part of the inner Kennedy circle from very early in his life," says Bayard, who did a deep dive into the Kennedy archives and biographies while doing researching for the book. However, the relationship between After the assassination of RFK in 1968, the flamboyant Billings transferred his obsessive affection for Jack, to handsome teenager Bobby Jr. David Pitts, the author of 'Jack and Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship,' told me, 'Lem was a gay man and he had a 14-year-old, good-looking kid living in his house with him and there had been rumors because of that. After Jack Kennedy's election to the presidency, Billings was a constant presence and overnight guest at the White House. When their brother Bobby married Ethel Skakel in a royal-like wedding in Greenwich, Connecticut, the staunchly conservative republican and seemingly homophobic Skakels let their feelings about Billings' gayness be known. For the first time, I begin to wonder if Miss Bouvier is nervousthough it's difficult to confirm because she has a small voice and the wind seems to slap every word back down her gullet. Sixteen days after RFK was buried, Ethel and her brood were aboard a yacht destined for Hyannis Port and the Kennedy compound. Was it best that he stay and risk the possibility of injuring himself seriously or completely, or was it best for him, as nasty as it was, to ask a Kennedy to leave.'. Lem Speer - BILLINGS, Montana , Smith Downtown Funeral Chapel ", Bayard learned something else about Jackie during his research. "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship" Kennedy knew Billings was in love with him (Billings declared his love and was rejected by Kennedy) and Kennedy liked that, the attention and knowing the power he has over billings also his wife Jackie Kennedy hated Billings and hated that he and . President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas 50 years ago, leaving behind a mourning nation and his gay best friend, Lem Billings. ', Drugs had become part of the scene at Millbrook, and Bobby would become a major player. Billings Funeral Home, in Elkhart IN, offers personalized and compassionate service for everyone who walks through our doors. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was a close and long-time friend of President John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. JFK's Queer White House - Public Seminar Billings kept the letters JFK wrote to him between 1934 and 1939, and he donated the entire collection to the Library in the 1970s. I mean, she doesn't look like she belongs there any more than I do, and I briefly wonder if she's a housemaid or a nanny, taking her one allotted evening out. From all accounts, they became fast friends, drawn to each other by their ', About the odd KennedyBillings relationship, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of JFK's five sisters, once remarked: 'It's hard to describe it as just friendship; it was a complete liberation of the spirit. 2023byTango Publishing Corporation All Rights Reserved. Adapted from New York Times bestselling author Jerry Oppenheimer's explosive new book, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: RFK Jr. and the Dark Side of the Dream. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. . JFK's Friendship with Lem Billings: His Best Friend Never Got Over In May 1981, as Bobby was about to marry his first wife, Emily Black, 65-year-old Lem Billings suddenly died of a heat attack in his sleep, Shortly before he went to bed he got drunk, started to cry and told a friend, 'I made a terrible mistake. The walls were covered with black sheets with framed photographs of RFK attached to them. He's taken over."'. But as I began to research him, I realized he was also very good friends with Jackie," the novelist says. Even when Bobby was invited to weekend lunches at the Bontecou estate, it was Billings who accompanied him. On June 30, 1937 John F. "Jack" Kennedy embarked on a two-and-a-half-month tour of Europe with his friend Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings aboard the S.S. Washington. Gore Vidal, the writer who claimed he viewed homosexuality as normal as heterosexuality, disparaged the JFK-Billings relationship during the Kennedy administration. dachshund they named Dunker but had to give him up because of Jack's allergies. Billings reportedly told Kennedy of his romantic intentions in prep school (JFK pictured chatting with Marilyn Monroe and Robert F Kennedy). They remained close until Kennedy's assassinationBillings had his own room in the White House, and Joe Kennedy Sr. called him "a second son." (Which is odd considering JFK . Lem Billings, from a distinguished old American Protestant family, was taller, bigger, stronger, with a high-pitched voice and a loud laugh. "The result is this book, which looks at Jackie before she was Jackie the Jackie that we all think we know.