FLEMING, Daniel B(arry), Jr. 1931-

PERSONAL:

Born November 28, 1931, in St. Marys, WV; son of Daniel B. and Ruth (Sayer) Fleming; married Beverly Browne, June 29, 1963; children: Kathy, Elizabeth, Susan. Education: West Virginia University, B.A. (political science), 1953, M.A. (political science), 1954; George Washington University, Ed.D., 1970.

ADDRESSES:

Home—615 Piedmont St., Blacksburg, VA 24060-4924. Office—Virginia Tech, 306 War Memorial Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24061. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Vandamere Press, P.O. Box 17446, Clearwater, FL 33762.

CAREER:

Marietta, OH, school system, high school teacher, 1957-64; Fairfax County, VA, school system, social studies superintendent, 1964-70; Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA, assistant professor of education, 1970-92, professor emeritus.

MEMBER:

National Council for the Social Studies, Social Science Education Consortium.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fulbright fellow; Congressional fellow.

WRITINGS:

(With Paul C. Slayton, Jr.) Virginia History and Government: 1850 to the Present, Silver Burdett Co. (Morristown, NJ), 1986.

Kennedy vs. Humphrey, West Virginia, 1960: The Pivotal Battle for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, McFarland (Jefferson, NC), 1992.

… Ask What You Can Do for Your Country: The Memory and Legacy of John F. Kennedy, Vandamere Press (Clearwater, FL), 2002.

Author of five textbooks; contributor of articles to professional journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

Daniel B. Fleming, Jr.'s … Ask What You Can Do for Your Country: The Memory and Legacy of John F. Kennedy reaches back to a decades-old tragedy, the assassination of the president on November 22, 1963. For readers too young to remember the moment, this book offers the recollections of those who will never forget it. It is a fitting tribute to the leader who is memorialized by people from all walks of life within its covers. Politicians, journalists, civil rights leaders, actors, artists, Peace Corps volunteers, the Secret Service men who guarded him, and Keith Clark, the soldier who played taps at Arlington National Cemetery during the funeral, recall Kennedy. Some remember his life and others his death.

Contributors include Myrlie Evers (wife of Medgar), former President Gerald Ford, John Glenn, Barry Goldwater, William Fulbright, Margaret Chase Smith, Margaret Truman (daughter of former President Harry Truman), Evelyn Lincoln (Kennedy's secretary), former President Jimmy Carter, and Lena Horne. Psychic Jeanne Dixon, who predicted that Kennedy would die in Dallas and begged his friends to prevent him from going, also adds her thoughts. The pilot of Air Force One tells of how they ripped seats out of the plane so that the body of the president could ride with the passengers rather than in the cargo hold.

Library Journal's Michael A. Genovese wrote that Fleming "does a fine job of bringing to life … [Kennedy's] meaning for a generation of Americans." A Publishers Weekly contributor noted that the book is "filled with admiration and fondness for Kennedy, and with curiosity about what his presidency might have meant for the country had he lived."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, November 1, 2002, Michael A. Genovese, review of … Ask What You Can Do for Your Country: The Memory and Legacy of John F. Kennedy, pp. 99-100.

Publishers Weekly, November 25, 2002, review of … Ask What You Can Do for Your Country, p. 55.*