“Cokie: A life well lived” by Steven V. Roberts (Harper 2021)
Like millions, I was a big fan of accomplished journalist, news correspondent and non-fiction author, Cokie Roberts. I was anxious to learn more about what made her tick. After reading the book “Cokie,” I didn’t feel very enlightened.
The important thing to keep in mind when reading this book is that her husband wrote it in the wake of her death. Many have called this book a tribute to his wife. But I thought it read much more like a love letter.
He wanted us to use her life as a blueprint for being a good person, so he shared wonderful stories about her loyalty, generosity and thoughtfulness with friends, family and colleagues. It’s a sweet book.
But I was looking forward to a much more objective book about her emotional and intellectual development over time. I wanted to know how she happened to transition from a stereotypical, baby boomer homemaker to a bonafide feminist. I wanted to know what motivated her beyond practicing her Catholic religion, marriage and child-rearing. How did she strategize to work through obstacles in the male dominated workplace?
Steve Roberts focused on stories about their prolonged courtship and then sang her praises as wife, mother, and ever-reliable friend. Yes, he touched on her professionalism and achievements, (how could he not?) but he mostly shared stories one would hear at a class reunion…or at a wake over coffee and pastries from around the block.
There were many examples of Ms. Roberts’ characteristics worthy of respect and emulation. I trust those stories are a balm for her surviving children, extended family and personal friends. A gift to them to be sure. I’m glad Cokie Roberts was well loved.
But I know much more about Cokie, the accomplished, smart and shrewd person, by reading her own non-fiction books. Bless Steve Robert’s grieving heart for trying.
Following are my favorite non-fiction books written by Cokie Boggs Roberts.
“Founding Mother’s: The Women Who Raised Our Nation. (Easton Press 2004)
“Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation
(William Morrow 2008)
“We are our Mother’s Daughters” (Harper Perennial revised and expanded edition 2010.)
I remember Steven Roberts‘ journalism mostly from PBS Washington Week in Review way back when Paul Duke was moderating. (I think It was during Duke’s time.) Was more impressed by Cokie. In the book Steven says Cokie said she never entered politics because her husband was a journalist and she thought it would be a conflict of interest for him. As to her pop, I imagine you’re right, she was probably always waiting for that call. But if no crash site was found, do we know if the guys didn’t just runaway to party in the South Pacific?
This is what I expected in the book, so thanks for keeping me from buying it. You are exactly right that readers (and Cokie fans) could have expected more about the evolution and influences in her life. Steve Roberts, a first-rate reporter in his day, has the chops to get that done. I recall Cokie as being a fairly strong journalist and a pleasant person, though my orbit in DC was elsewhere and I didn't know her. When thinking about Cokie, always at front of mind is the disappearance of her father, House Majority Leader Hale Boggs. Planes go down in Alaska fairly often; Cessnas there are like minivans, or Uber, in getting around. What remains bizarre is that 50 years later (the 50th anniversary is in Oct) they've found nary a sliver of the plane that went down, with Boggs and 3 others aboard, on a charter from Anchorage to Juneau. A campaign-trip of some sort. On reporting trips to that part of Alaska (and flying in small planes)! I imagined what it would be like to happen on to the crash sight in some mountain ravine. Cokie was 25 or 30 when her that plane went down, and I wonder if over the years when the phone rang she ever wondered if someone was calling to say finally, your father's remains were found.