[68] His dying wish was for the young Kennedy men to carry his casket to its final resting place. 'I borrowed the other half from an inheritance I was about to receive from my grandmother after I graduated from college,' remembered Lem. A historian wrote that after Kennedy's assassination 50 years ago Billings was "probably the saddest of the Kennedy 'widows.'" ', Jacqueline Kennedy was reportedly unhappuabout her husband and Billings' three decade long relationship. I am sure the good Lord knows that heaven is Jesus and Lem and Jack and Bobby loving one another.'. 'What the hell have you been doing? In 1958, her cousin Gore Vidal brought playwright Tennessee Williams to the Kennedy home in Palm Beach, FL. The pair matriculated at Princeton together in the fall of 1935, although Jack had to withdraw for health reasons, probably early signs of the Addisons disease that would plague him the rest of his life. I was pleased to note that things picked up after your arrival,' referring to Montgomery's battle with Rommel at El Alamein. His book Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, from which the text of this slideshow is excerpted, was one of The Advocate's five best books of 2007. I suppose if you dont do the missionary sex position thing you can call yourself straight and for any other position, it is just experimental straight sex? By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use. Both boys kept diaries on the trip, although Lem's was more of a scrapbook. Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings (April 15, 1916 - May 28, 1981) was a prep school roommate and then lifelong close friend of President John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917 - November 22, 1963). Billings kept the letters JFK wrote to him between 1934 and 1939, and he donated the entire collection to the Library in the 1970s. 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 served with Sargent Shriver as a trustee for the Kennedy family trusts. In addition to Lem, Kennedys bisexual brother in law, actor Peter Lawford, and novelist Gore Vidal, a relative of Jackies, were frequent visitors and playmates. During the night of May 28, 1981-almost two decades after JFK's untimely death - 65-year-old Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. "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 . [4] The non-sectarian, wooded hillside park is located at 4734 Butler Street in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, and bounded by the Bloomfield, Garfield, and Stanton Heights areas. But even more than that, the author said that Billings was intimate friends with the Kennedys despite societal norms of the time ingratiating himself with a most powerful family. Lem Billings also buffered JFK from the toll that infidelity took on the Kennedy marriage. When they arrived at the cemetery, it was already in place to be lowered. COVID-19 became the No. But was reportedly upset that her husband spent so much time with him, and that he often stayed overnight at the White House. He had a very independent mind. Both Jack and Lem were crazy about dogs and soon fell totally in love with little Dunker. Was this part of his commitment to the Presidents good health? He certainly didn't have the same interest in politics and women that Jack had. On some weekends, Jack and Lem would go up there. He may have been the reason I never married.. You can follow her on Twitter . One of the most credible accounts of the Kennedy-Billings relationship was told by David Pitts, who I interviewed extensively for my book, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.And The Dark Side Of The Dream, because the strapping, bespectacled Billings, with a high-pitched, effeminate voice, would later become the fawning surrogate father and fellow drug user of JFK's nephew, Bobby Kennedy Jr., with whom Billings also had intense romantic feelings. He sent one letter to Lem's mother addressed to the American Field Service PO Box in New York. But as I began to research him, I realized he was also very good friends with Jackie. Billings took leave from his business career to work on Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign. A telephone conversation between President Kennedy and Lem Billings. Billings worked on the 1960 campaign, and then lived at the White House for long stretches of time, a room permanently set aside for his visits. While web sleuths and conspiracy theorists were looking for the person who killed her . John F. Kennedy's best friend for three decades was a gay man, according to a new book titled, "Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings.The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship;" the book documents the relationship between the two men from its beginnings at a New England prep school in 1933 until the gunfire in Dallas in 1963. According to the book, a gift from Billings a whale's-tooth scrimshaw was buried with him. While trying to locate the body of a dead CI named Angie Stubbs, Lem stole a brick of heroin from Salvadoran drug dealer Pittario and warned him that he would only give it back once he located the body. "[25]:244 Sometimes he stayed for longer periods. 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. However, an earlier book by Hollywood writer Lawrence Quirk alleges that Billings was not rebuffed. 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. The story of Jack and Lem opens a window into the presidency, but it also suggests that historians of heterosexuality might want to look more closely to see which gay lives are lived near, but outside the conventional frame, of heterosexual families, a project that novelist Amy Bloom has recently undertaken in her fictional account of the love affair between Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickock. Allegheny Cemetery is one of the largest and oldest burial grounds in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. educated at. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Ken Bruce finishes his 30-year tenure as host of BBC Radio 2, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Hershey's Canada releases HER for SHE bars featuring a trans activist, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Family of a 10-month-old baby filmed vaping open up. "And everything ready for a big, big party.". Needless to say, JFK may have had, in a sense, two widows. David Pitts quotes Vidal cruelly calling Billings "a lifelong slave," "the principal fag at court," and a "nurse" who helped Jack deal with the pain caused by Addison's disease. I don't know how we will carry on without him. After cocktails, Jackie and JFK proposed some skeet shooting and, legend has it, Williams was a better shot than Jack. myocardial infarction. Jerry Oppenheimer is a New York Times bestselling author who has written two books about the Kennedys. Vidal, the author of a best-selling gay World War II novel, published in 1947 at a time when most queer books were ruled obscene and evidence of homosexual acts could bring a prison term, was unabashedly public about his affairs with men. As of 2018 Lem Billings is 65 years (age at death) years old. After saying in a quiet voice, "He put up quite a fight. Lem was no civilian; he was a member of the Viet Cong. In the summer of 1937 Billings and Kennedy took a summer trip through Europe which solidified their friendship. 0 references. "In many ways, Lem thought of his life as being over after Jack died," the younger Bobby Kennedy told Pitts for his book. Lem Billings may have been present for, but just outside the frame, of these pictures. As a younger man, he also served as something of a "go-between" for a young Jack Kennedy and the woman who would become Kennedy's wife, Jackie Bouvier, in 1950s Washington, D.C. He once described the Kennedy family's lack of business awareness: "Listening to the Kennedy brothers talk about business was like hearing nuns talk about sex. Lemmon died about 9 p.m. Wednesday at USC/Norris Cancer Center with his wife, actress Felicia Farr, two children and a stepdaughter at his bedside. The two became friends, then roommates. During that time, he told researchers, "All the kids came over to see me. And George Terrian, the alcoholic husband of Ethel Kennedy's alcoholic, pill-popping sister, Georgeann, told me in interviews for my book 'The Other Mrs. Kennedy' that, 'Everyone in the family knew Lem was q***r the Kennedys, the Skakels, everyone.'. [47], Billings spent less time with the President in the fall of 1963. Major Character Death; John F Kennedy/ Lem Billings; John F. Kennedy; Lem Billings; Friends to Lovers; Hurt/Comfort; Summary. and yet you still think JFK was alive in December 1963! 1934: Young JFK in hospital The young JFK, messing around with Lem Billings during their Choate years In the summer of 1934, future United States president John F Kennedy was in his junior year at the prestigious Choate School in Connecticut. Billings was a prep school roommate of Kennedy, an usher at his wedding and a campaigner for his successful 1960 presidential bid. Wikipedia (3 entries) edit. On March 4, 1961, The New York Times reported, Billings even escorted two baby hamsters, Debbie and Billie, from New York to Washington, for young Caroline. While Billings' missive is long gone, a startled Kennedy responded, 'Please don't write to me on toilet paper anymore. You can follow her on Twitter. Because of him, I was never lonely. In 2009, Robert Dallek published part of an interview with Barbara Gamerekian, a former White House aide, who named three prominent women, two secretaries nicknamed Fiddle and Faddle and a college sophomore who couldnt type (Alford) as a few of the sexual partners who helped the President release his daily tensions, often in the White House swimming pool or on official trips around the nation, where women were sometimes flown in on separate planes so that they could be available. Another shows older daughter Caroline, who became the American Ambassador to Japan under Barack Obama, learning to ride her pony. Billings could best be described as Kennedy's "wingman", closest male friend, and boon companion as they moved into adulthood. Like millions of other young Americans, they faced an uncertain future. Wiggins was serving a 28 years . With that out of the way, their relationship continued essentially unchanged until JFK's assassination thirty years later.". Jack & Lem: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship, John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings by David Pitts Carroll & Graf. The Cold War was still raging, and there was fear Russian agents might use the friendship against Kennedy. [56] Charles L. Bartlett, a journalist who introduced Kennedy to Jacqueline Bouvier[57] and friend of both Billings and Kennedy, described their relationship: "Lem was a stable presence for Jack. 228. Billings was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on April 15, 1916, the third child of Frederic Tremaine Billings (18731933) and Romaine LeMoyne (18821970). ', But Billings was embarrassed about his effeminate mannerisms he'd remain publicly closeted for his lifetime. Vidal thought Jacqueline Kennedy thought Billings "was kind of a nothing but Jack needed him and she was practical. Ethel's alcoholic, philandering brother, George Skakel Jr., actually booted Billings in the a** at the church, knocking him into the aisle. Billings, for his part, never married and eventually became a marketing executive and worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (Page 276). Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an American businessman known for his close and long-time friendship with John F. Kennedy and the Kennedy family. Billings had once told Bobby that. The Kennedys tolerated his homosexuality, which was considered taboo at the time, Lawrence J. Quirk, the author of'The Kennedys in Hollywood' said Billings and JFK's relationship turned sexual at a point. . He claimed he had no idea who the Kennedys were, but they wanted to meet Williams, and Vidal produced him. A crew jock, he met Jack at Choate, a boys' boarding school, in Wallingford, Connecticut (it is now co-ed). (Page 100). The parents who fear their 11-year-olds will be scarred for life by the graphic sex education lessons that Two Insulate Britain protesters are jailed for contempt of court after they defied a judge's orders not to 'Derek fights on, it makes me fall in love with him all over again:' Kate Garraway reveals there are days French authorities fear 'narco-tourists' could flock to Normandy beaches after 'more than two tonnes of Hopes for cervical cancer vaccine after trials in mice showed it reduced tumours 80 per cent of the time. Plastic surgeon reveals five cosmetic procedures she would NEVER get - from dangerous Brazilian butt lifts BEL MOONEY:Why does caring for my dad take over my life? [4], In 1939, Billings graduated from Princeton where he majored in art and architecture[5] and wrote his senior thesis on Tintoretto. Lem's raison d'tre was Jack Kennedy. Naval Reserve and served in the South Pacific until being discharged in 1946. Jack's best friend was Lem, and he would want to remind everyone of that today. Billings as a teenager was 6' 2", weighed 175 pounds, and was the strongest member of the Choate crew. 12 pdf icon; leading cause of death data, including firearm, homicide, and drug poisoning mortality data, and infant mortality . Jacqueline Bouvier would have the same problem, using every possible excuse to avoid the game, after she and Jack were married in 1953." "[27] Billings never had a White House pass and said: "Jack and Jackie were so nice about this that I didn't even have to tell them whether I was coming or going. 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"[45] Billings also served the President as an artistic adviser, selecting scrimshaw for display in the Oval Office[46] and, on one European tour, quickly assembling a selection of artworks to be presented as gifts. Lem Billings and John F. Kennedy met as teenagers at their Connecticut prep school and remained lifelong friends. Published: 16:57 GMT, 9 June 2017 | Updated: 19:00 GMT, 9 June 2017. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on May 28, 1981, at the age of 65. Allegheny Cemetery. The first time Kirk Lemoyne 'Lem' Billings was . Joseph Kennedy Sr. called him "my second son," and he sometimes acted as escort for several of the Kennedy women. 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. Lem was a virtual fixture in the Kennedy family who even had his own room at the White House. He reportedly never entertained or enjoyed social outings. Naval Academy. Lem Billings (left) with John F Kennedy (right) Kennedy and Billings had a sexual relationship including 'oral sex, with Jack always on the receiving end.' Kennedys in Hollywood by Lawrence J. Quirk / The Dark Side Of The Dream Jack and Lem, as a reviewer for The New York Daily News put it in 1996, engaged in the kind of sexual experimentation not unknown at all-boys boarding schools.. 64, No. "[58] Though Gore Vidal thought Billings was "absolutely nobody," he also believed "it was a good idea that Jack had somebody he could trust like that around him." "Raffish and yet prissy," they write of Billings "a sort of court chronicler reporting on the old days which even Bobby and Ethel didn't recall and functioning as the all-purpose cheerleader, godfather, and pallbearer who could always be counted on. 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Eventually, the two friends made contact, however, and began exchanging letters just as they had when both were at home." He noted that everywhere Jack went, Billings was sure to follow, like a puppy dog. Perhaps, given his deep personal knowledge of the President and his friendship with the First Lady, he even gave directions as the photographer snapped the candid shots that would charm both the nation and historians. Article. This essay was originally published at OutHistory.orgon November 22, 2013; it has been updated and re-edited. [10] In 1944 he received a commission in the U.S. 'I would take the shuttle down to Washington, go to the White House and we would be picked up by helicopter there -- flown to Andrews (Air Force Base) and taken by Air Force One to Otis on the Cape. When Jack discovered that Billings was gay once declining an amorous overture from Billings the friendship is thought to have gone on unharmed. That he is believed to have been gay at a time when homosexuality was still illegal even being somewhat open about his sexuality, including within the powerful Kennedy clan sheds light on the strength of his ties to the family. John F. Kennedy (right) and Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings sit in a wicker chair outside the Kennedy family home in Palm Beach. As for Kennedy himself, Vidal asserted that the president 'felt quite comfortable in the company of homosexuals as long as they were smart enough to hold his interest. The affair was socially isolating for a very young and sexually un-liberated woman, causing her to deceive friends, boyfriends and ultimately her husband and children for most of her adult life. When JFK was assassinated, he turned his attention to his nephew Bobby Kennedy Jr. Len Hauss, a rugged mainstay in Washington's offensive line who started 192 consecutive games at center in a 14-year pro football career that led him to the Super Bowl and five Pro Bowl . In many ways, Lem was like a father to me and he was the best friend I will ever have.' During the night of May 28, 1981almost two decades after JFK's untimely death - 65-year-old Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. Billings once admitted that he made a pass at Jack early on. However, gay men played another role in Kennedys history that was not overtly sexual: they were part of an avant-garde cultural world that Jackie Kennedy cultivated, as she linked the Kennedy name to national arts, letters and music for the first time. But even before then, Billings was a Kennedy fixture. (Page 213), "Jack made a big difference in my life. He was by all accounts JFK's best friend . A Princeton friend and former business partner confided to Pitts about Billings that after Jacks death: He didnt want to live anymore, and other friends claimed that he never recovered from the loss. 'Haven't heard a word from you,' Jack wrote. 0 references. Though his name isn't as well-known as that of his boyhood best friend, Kirk LeMoyne "Lem" Billings was an important confidante for one of America's presidents and lived a life no less full of its own twists and turns. Lem's sister, Lucretia, who knew Jack as well, said, 'I think he had to do something because Jack was doing so much.' 384 pages, $26.95 THE OLD black-and-white photograph shows two good-looking young men sitting close together on the back bumper of a car, their fingers touching gently as they fondle a dachshund pup. During the night of May 28, 1981almost two decades after JFK's untimely death - 65-year-old Lem Billings died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. Lem profited from the friendship--he was an official member of the Kennedy clan, he went to fancy White House parties and even had his own friendship at the presidential mansion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Billings, for his part, never married and eventually became a marketing executive and worked on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Lem never really left Jacks orbit after boarding school. ", Matriarch Rose Kennedy wrote in her biography that Billings was "one of 'Jack's surprises,' " and soon found a place for himself: "He has really been part of 'our family' since that first time he showed up at our house. Deadline reported in 2018 that it was to be the basis for a forthcoming boipic as well. it would not surprise me knowing how most of the Kennedys (including ole Joe!) Ted Sorensen called him "an admirer almost a fawning admirer of his friend. Variability in proportionate mortality in 363 Latin American cities by country. 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. He believed Billings loved Kennedy. [63][25]:505 He maintained close ties to the Kennedys and their children for the rest of his life, frequently socializing with Bobby Kennedy Jr., to whom he became almost a surrogate father, and Christopher Lawford. Bobby's decision to pick up Jack's torch was important to Lem as well. . But I'm stuck with the Kennedys emotionally, and I will be to the end of my life. Lem Billings may have been present for many of these events, but if he was, he was just outside the frame of these pictures. This is fascinating, Claire. "I was never lonely.". [68] He is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[69]. Lem Billings relaxed on the Kennedys' Palm Beach estate the summer of 1936. [66], In 1987, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin described how Billings structured her interviews with him.
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