'Robert Francis Kennedy Jr.' (b.
January 17,
1954 in
Washington, D.C.), often referred to as 'RFK Jr.' or 'Bobby Jr.', is the third of eleven children born to
Ethel Skakel Kennedy and
Robert F. Kennedy. He is an environmental lawyer and co-host of ''Ring of Fire'' on the
Air America Radio network.
Personal life
Kennedy graduated from
Harvard College in 1974 with a
B.A. in
government (interrupting his stay at Harvard for a year of study at the
London School of Economics) and obtained a
Juris Doctor degree from the
University of Virginia Law School, following a tradition started by his father and his uncle
Edward M. Kennedy. He also obtained an
LL.M. from the
Pace University School of Law.
[1]
Divorced from first wife, Emily Ruth Black, he is now married to Mary Richardson (b. 1959) and has six children: Robert F. III (born 1984) and Kathleen Alexandra (1988) by Emily Ruth Black, and Conor Richardson (1994), Kyra LeMoyne (1995), William Finbar (1997) and Aidan Caohman Vieques (2001) by Mary Richardson.
In
1983, he was arrested in a
Rapid City South Dakota Airport for
heroin possession. A search of his carry-on bag uncovered 183 milligrams of heroin.
[2]
Upon entering a plea of
guilty, Kennedy, then 30 years old, was sentenced to two years
probation, periodic tests for drug use, treatment by joining
Narcotics Anonymous, and 1,500 hours of
community service by Presiding Judge Marshall P. Young.
[2]
Legal career
In
1984, Kennedy joined the
Riverkeeper organization to satisfy the 1,500 hours community service to which he was sentenced. He worked with the group to sue alleged
polluters of the
Hudson River. After his 1,500 hours were complete, the group hired Kennedy as its chief prosecuting attorney.
[4] Riverkeeper was founded in 1966 by a group of fishermen and residents from New York.
[5]
Kennedy also founded, and is the current president of, the umbrella organization,
Waterkeeper Alliance[6], which connects and supports local Keeper groups. Today there are 157 Keeper groups worldwide operating under the
trademarked "Riverkeeper," "Lakekeeper," "Baykeeper," or "Coastkeeper" names.
[7]
Since 1987 Kennedy has served as a Clinical Professor of Environmental Law and co-director of the Environmental Litigation Clinic
[8] at
Pace University School of Law. The clinic allows second and third year law students to try cases against alleged Hudson River polluters. Kennedy also serves as a senior attorney for the
Natural Resources Defense Council,
[9] a non-profit organization based in New York which works to expand environmental laws and restrict land use.
Earlier in his career, Kennedy served as
assistant district attorney in New York City.
[10]
Media work and public activism
In 1998, Kennedy alongside good friends,
Chris Bartle and
John Hoving, created a bottled water company that donates all of its profits to Waterkeeper Alliance.
[11] They named their
Manhattan based company, Tear of the Clouds LLC., after the
lake of the same name in
Essex County. Their product is bottled under the name Keeper Springs.
[12]
Kennedy currently co-hosts ''
Ring of Fire'' on
Air America Radio with
Mike Papantonio,
[13] despite suffering from
spasmodic dysphonia,
[14] a disorder that makes speech difficult and causes the voice to sound quavery.
He has written two books and several articles on environmental issues. His articles have appeared in
The New York Times, the
Washington Post, the
Los Angeles Times, the
Wall Street Journal,
Newsweek,
Rolling Stone,
Atlantic Monthly,
Esquire,
The Nation,
Outside magazine,
The Village Voice and many more. Since May
2005 he's been a contributing blogger at
The Huffington Post, a blog run by
Arianna Huffington.
[15].
Kennedy was named one of Time.com's "Heroes for the Planet" for his success in helping Riverkeeper to restore the Hudson River.
[16]
He has angered some environmentalists
[17] with his opposition to the construction of the
Cape Wind offshore
wind power project.
[18]
Kennedy authored a June 2005 article in Rolling Stone alleging connections between the mercury-containing preservative
thimerosal in inoculations and childhood
autism.
[19] Mainstream medical opinion is that there is no convincing scientific evidence to support this
allegation.
[20]
In an article in the June 5, 2006, issue of
Rolling Stone magazine entitled
''Was the 2004 Election Stolen?'', Kennedy comes to the conclusion that the Republican party stole the
2004 American presidential election. Farhad Manjoo, Technology and Business staff writer for
Salon.com, has criticized Kennedy's interpretation and methodology
[21]. Kennedy responded to Manjoo's criticisms in detail
[22].
Kennedy has been criticised for receiving royalty payments for participation in two family-owned oil drilling companies.
[23]
On July 07, 2007 Kennedy appeared in New York at the
Live Earth event. His speech challenged the public to question the implied position of the energy industry that economic and environmental policies are mutually exclusive. He referred to several media personalities (
Glenn Beck,
Sean Hannity, and
Rush Limbaugh among them) as "flat-earthers," and "traitors."
[24]. Kennedy's speech concludes with the statement "And I will see all of you on the barricades".
Sporting life
Kennedy is a licensed master
falconer and former president of the New York State Falconer's Association.
[25]
He is also an avid white-water rafter and has led several rafting trips in Canada and Central America.
[26][9]
Books by Kennedy
★
Judge Frank M. Johnson, Jr: A biography, , Robert F., Kennedy Jr., Putnam, 1978, ISBN 0-399-12123-4
★
''The Riverkeepers: Two Activists Fight to Reclaim Our Environment as a Basic Human Right'', , John, Kronin, Scribner, , ISBN 0-684-84625-X
★ {{cite book|last=Kennedy, Jr.|first=Robert F.|coauthor=Dennis Nolan (Illustrator}|title=''
St. Francis of Assisi: A Life of Joy''|publisher=
Hyperion|date=2004|id=ISBN 9780786818754}}
★
''Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and Corporate Pals are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy'', , Robert F., Kennedy, Jr., HarperCollins, , ISBN 0060746874
References
1. http://www.backbonecampaign.org/cabinet/nominee.cfm?ID=62
2. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DF1039F934A25750C0A962948260
3. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DF1039F934A25750C0A962948260
4. http://riverkeeper.org
5. http://riverkeeper.org/ourstory_index.php
6. http://waterkeeper.org
7. http://waterkeeper.org/mainaboutus.aspx
8. http://law.pace.edu/envclinic/staff.html
9. http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/about.html
10. http://robertfkennedyjr.com/about.html
11. http://www.keepersprings.com/theidea.html
12. http://www.keepersprings.com
13. http://shows.airamericaradio.com/ringoffire/
14.
Another Kennedy Living Dangerously
15. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/
16. http://www.time.com/time/reports/environment/heroes/heroesgallery/0,2967,kennedy,00.html
17. http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2006/01/12/capecod/
18. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/opinion/16kennedy.html
19. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/
20. Immunizations and autism: a review of the literature, Doja A, Roberts W, , , Can J Neurol Sci,
21. http://www.salon.com//news/feature/2006/06/03/kennedy/
22. http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/06/06/rfk_responds/
23. , , Peter, Schweizer, Doubleday, , ISBN 0385513496
24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heku9oTLysg
25. http://www.metroactive.com/metro-santa-cruz/01.11.06/rfk-0602.html
26. http://waterkeeper.org/mainpresident.aspx
27. http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/about.html
See also
★
Thimerosal controversy
★
Waterkeeper Alliance
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