The New York Times
By Jamie Bernstein, Nina Bernstein Simmons, and Alexander Bernstein
May 2, 2025
Our father, the composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, liked to tell us about the time Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis called to ask him to be the first executive director of the Kennedy Center in Washington, which was being built as a memorial to her slain husband. He was so honored that he blurted out a yes — then hung up aghast. He didn’t feel remotely suited to be executive director of anything.
Read More