By Katie Wagner, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — Strong, dedicated to community service and exhibiting “Catholic values” are characteristics of Caroline Kennedy cited by people waiting to have her sign copies of her new book Monday night at the Barnes & Noble bookstore.
In a line that ran along half of MarketFair shopping center’s interior walls, hundreds of Ms. Kennedy’s adoring fans stood with copies of her most recent book “A Family Christmas.” The anthology contains poetry, prose, scriptural readings, carols, letters, song lyrics and recipes from a diversity of writers as well as her personal stories.
Prior to the 7 p.m. start of the book-signing, one of the families that arrived early enough to among the first in line, were beaming about the opportunity that awaited them inside the store.
”Seven years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter — I was single at the time — I decided that I wanted to give my daughter a strong name that would carry me through, so with my mother’s guidance I named her Carolyn, after Caroline Kennedy,” said Megan Toy of Pennington, who was accompanied by her daughter and mother.
She added, “Everything that she stands for, she has such a great reputation, she’s everything that you want a role model to be. None of us have been to any of her other book-signings, so this is a really big deal to me right now.”
Other people standing in line commended Ms. Kennedy for the way the daughter of the nation’s former president John F. Kennedy conducted herself throughout the losses of family members.
”She must have tremendous endurance and strength to have lived her life so publicly and withstood tragedy at the same time,” said Beth Van Marter of West Trenton, who attended the book-signing with her mother Fran Marasco.
Ms. Marasco’s interest in seeing Ms. Kennedy traces back to about half a century ago, when she began admiring the Kennedy family.
”My generation was in awe of the Kennedy family. Everything about them and anything to do with them was of great interest. They were such a glamorous family and everyone loved them,” said Ms. Marasco, who works as a tour guide in the governor’s residence, Drumthwacket.
Ms. Marasco added, she was very disappointed to have been sick on the day that John F. Kennedy Jr. visited Drumthwacket, and was looking forward to finally getting to see a Kennedy in-person.
Several fans of Ms. Kennedy passed their time in line by skimming through “A Family Christmas,” pausing to read selections they found particularly interesting.
”I really admire her and her work in education and her books,” said Ronnie O’Connor, a teacher at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart and resident of Pennington.
She added that she enjoyed several aspects of “A Family Christmas.”
”I like that she included an essay by Robert Frost on his poem “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” I love her introduction and I love her letter to Santa,” Ms. O’Connor said. “I just like the mix. She has some famous poets and your traditional Christmas carols. It’s just a real blend of our Christmas tradition.”

