morta la fondatrice di Special Olympics

[maddy]

BOSTON (Reuters) - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, fondatrice di Special Olympics, movimento sportivo per atleti con ritardo mentale, e sorella di John e Bob, è morta oggi all'età di 88 anni.
Lo ha annunciato la sua famiglia, dicendo che il decesso è avvenuto dopo il suo ricovero in ospedale a Hyannis, cittadina del Massachusetts nella zona di Cape Cod, sinonimo della dinastia Kennedy.
"Il suo lavoro ha trasformato le vite di centinaia di milioni di persone attraverso il pianeta e loro in cambio sono la sua eredità vivente", ha detto la famiglia riferendosi al suo impegno per i disabili.
Eunice, che lascia il marito, Sargent Shriver, era la figlia di mezzo dei nove avuti da Joseph P. Kennedy e sua moglie, Rose. Tra loro John F. Kennedy, eletto presidente nel 1960 e assassinato a Dallas nel 1963, Robert, senatore di New York e candidato alla presidenza, assassinato nel 1968, e Edward Kennedy, senatore, che lotta con un cancro al cervello diagnosticato nel maggio 2008, considerato un leone del Partito democratico per le sue battaglie progressiste compresa la riforma sanitaria.
Tra le figlie della Shriver c'è Maria, ex giornalista televisiva che ha sposato l'ex attore oggi governatore della California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Shriver aveva lanciato nel 1968 le Special Olympics Games per rafforzare la forma fisica e l'autostima delle persone con ritardi mentali difendendone la causa a Washington ben dopo aver compiuto ottanta anni. L'evento da lei ideato è cresciuto sino a comprendere 190 nazioni.
Il suo coinvolgimento nella causa dei ritardati mentali è stato attribuito al suo rapporto con la sorella maggiore Rosemary, che si dice avesse un lieve ritardo mentale e trascorse la maggior parte della sua vita in una casa di cura dopo una lobotomia

[maddy]

BOSTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who
emerged from a powerful male-dominated political family to
found the Special Olympics and become a leading advocate of the
mentally disabled, died on Tuesday at the age of 88.
Shriver died after being hospitalized recently in Hyannis,
the Massachusetts town on Cape Cod synonymous with the Kennedy
dynasty.
"Her work transformed the lives of hundreds of millions of
people across the globe and they in turn are her living
legacy," her family said in a statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama praised Shriver's Special
Olympics work and called her "an extraordinary woman who, as
much as anyone, taught our nation -- and our world -- that no
physical or mental barrier can restrain the power of the human
spirit."
In March, Obama apologized for comparing his bowling skills
to those of Special Olympics participants during an appearance
on "The Tonight Show" television program.
Shriver was married to Sargent Shriver, whose long public
service included starting the Peace Corps under her brother,
President John F. Kennedy.
She was born July 10, 1921, the middle child of the nine
children of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and his wife, Rose.
As a child, she wanted to compete athletically against her
brothers, including John, elected president in 1960 and
assassinated in 1963; Robert, a New York senator whose
presidential bid ended with his assassination in 1968; and
Edward, who has served as a senator from Massachusetts for more
than 45 years.

'LOYAL AND LOVING'
Edward Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, said in a
statement that even as a child his sister had a "boundless
passion to make a difference."
"Though the Special Olympics will be her enduring monument,
in our family she'll be remembered as a loyal and loving
sister, a treasured wife to Sarge, and a wonderful mother and
grandmother," he said.
Shriver was always a part of her Democratic brothers'
political campaigns but her advocacy work crossed party lines.
Republican President Ronald Reagan praised her "enormous
conviction and unrelenting effort ... on behalf of America's
least powerful people" in 1984 when he awarded her the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian
honor.
Well into her 80s, Shriver still was seen in the halls of
the U.S. Capitol seeking support for her cause.
She started the Special Olympics Games in 1968 to foster
fitness and self-esteem for the mentally handicapped. Her
concern was attributed to her relationship with older sister
Rosemary, who was said to have been mildly retarded and spent
much of her life in long-time care after a lobotomy.
"I had enormous affection for Rosie," Shriver said in a
radio interview in 2007. "If I [had] never met Rosemary, never
known anything about handicapped children, how would I have
ever found out? Because nobody accepted them anyplace."
The genesis for the Special Olympics was the summer camps
that Shriver put on herself for mentally handicapped children
at her family's Maryland estate. Forty years after the first
U.S. Special Olympics, the games have grown to include 190
nations.
Beyond an athletic competition, the Special Olympics became
a public service organization that advocated research, rights
and better care for its constituents. Shriver's son Timothy
became the organization's chairman.
Her other children are Maria, a former TV journalist who
married California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Bobby, a
lawyer and philanthropist; Mark, a former Maryland state
legislator now in charity work; and Anthony, who also founded a
group to help the mentally handicapped.
Shriver was a debutante who was presented at the Court of
St. James while her father Joseph Kennedy was U.S. ambassador
to Britain. Early in her professional life, she worked for the
State Department and then with female prisoners in West
Virginia.
Shriver campaigned with her husband when he was the vice
presidential candidate with George McGovern in 1972 and when he
made a failed bid for the Democratic nomination for president
in 1976.
(Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
((bill.trott@reuters.com; +1 202 898 8300; Reuters Messaging