Remembering Ted

Today, the world looks back at the life and legacy of Sen. Edward Kennedy, who died at his Cape Cod home last night.

Like many, I woke up saddened by the news this morning. I grew up with the coffee table books about America’s Camelot. We were also a large Catholic family and I was fascinated by the glamour, the power, and the tragedy of the Kennedys.

Years later, I produced an interview with Ted Kennedy for a national radio show. I called my parents to tell them that I'd met Teddy, and actually talked to him! I was starstruck by a man who at first seemed larger than life in the picture books, made larger still by his decades of public service and dedication to a brood of fatherless Kennedy kids.

Years passed and I met him again at WBUR in Boston where he walked down the hall like a king on parade. I’m sure that he didn’t remember me, but ever the politician, he popped his head in to say hello before passing my desk. All of us, the supposedly jaded media, too cool to fawn over him, but slyly jumping up to see him as he passed.

Now the Camelot era has passed. Our thoughts are with the next and future generations of the Kennedy family, and all of those who mourn the loss of a great man.

(Photo courtesy Ludie Cochrane via Flickr/Creative Commons)