I wrote a eulogy for Ted Kennedy a year ago, during my bored, early summer days in Tampa, Florida while we waited for Monster's permanent residency to come through. I saved a draft for the day the news came that Senator Kennedy died. I knew that day would come relatively soon, as he was diagnosed with malignant brain cancer a few months before. But when it did come, last night, I opened the draft to...nothing. No document. And so, I'll have to try to recreate it this weekend, when I have time to think it all through. Because Ted Kennedy wasn't a Disney character, he was a complex and complicated man.
For now, here is Teddy's eulogy for his big brother Bobby in 1968. I think it captures some of the Kennedy spirit, the idea of legacy and reputation for fevered representation. This weekend, I want to touch on the good and bad that was Ted Kennedy, the way he wielded his privelege to help and to hurt.
But today, this brilliant eulogy is my goodbye to a man I have admired, despite his many faults and demons. While there are and will be many other Kennedys in the public eye, Senator Kennedy's passing is the end of an era that stretched from my grandparents lives to my own. And he will be missed.
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