Cover of Senator Edward Kennedy's memoir True Compass.
When word came of the death of Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy (1932-2009) last week, I did as I so often do when hearing about the passing of someone whose life had a major influence on my own––I reached for my pen to write a poem or short essay in tribute to the great soul. I had already written several for Michael Jackson––including the Notes for an Elegy in the Key of Michael that seemed to compose itself––and so I was in a kind of elegizing mode.
Strangely, pressing pen against paper or fingers upon the keyboard, nothing came in regard to Senator Kennedy (D-MA) and that concerned me. My admiration for him and his brothers was deep and genuine enough but I seemed unable to transcribe my respect for him into the appropriate words. Then, while watching a CBS report on his life, I understood why.
The numerous bills that Kennedy either authored and/or supported during his almost five-decade tenure in the U.S. Senate had so altered the very fabric of American culture––not culture as in creative aesthetics but culture as in practical daily living––that I couldn’t think of where or how to begin. I could only agree with television’s Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer when he offered this ironic observation: while Kennedy never occupied the White House as he once hoped to do, and as his brother John did, he actually accomplished more legislatively as “the lion of the Senate” than virtually anyone ever did as president of the United States.
Laboring tirelessly in the fields of education, healthcare, race relations, labor laws, and the environment, he in fact authored more than 2,500 bills and sponsored at least as many more. The impact of those contributions to Americans' daily lives and even to the lives of many beyond these shores is more than legendary: it is living palpable history and treasured life-enhancing legacy. Therefore, it took a few days before figuring out that the best words I could offer to such a princely soul are two of the simplest and yet most powerful in the English language: Thank You.
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