and appeared in the first printing of "Nascent Constellation"
“because politics are too important to leave to the politicians.”
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
John
Of John F. Kennedy Jr.'s death, Charlie Rose said to Robert McNamara, "I don't know what has not been said." That was how The Charlie Rose Show opened on Tuesday, July 20, 1999. It's true, it seemed that everything that could be said about the tragedy had been said and up until now, two weeks later, I had been too stunned to write anything about it.
The local news only mimed the words CNN wrote, so I watched very little on TV and just checked online to get updates. It was faster than waiting for TV news.
The man lived by at least these two concepts: "Follow your heart" and "Everything in its own time." In his life could we find someone to inspire us, someone to model our own actions after? Some in his position would need further examination. This one had a heart crystal clear.
"Are you speaking of Jesus, Buddah, and John Kennedy, Jr. in the same breath?" Rose asks Mario Cuomo, his guest two nights later. The question went unanswered.
People just old enough to have seen him saluting his father's casket in real time seem to have been deeply moved by his passing. We had been waiting.
His work, the magazine, George, was more widely read by a younger generation. McNamara offered that an assistant in his office declared George the best political magazine out there. McNamara himself didn't read it and many in JFK Jr.'s generation were indifferent to it.
They were waiting for the man to lend his celebrity to something bigger, more commercial, more political. But, he gave us this, by example: play hard, do diligently, and keep your ideals and principles foremost in your mind, follow your heart and everything in its own time. We could live with that for inspiration. We need wait no longer. This is the legacy he left us.
Thanks for reading.
Peter Demers