Robert Kennedy turns 82

I met Robert Kennedy when I was 16, he was 38 at the time. The occasion was the presentation of photos I had taken of his brother, President John F. Kennedy, exactly nine months earlier while the President was visiting Tampa, Florida. Forty-four years later and nearly 40 years after Robert's death by assassination, I am thinking about what it would have been like had he lived on...until now.

I'm not the only one, I'm sure. My friend, Ed Guthman, who as press secretary got me the audience with RFK, then U.S. Attorney General, told me not a day has gone by in all these years that he hasn't though about his former employer and dear friend.

My involvement with the Kennedy family was an unlikely event, triggered only by the fact that I was only 16, I took celebrated photos of JFK just four days before his assassination in Dallas and I was able to make the connection with Mr. Guthman many years later.

There's so much I could write about very serendipitous events which have surrounded my association with President Kennedy's friends, associates and family. The people I've met through this experience have been some of the best. Suffice it to say that nobody has been more in awe than myself. One man of the Kennedy era was Mr. Guthman, the greatest guy you could ever know. He's nearly 88 now; is a decorated WWII veteran with Purple Hearts, etc.; won the Pulitzer Prize in 1950 for investigative reporting.

He was number three on Richard Nixon's Enemies List; accompanied RFK several times when the Attorney General had to drive a tipsy Marilyn Monroe to her home; was an editor at both the Philadelphia Inquirer (where I once interned) and the Los Angeles Times; until this year, was a lecturer at The Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California at LA; and we could keep right on going.

He was also featured in Tom Brokaw's "The Greatest Generation." Brokaw, a legendary NBC news anchor, attended Guthman's retirement ceremony at USC earlier this year.

There's always a smile on my face when I see Mr. Guthman's username pop up on my instant messenger buddy list. If only John and Bob's could be there!

I take this day to give thoughts to Robert, to celebrate his legacy and the great work he did in public service. My only regret was that I was not old enough at the time he was alive to appreciate the real impact his life would have on future generations. Of course, had I not been a young person I may not have gotten the appointment to see him at all.

If you'd like to view my photos of President Kennedy's visit to Tampa, which also contains a skimpy but adequate narrative of that special day many years ago, click on link below:

http://www.big13.net/JFK%20In%20Tampa/JFK%20Tampa1.htm