As a college intern on Capitol Hill during the nation's Bicentennial, every day seemed historic as I worked for my senator and caught a virulent case of Potomac Fever. One day I ran into Elizabeth Taylor, exiting the Senate chamber on the arm of her then-husband, Sen. John Warner of Virginia; another time I encountered former Vice President Hubert Humphrey on the Capitol subway; and later that summer I spied Ben Bradlee (former Newsweek bureau chief and later played by Jason Robards in the role of executive editor for The Washington Post in All the President's Men), and Carl Bernstein as I toured the Post's news room.
But no doubt my most lasting memory of that magical 1976 summer was meeting Ethel Kennedy when I attended a picnic she hosted at her famous estate, Hickory Hill, in McLean Virginia. Hearing of her passing this week, I flashed back to that memorable day nearly 50 years ago.
Ethel, widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, was a bundle of energy at age 48, even after bearing 11 children. I watched her apply the iconic........