RIP RFK
OK, so I’m going off the Ponderosa today. What the hell, the whole country has been out of whack this week. So this stuff is off the cuff. Last week I forgot to say that every Friday at 5, for the past 40 years, we’d close out the week with the crew over a beer and snacks. It’s been 12 weeks since we lowered one down together. So now I’ll just grab a cold one from the fridge and start singing Merle Haggard’s “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink.”
Another thing. On my way back from walking the Rez, I drive by Mackenzie Stadium in Holyoke and every summer night you’d see the Latino adult softball games going on. Loud fans, colorful uniforms, playing under the lights. So, when the lights go on at Mackenzie Field and the Latino players are suited up, you’ll know we’re back. I’m going to sit in the stands for the first time and watch one of those games.
On another note. At 12:15 tonight, 52 years ago, Bobby Kennedy was shot and died at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He was 42. I’ve gotten to know and work with his sons over the years. Bobby Jr. was our lawyer on the Fishing Buddies campaign and we worked together with Riverkeeper to clean up the Hudson and Housatonic Rivers. His brother Max helped on those causes. I worked with Douglas, who is a reporter for Fox News, and Michael Kennedy on Citizens Energy and Teddy Kennedy’s campaigns. Michael died in a skiing accident in Aspen in 1997.
One thing I’ll never forget about Bobby Kennedy’s funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York was his buddy Andy Williams singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” You’ve gotta listen to it, really. I listen to it a lot for inspiration. I’ll tell ya, we need somebody with the soul and passion and calming influence of Bobby Kennedy today. RIP RFK.
Keep your dukes up and play this one for Bobby.