"My tears are full of eyes," wrote e. e. cummings.

***

Three grand Irishmen have left us this summer. I do mean that trinity of male lions – Frank McCourt, Dominick Dunne and Ted Kennedy.

And all three of these men had in common their flouting of the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald dicta – that there are no second acts in American lives. Each one of these men recovered from their somewhat misspent youths to become respected giants in their later years.

I wasn’t going to write about Sen. Ted Kennedy here because it seemed too much and I knew him too little. But so many have asked if I would write and if I knew him. No, but I did meet him once and it was after my career in examining the Kennedy men in my columns was well established.

I had done several exposés and examinations of the late President Kennedy’s misalliance with Judith Exner, both in print and on network TV. And I knew I would never be a favorite of the family although I got along fine, socially, with Jackie and with Pat. (They were both women who adored gossip and seemed to want to overlook my "missteps.")

Anyway, I was invited to a party in Washington given by the late Pamela Harriman for one of her causes. She had become a force in the Democratic Party and was later named Ambassador to France by President Clinton. There, I saw my friend Vernon Jordan approaching with Sen. Teddy by his side. I gulped. I realized I simply couldn’t be his favorite media person and I prepared myself for an encounter or an unpleasant remark, to which I felt he was actually entitled. Vernon did the intros with a smile that let me know he knew he was putting me on the griddle.

But, no, the senator behaved as if thrilled to meet me, had heard so much about me, read me with interest, he said. His charm, wit and gentlemanly demeanor stunned me. Not a word of reproach. No cold shoulder. No wonder the world called him "Uncle Teddy." I thought to myself, this is how an intelligent, smart VIP behaves when faced with an unpleasant encounter. It was obvious why he was so popular – in the Senate and in the world.

This was a small thing, but quite indicative of his burgeoning reputation for conciliatory diplomacy. He went on, of course, to be the most effective member of the Senate, as well as being pronounced the hardest working member of that body. Of course, I became his ardent fan simply because he had decided to be too clever to lower himself or to notice my "offenses." I admit I was co-opted for good.

This is an unimportant incident in Ted Kennedy’s life and I am struck more importantly by the following, which has been widely reported, but I only just learned of it.

Sen. Kennedy voted against the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, he attended the funeral of every Massachusetts soldier, whether it was in his home state or at Arlington Cemetery. His aide, Melody Miller, said he never missed one and, if in Arlington, always went to his brothers’ graves after.

Now he will be there with Jack and Bobby – yes, and Jackie. They are all beyond the grandeur and the tragedies that raised them and afflicted them in this life.