LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / July 21, 1999

As a charter subscriber to “George” magazine, I’ll miss John F. Kennedy Jr.And, as a man who can still remember exactly where he was when he first heard the news about JFK’s assassination, I feel badly for the Kennedy family.

That family certainly appears to have been snakebitten by the sweep of events. Tragic, untimely deaths, scandals to a degree unknown outside ofsoap operas and an absolute lack of private lives to a degree nearly as bad as “The Truman Show” – all this makes me feel sorry for them.

People in America admire the rich, powerful and influential. However,fame brings notoriety and notoriety brings an unnatural demand for minutae from a public greedy for personal detail. I really didn’t care toknow every detail of JFK Jr.’s dating habits or personal life. He founded amoderately successful magazine. He was the sole surviving son of apopular president. But he had done little in his life to demand such pryinginto every detail of his life. He was not particularly accomplished and oneof the sad tragedies is that the media never left the man alone to have a private life. Now, his death is another public media event for the vulturesto pick apart.

I never particularly admired Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She survived herhusband’s death, married Onassis and survived him. What did SHE do tomandate such painful attention? But then, that’s me. It just doesn’t seem worth it to become accomplishedif the reward includes the loss of a private life in which to enjoy the benefits of that accomplishment.

Copyright © 1998, Wick Communications, Inc.

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