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Three icons, Ted Kennedy, Dominick Dunne and Michael Jackson rule the headlines

August 28, 2009

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HOLLYWOOD, CA (RPRN) 08/28/09 — Bobby, Ted and Jack Kennedy

— The star-crossed family that knew death as much as they loved life, lost its second leader in as any weeks. Sen. Ted Kennedy succumbed to cancer Tuesday night and matriarch Eunice Kennedy Shriver shortly before. My mother worked for the Kennedy clan and I’d like to think they are all in Heaven’s version of Martha Vineyard drinking a toast.

Dominick Dunne, known for his books, TV show and Vanity Fair stories, is dead at 83. He helped me in court coverage when I was a cub reporter (never trust what they say, even under oath, read ALL the briefs).

R.I.P.
Michael Jackson is not resting in peace. In fact the spinning sound you hear might be coming from his grave, if he had one — after two months. Family, money and legal bickering have kept him above ground since June.

In a statement from the Kennedy family, they said “”Edward M. Kennedy - the husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle we loved so deeply - died late Tuesday night at home in Hyannis Port,” the statement said. “We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever.”
President Obama said “His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives - in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education’s promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just - including myself,” he said. Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak at a funeral Mass for Mr. Kennedy on Saturday morning in Boston. Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer after a long battle with the disease.

This writer remembers him as a tireless voice of reason, or if you disagreed with his politics for liberalism during decades when it was not popular to speak up for folks that did not always have a voice through Republican administrations — though in the end he spoke for all.

His opinion to me, though there were others present, “Don’t believe my truth, don’t believe yours, just believe THE truth.

He was only brother to reach old age, after his siblings John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.

Dunne did not have that sort of family history; his legacy was to write about it. But it was all about believing in the truth.
Dunne was 83.

He flew to Germany earlier this month for another round of stem cell treatments at the same Bavarian clinic where the late Farrah Fawcett was treated, according to AP. He was hospitalized upon his return to New York, then sent home.
As a correspondent for Vanity Fair magazine, he was a mainstay at some of the most famous trials of our times — Claus von Bulow, William Kennedy Smith, the Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson, Michael Skakel and Phil Spector.

He discovered his magazine writing career in his 50s, through personal tragedy — his daughter’s murder.
Dunne spoke to CNN in June, while promoting the DVD release of a documentary of his life called “After the Party.” At the time, he said he was feeling well, happy, and hopeful the treatments were working. “I’m pro stem cell,” he said.

But even then, he seemed to know he was in a race against time. “I want to have one more best seller, before I cool,” Dunne said. “It’s wonderful to have a best seller.”
He said his personal story puts the lie to the claim by another high society writer, the late F. Scott Fitzgerald, that there are no second acts in life.

“This is the third act,” Dunne said. “I have a novel coming out. I finally got it finished in the clinic … I’m calling it ‘Too Much Money.’ That’s a hooking title.”

Michael Jackson, on the other hand, is still awaiting solace. Kennedy and Dunne will gather tributes as Jackson has, but isn’t a rest in order?

The handcuffs may be closing in on Jackson’s Dr. Conrad Murray, who reportedly gave the singer doses of sleeping and anxiety medication before capping him off with the hospital knock-out drug Propofol at 10:30 a.m. the morning of his death. The doctor then made nearly hours of phone calls before calling 911, according to reports.

Since then his burial site, now at Glendale Forest Lawn near his family home, has been the subject of much debate, as many want to create a “Graceland” tourist attraction to his final resting place.
Should these icons be allowed a little sleep, or should they be gawked?

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