I have two vivid memories of Ted Kennedy. One time, I was walking down the street–on my way to a book party for Byron York, in fact. I passed Kennedy. He was by himself, walking a small dog. He looked lonely.

The other time was a few years earlier, on the Hill. He had just left a room after a press conference or a committee meeting. Suddenly, he found himself swarmed by admirers — ordinary Americans, as opposed to professional Washingtonians. They wanted to shake his hand, take pictures with him, and so on. He obliged, beaming the whole time. You just know that when these provincials returned home and people asked about visiting the capital, they would blurt out, “I met Ted Kennedy!” This sort of thing doesn’t happen to Kent Conrad, or even Harry Reid.

It’s like going to Hollywood and bumping into Jack Nicholson. Kennedy was a rock star for liberals — a political celebrity.

I saw this in the spring of 1998. I had just joined the staff of NR and was working on a profile of the gentleman from Massachusetts. The point of the article was to show that the old man was anything but washed up. The subtitle was: “If the Kennedy family influence is declining, nobody bothered to tell Ted Kennedy.”

I requested an interview with the senator. It was of course declined. So I followed him around as best I could, trying to figure out where he would spend his public hours and going there myself.

He was taller than I had expected: 6′2″

Interesting anecdote: When Bill Clinton lost his re-election bid as governor of Arkansas in 1980, Kennedy was the first national figure to call. Way back then, he obviously saw himself as an elder statesman within his own party. He was also maneuvering for influence, in a career that still has a lot of gas in the tank.

Here’s how the story ended:

Few Republicans join Clinton in extending kind words to Kennedy, although some express grudging admiration for his dogged advocacy of causes he believes in. Kennedy, for his part, knows dedication when he sees it. “He had what was rather unique in terms of politicians today–he stuck by his guns,” Kennedy said recently. He was talking about Ronald Reagan.