Something to prove

Ted Kennedy’s memoir recounts his achievements and his mission to please his father

September 13, 2009|Matthew V. Storin, Globe Correspondent

As a boy, he danced with the future queen of England, received his First Communion from Pope Pius XII, and shook hands with slugger Babe Ruth. As a young man he was nearly killed climbing a mountain, flew airplanes in bad weather, and took his first ski jump on a whim. He pursued life recklessly. His political career - the good and the bad - spanned nearly a half century, including a failed run for president and many historic legislative achievements.

Yet when it came to the final paragraphs of this often touching memoir, Ted Kennedy chose to write about his namesake, his 11-year-old grandson, “Little Teddy,’’ who struggled in 2008 learning how to sail. The grandfather told the boy how he had begun as an eighth string end on the Harvard football team and worked his way up to being a starter. Little Teddy ultimately won an award for “most improved sailor.’’ His grandfather, in what he probably knew would be his last public words, wrote of his own greatest lesson learned: “If you persevere, stick with it, work at it, you have a real opportunity to achieve something.’’

After a life chronicled in tabloid chatter and often vicious editorial cartoons, Kennedy tells his own story here, expansively yet selectively, portraying himself as a dedicated, loving, flesh-and-blood figure who, despite being born well, had to prove himself. And the person, to whom he most had to do that is clearly etched in these pages. It was neither his famous brothers, nor his pious mother, Rose, nor even himself, but his controversial father, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr.

This is a book that all but the most toxic Kennedy critic could love. But it is no more flawless than its subject. Though he takes responsibility for the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick, he says nothing new on the topic. He told The Globe 40 years ago, “I can live with myself,’’ and he apparently did. He does say that his first marriage was, after just a few years, endured for the sake of his and Joan Kennedy’s three children. He concedes forthrightly his drinking and his “exploits as a hell raiser,’’ but offers no details.