While spring cleaning and rearranging bookshelves this week, I came across this card from John F. Kennedy, Jr. I received it in 1997 or 1998 after I signed on to be a contributing editor at George magazine.
I spent two years writing regularly for that magazine. I traveled to Moscow to report and write about the Russan space program. I went dinosaur-bone hunting with Newt Gingrich. I shadowed Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota for a few weeks during his presidential campaign. I traveled to Arkansas and wrote about President Bill Clinton’s pals at Tyson Chicken. I interviewed Edward Teller, father of the hydrogen bomb. I interviewed California governor Jerry Brown…and much more.
I was in India reporting a story for Wired magazine when I turned on the television and saw the report that JFK, Jr.’s plane was missing. I was in shock. I didn’t know John Kennedy beyond short talks with him during my visits to the editorial office to sit in on editorial meetings in New York. But my work for George was a time of growth for me as a writer. I’m grateful for that experience.