There aren't too many Boomers older than me. Born at the end of June 1946, about ten months after World War II offficially ended, I'm six weeks older than Bill Clinton, and several months older than G.W. Bush. I was 14 in 1960, when I participated in my first political campaign, on behalf of John F. Kennedy. That summer and fall were great times for me. I thrilled to the first pennant run in half a century by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who played about 35 miles away. And I thrilled to the first political convention I paid close attention to, and to Kennedy's acceptance speech.

Then my team won the World Series in October, and my candidate became President in November. I even managed to visit Washington during the Inauguration, and by cunning and luck, I was one of the first ordinary Americans to shake hands with President Kennedy. In the same year I shook hands with JFK and Roberto Clemente!

The Kennedy administration was a big part of my education. There are a lot of names I've forgotten over the years, but to this day I can name the starting lineup of the 1960 Pirates, and JFK's entire cabinet, right down to the Postmaster General.

The Kennedy legacy--both JFK and RFK--is very real to me, and I appreciate even more today what it meant. For example, JFK's speech at American University--where Senator Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy endorsed Obama --should be remembered as one of the most important in my lifetime, and perhaps in human history. It was so eloquent that it even moved the Soviet Premier to join in the nuclear test ban treaty, the first real step away from unchecked nuclear weapon proliferation. Along with Kennedy's subsequent efforts to get the treaty completed and ratified by the Senate, it may have saved the planet.

And that speech was one day before JFK spoke to the nation about the need to finally make good on the constitutional promise of equal rights, and to start by passing a voting rights act. Both were in 1963, the last year of his presidency and his life.