Joan Kennedy hurt in fall; son won't seek Senate

Boston Globe ^ | Michael Levenson and John Ellement

[billorites]

Constance Bacon was walking home from the gym in a driving rain Monday, when she spotted a woman lying on the sidewalk on Beacon Street in the Back Bay, raindrops soaking her black pants and long wool overcoat. When Bacon called an ambulance, she said she had no idea it was Joan Bennett Kennedy, a member of one of America's best-known political families.

Kennedy, 68, had apparently tumbled, injuring her shoulder and leaving a gash on her head. When Bacon found her about 5 p.m., Kennedy could not pull herself up from the sidewalk. So Bacon, 35, an artist who lives in the neighborhood, held an umbrella over her head while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

Yesterday, Kennedy's son, US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy of Rhode Island, announced he will not run for the Senate next year, and an aide said he will return to probate court to renew legal guardianship of his mother, which he and his siblings assumed last year. Kennedy rushed to be with his mother at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Joan Kennedy's friends said yesterday that the incident was an unfortunate setback for a woman dedicated to her favorite charities, notably in the arts.

She has previously described herself as a recovering alcoholic, and last spring her recurring bouts with the disease forced her three children Patrick Kennedy, Edward Kennedy Jr., and Kara Kennedy Allen to take legal control of her affairs.

Patrick Kennedy did not mention the incident in his announcement yesterday, when he said he would not challenge Senator Lincoln Chaffee in 2006. Kennedy said he believed he could best serve Rhode Island by retaining his seat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Kennedy's chief of staff said the congressman made his decision not to run for Senate last weekend, before his mother's accident...

[ErnBatavia]

Good old Foster Brooks....I once got to attend a Rams game (in the Los Angeles days) with a pal who had great corporate seats.

Brooks sang the National Anthem for that game - he had a really good operatic kind of voice, and was apparently a serious singer - and then sat two seats away for the game...and didn't have a beer with the rest of us.

[maggief]

She was transferred from Tufts New England Medical Center to Massachusetts General Hospital. Maybe that is adding to the confusion.

Who knows ... it's typical Kennedy media coverage.