I took former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon's name in vain here a few weeks back, and today comes the sad news that he has died at the age of 75. Didn't make it through heart surgery.

Simon, a one-time Presidential hopeful and a major force in the Senate, always impressed me as a decent, responsible man, with his heart in the right place, a keen intellect, and a powerful sense of right and wrong. Not bad for a kid from Eugene, Oregon.

I'll never forget the one and only time I saw him in person. I was getting off a crowded flight into National Airport in D.C. one evening, on some business trip or other. As we exited the plane, you couldn't miss Paul Simon sitting in the deserted waiting area. He was obviously there to pick up someone else who was getting off the flight.

The sight of him startled me. There were the impeccable suit and the bow tie that we all knew from television. But his size and body language were not what I had expected. He was small, and with his chin resting on his hand as he sat there, he looked as though the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders. And though an influential senator at the time, he was all by his lonesome self as the crowd filed by.

I hope that he got the rest and enjoyment he needed out of his retirement. And pray that he gets the Big Rest, in peace, starting today.