Keller @ Large: Wishing Barney Frank Well

BOSTON (CBS) - Did you know that Barney Frank, the 16-term congressman who announced his retirement yesterday, once seriously dated Kathleen Sullivan, the daughter of then-Patriots owner Billy Sullivan?

Listen to Jon's commentary:

His biographer says it's true, and one thing I would hope Frank lovers and Frank haters could agree on is that this is not the only way in which Barney Frank of Bayonne, New Jersey has become locally iconic.

Scott Brown issued a gracious statement yesterday saying how he respects Frank's service, and I have to agree, even though, like any other journalist who's dealt with him over the decades, I've had my share of bumpy moments with him.

It isn't always easy being around someone who's sure, absolutely positive, that they're smarter than you in every way, and don't mind at all sharing that knowledge with you in a demeaning way.

Which is to say, it isn't easy being an effective Congressman, and when it comes to bread-and-butter local issues like the fishing industry or veteran's benefits, as Brown points out, Barney Frank is a go-to guy.

In two of the last three years he has been named one of the two hardest-working members by Congressional staffers.

Frank has become connected to many of the major issues of our time in Congress, and his choices have often reflected the individualism and – contrarianism of our local culture.

You may have noticed our local history is defined by the struggle for civil rights, and Congressman Frank has rarely met a civil right he didn't like.

He's for gay rights, pot smokers' rights, online gamblers' rights, and even for the right of those heathens from the Westboro Baptist Church to picket the funerals of soldiers.

Frank is no Ted Kennedy, but he is more a part of Ted's generation of Massachusetts pols than of the baby-boomers, with the insistence on public principle and work ethic that older generation is known for.

I didn't always agree with him, or like him.

But I respect him, and wish him well.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.