Two Retirements And A Funeral.(Editorial)

Byline: --GRAYDON CARTER

On June 18, VANITY FAIR' s executive literary editor, Wayne Lawson, and I took the 7:30 Delta Shuttle down to Washington for the funeral of Tim Russert. You may have heard about it. Tim was at the top of his game in Washington when he died, and was loved by millions of television viewers. More important for us, though, he was the husband of V.F. special correspondent Maureen Orth. The funeral was held at the Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, and it was about as close as you get to a state funeral without the head of state. There was a Catholic mass, and the service included a holy trio of funeral hymns and songs, all of them high on my religious-song list: "Amazing Grace," "Ave Maria," and "Danny Boy." The last two were sung by Ronan Tynan, a strapping Irish tenor with a profoundly moving voice and manner. The capital's A-team showed up for the service: the two presidential candidates sat together, as did Ben Bradlee and Sally Quinn. Ethel Kennedy and …