Arlen Specter

Whether you thought of him as "Darlin' Arlen" or "Snarlin' Arlen" or not at all, Arlen Specter was the most interesting, complex and complete politician of our time. From an unlikely start in rural Kansas, to Philly DA, to a run for president, from the Warren Commission to a Senate post of power that put people on and kept people off the U.S. Supreme Court, Specter served the city, state and nation in, well, unconventional, ways. There was no one like him. There never will be anyone like him. Though originally and finally a Democrat, he spent his long career as an elected Republican, though his party label never predicted his policies or his views.

PHILADELPHIA Specter out of hospital Arlen Specter was released Friday morning from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where the longtime U.S. senator had been treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, his family has confirmed. Specter is "expected to return to HUP periodically for additional cancer treatment," said a brief statement released by his family. Specter, 82, announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin's disease for which he underwent chemotherapy. His cancer returned and he was treated again in 2008.

KATIE COURIC says the abrupt dismissal of Ann Curry from the "Today" show made her feel "terrible" for her former colleague. "I felt really bad for Ann. I still don't understand why they didn't give her sort of a proper send-off," Couric told us Tuesday morning at the Four Seasons, where she stopped to promote her new talk show, "Katie," which premieres at 3 p.m. Sept. 10 on ABC. "Ann did some extraordinary work during her time there. It was just not the best chapter in the 'Today' show.

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said Tuesday that he was again fighting cancer, but said nothing about his condition. Specter, 82, the longest-serving senator in Pennsylvania history, from 1981 through 2010, kept his illness private until word of it began to leak Monday night. He issued a statement at midmorning saying: "I'm battling cancer. It's another battle I intend to win. I'm grateful for all the well-wishes I've received. I'm looking forward to getting back to work, to the comedy stage, to the squash court, and to the ballpark.

Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, 82, reported Tuesday that he is again fighting cancer, but he said nothing about his condition. Specter, the longest-serving senator in Pennsylvania history, from 1981 through 2010, had kept his illness private until word of it began to leak into the news Monday night. He issued a statement at mid-morning, saying: "I'm battling cancer. It's another battle I intend to win. I'm grateful for all the well wishes I've received. I'm looking forward to getting back to work, to the comedy stage, to the squash court, and to the ballpark.

ARLEN SPECTER has been hospitalized with a serious illness, friends of the former longtime U.S. senator have confirmed. One Specter friend asked people to keep him in thoughts and prayers. Specter, 82, announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin's disease, for which he underwent chemotherapy. He was treated again in 2008, after the disease returned. Friends declined to comment Monday afternoon on the nature of Specter's hospitalization. Specter had been scheduled to appear as a surprise guest at last Wednesday's Stu Bykofsky Candidates Comedy Night, but his secretary canceled his long-booked appearance several days earlier, Bykofsky confirms, adding that Specter's assistant referred to the cancellation as "personal.

Life Among the Cannibals?A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising, and the End of Governing as We Know It?By Arlen Specter with Charles Robbins?St. Martin's Press. 372 pages. ?$26.99   Reviewed by Steve Weinberg   Arlen Specter considers himself a rebel among professional politicians. To some extent, he is correct. After all, he won term after term in the U.S. Senate as a Republican in a state with traditionally strong Democratic voter registration. He is from Philadelphia in a state with a heavy rural base.

FORMER U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was in the air in 2008 when the Republican nominee for president, U.S. Sen. John McCain , revealed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his pick for vice president. "Who?" Specter recalls asking when his flight landed. A few months later, Specter rode with McCain and Palin on the "Straight Talk Express" bus to introduce them at a Delaware County rally. Specter writes in his new book - Life Among the Cannibals: A Political Career, a Tea Party Uprising and the End of Governing as We Know It - that Palin "sat silent" while he urged McCain to support a policy she opposed on embryonic stem-cell research.

HARRISBURG - During his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Tom Corbett made the funding of an Arlen Specter library in Philadelphia the punch line of a campaign ad about wasteful government spending. Think of that funding, Corbett said in the television ad, "next time you hear we have to raise taxes because there's nothing left to cut. " Now, the joke may be on him. This week, Gov. Corbett signed off on a $1.9 million state grant for the library that will house Specter's papers and memorabilia - along with an office for the former Pennsylvania senator.

Arlen Specter, who turns 82 on Feb. 12, played a significant role in the American politics of a past generation, and he doesn't want us to forget. That, essentially, is the purpose of the former U.S. senator's new memoir - that and decrying "intolerance and political correctness" in Washington, dallying a bit in gossip (he recounts hearing a penis joke or two), and settling a few old scores. He recalls every triumph and every slight, particularly a snub from President Obama during his failed 2010 effort to win nomination for a sixth term.