Farewell to a friend: Alexander Cockburn, aged 71.

[mystic]

It seemed more fitting to reflect and share the news ofthe passing of a dear, long time friend of mine, a fine thinker and writer, Alexander Cockburn. Arch liberal, perhaps, but also called a spade a spade when it was necessary and unaplogetic as one could be. He was most famous forhis Nixon-reagan era pieces in the Village Voice, then eventually the founding editorial light of the (first) hardcopy, then web-based political essay, opinion, news analysis, and and book/cultural review publication CounterPunch. Alex was 71 and succumbed to (I think) leukemia, although the exact type of cancer w/ which Alex was afflcited remained a closely guarded secret even until the day he expired, which was on Friday, July 20, 2012, in a hospital in Germany.

The fmaily is working out the when & wheres re: Alex place of interment (Ireland or Northern California) and memorial events, including possibly Irelland, Northern CA, and NYC, where Alex found, in every respect, his "voice".

Cockburn's obituary in the NYT can be reviewed at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/bu....html?_r=1&hpw

Goodbye, dear friend, may you find peace wherever you are. And someone w/ whom to argue.

[d-ray657]

I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you, however, for introducing some of us to his work.

Regards,

D-Ray

[Zeke]

I am always sorry when intellectual lights go out.

[mystic]

Thanks for the responses, guys. Alex was a very special, if not controversial, polemicist. I invitedhom to tap into this forum a few times, but he was always either writing and/or touring (lecture circuit), he rarely involved the web in his work (CounterPunch website being the exception). He was a "hard copy" kinda guy.

-M

[beej]

Indeed, sorry for your loss and thanks for posting about your friend.

[merrylander]

My condolences, seventy one is far too young to go.

[mystic]

All,

Thanks for your replies, etc. Looks like the graveside memorial is shaping up to take place in Ireland, so not sure I'm going tomake that event but will try like hell to get there. Else, the Village Voice will sponsor a memorial in NYC laster in the month or some time in August, and a few of the left-caosters (including Alex' daughter Daisy & his CounterPunch co-editor Jeff St Clair) are discussing the option of a memorial in San Francisco. We'll see how it all turns out, but meantime thanks again.

-M

[mystic]

Originally Posted by merrylander

My condolences, seventy one is far too young to go.

Rob - I think you'd really enjoy CounterPunch, Alex' online news/critical essay tome. Alex didn't pull punches.