Heather 'Digby' Parton: He Fought the Good Fight

This continues our tributes and reminiscences about this site's founder Howie Klein. Crossposted from Digbys's Hullabaloo. For others in this series, click on the tag "Howie" at the end of any of these posts.

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Parton, Howie Klein and John Amato in New York, 2014

by Heather 'Digby' Parton

It’s been a sad holiday season for many of us in this little corner of the political world. Our good friend Howie Klein passed away on Christmas eve after battling a long illness. He wrote about it philosophically on his seminal blog Down With Tyranny and being an extremely spiritual person, his insights into the journey were typically heartfelt and inspiring.

Howie had the most interesting life of anyone I’ve ever met. He was a world traveler — he’d been everywhere — and continued his gallivanting up until this year. Back in the 60s he was one of those itinerant hippies who traveled by bus through Afghanistan to India and beyond, also living in Europe for years working at a variety of different jobs. I’m pretty sure he’d been to every continent, some many times over.

Back in the states he was a member of the 70s NY music scene hanging out at CBGBs with the likes of Lou Reed and Patti Smith. Settling later on the west coast in San Francisco he was a DJ at the legendary college station KUSF, playing the new emerging music of the New Wave that was hopping in that city during the 1980s. (I used to listen to his show while I was in college there.) He eventually started his own indie record label called 415 which featured a number of great local bands like Romeo Void, Red Rockers, The Nuns, and Pearl Harbor and the Explosions. The label caught the attention of Warner Brothers where Howie eventually ended up becoming the president of the Reprise label.

Throughout all this he was a fierce progressive activist, always fighting for free speech, LGBTQ rights and the cause of civil rights and civil liberties. He served on the board of People for the American Way, testified before congress and always stood up for artistic freedom. At heart he was always a revolutionary.

I met Howie about 20 years ago as the budding Los Angeles blogging community was coming together. He and John Amato, David Dayen, Kevin Drum, Jane Hamsher and others met in the flesh at various venues and began what was to become a flourishing progressive blogging scene. At some point around 2006 we formed Blue America PAC, dedicated to helping progressive candidates.

It was Howie’s baby all the way. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the House of Representatives and knew where all the bodies had been buried for many years. He was a strong critic of the Democratic establishment (to say the least) and worked tirelessly to upend the status quo and create a better, more progressive party. He did all the work, searching out and vetting progressive candidates, mentoring them and giving generously of his time and attention. The country is full of candidates, winners and losers alike, who learned what it is to be a real progressive from Howie Klein.

There are many characteristics that defined him, from kindness and generosity to a great sense of humor. His devotion to great food was legendary and virtually every great meal I’ve ever had in L.A was shared with him. But the one character trait that stood out for me, and I think for everyone who knew him in the political world, was integrity. The man had principles and he fought for them. He was never afraid to stand up and be counted and he did that while being one of the sweetest, most generous people I’ve ever met.

Howie was a a true mensch of all menches and his fearless spirit will be with me as we face the challenges ahead. The world is a better place for having had him in it. I will miss him forever.