At Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, I heard from a friend that Pat Gentile recently passed away. Pat was a member of the "Five Rivers Five" group that last year was recognized for its stand on openness in government by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council.
Pat was a feisty, passionate woman who did not mince words or suffer fools gladly. I first met her in 1996 when I was running for state assembly, and saw her on occasion at a variety of rallies and other events since then. When the Oshkosh Common Council refused to place an advisory Iraq troop withdrawal referendum question on the ballot, Pat was so incensed that she called some of the the "No" voters and let 'em have it. In many ways she was an older, female version of Doug Boone. A study released today by the Center for Public Integrity -- detailing the false statements leading the US to war--confirms everything Pat and Doug had been saying about the Bush Administration. The full study can be found here.
Pat was a voice for great progressive causes, and wasn't afraid to get "in the face" of power. In fact when I think of her I am always reminded of a quote from the great Mother Jones: "I'm not a humanitarian, I'm a hell-raiser."
I feel honored to have known and been friends with Pat Gentile.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment