Dave Zweifel Commemorates Jeff Simpson

Last Friday, Dave Zweifel, Editor Emeritus at The Cap Times, dedicated a whole column to the memory of Jeff Simpson.

Zweifel starts by reminiscing how he first met Jeff, who had won a silent auction for the chance to sit in on an editorial board meeting with a prominent state or local politician.  (Jeff picked Russ Feingold.)

Zweifel then wrote a segue that would have made the buttons on Jeff's shirt pop off in pride.

As I said when I spoke at Jeff's funeral, Jeff was very happy and very proud of writing at this here blog and having his voice heard around the state.  Keep that in mind at this bit from Zweifel's column:

Jeff did join in the Feingold interview, and when he left, I thought that might be the last I heard of him. How wrong. He soon appeared as a regular blogger, espousing his strong beliefs in local, state and national politics, taking on those politicians he felt weren't representing the people they served, but instead the moneyed interests who contributed to their campaigns.

His blog drew many readers and was most recently found on Cognitive Dissidence, a popular statewide site which is frequently linked on our daily online opinion round-up, the State Debate.

Meanwhile, he got himself elected to the Monona Grove School Board, and became an outspoken advocate for public education and the need to support public school teachers.

Zweifel finishes his column by reproducing Jeff's last blog post, stating that "It says loads about Jeff's life and the kind of person he was."

I couldn't agree more.