He Fought The Good Fight ... Published by digby, about Howard Klein
He Fought The Good Fight
Published by digby on December 29, 2025
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.
more . . . https://digbysblog.net/2025/12/29/he-fought-the-good-fight/
(I knew he was one of the good ones, but only learned today how good.)
https://www.downwithtyranny.com/post/howie-klein-february-20-1948-december-24-2025
= new reply since forum marked as read
We were in the Lying Socialist Weasels together … he was a jewel of a human
He willed be missed
Rest well, brave warrior
