Saturday, June 02, 2007

Steve Gilliard: Requiem For A Beautiful Man




This evening, news broke that Steve Gilliard, co-proprietor of The News Blog, had died early Saturday, June 2nd, at age 41.

Steve was an avatar of military history. Superimposing the present disaster in Iraq with past military failures made for chilling reads; his crisp insight, his background knowledge, his articulation of a horror not yet fully wrought. His fierce sense of outrage, his passion and hunger for justice comforted us, because he articulated our very same heartbreak.

And when we had lost, and lost big, he kicked us. He demanded we get back on our feet and implored us not to quit.

His candle is extinguished and we are all the colder for it.

His partner Jen wrote for The News Blog until she could no longer as Steve lay ill. Peace and healing to you.

For Steve, I leave this from Romeo and Juliet:
"Take him and cut him out in little stars and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun."

A beautiful man. A just man. Steve Gilliard, 1966-2007.


You can dig backwards in the archives here: stevegilliard.blogspot.com