US progressive journalist and author Joe Bageant died on March 26. Bageant is best known for his 2007 book Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War, in which he writes about his home town of Winchester, Virginia.
In the book, Bageant investigated how the betrayal of poor whites by the Democrats led to many supporting the Republican Party, despite it being against their interests. He also wrote many articles and essays. His last book, published in September 2010, was Rainbows: A Redneck memoir.
Bageant was known for his ability to write convincingly and with genuine empathy about the life and struggles of ordinary working people — and explain their betrayal at the hands of the US elite.
Bageant’s friend Marc Campbell, wrote on DangerousMinds.net: “After a vibrant life, Joe Bageant died yesterday following a four-month struggle with cancer. He was 64. Joe is survived by his wife, Barbara, his three children, Timothy, Patrick and Elizabeth, and thousands of friends and admirers. He is also survived by his work and ideas.
“Joe Bageant was an extraordinarily gifted writer and thinker … Joe was a champion of human rights and a fearless critic of our government’s mistreatment of its working class.
“His writing is imbued with compassion but also a caustic wit that laid bare the working class’s tendency to do what is in their own worst interests.
“Watching Joe tear into the Teabaggers was like watching an extremely large feral cat play with its food. His death comes at a time when his voice is needed more than ever. I’m not sure there’s anyone out there that can fill the void.”