I was very sad to hear this morning that Ed Garvey passed away. Ed had been in a nursing home for the past two weeks, and died this morning after a long battle with health issues including Parkinson's disease. He had a long career in labor, notably working with the NFL teams through two strikes, and had run for public office both as Senator and as Governor of Wisconsin (though he lost both races). For many years he ran the Fighting Bobfest event in Baraboo and Madison, and the fightingbobfest.org web site. His ill health in the past few years demanded that he retire from those endeavors that he loved, and the festival is now carried on by The Progressive.
My main personal involvement with Ed was as one of the organizers of Fighting Bobfest North during the two years that it occurred. Ed was a fighter and a mensch. He will be sorely missed by me and the progressive community in Wisconsin.