RIP, Joe Bageant

Print this post.

By Susan Campbell  on March 28, 2011

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYaqEgyrh1M[/youtube] Slowboatfilms777

(The above videotape contains naughty language. You’ve been warned.)

I WAS A LATECOMER to Joe Bageant’s fan base. I first stumbled across him after finding “Deer Hunting With Jesus: Dispatches From America’s Class War.”   (With a title like that, of course I was going to read the book. I am a huge fan of books whose titles put Jesus where you’d least expect him.)

In a word? The book was brilliant. Better than any one I’ve ever read, Bageant explained why those of us who grew up far from those proverbial silver spoons continue to vote against our own best interests. I was so moved that I did something I never do. I sent the author an email, just to let him know how much I appreciated his work.

He wrote back, and it wasn’t one of those pat thank-you-for-taking-the-time notes. He wrote a full-fledged missive in which he discussed my email, and asked me enough questions  that I thought it was OK if I fired off another email.

I don’t remember how many emails we exchanged, but I think somewhere in there, he told me to call him, so I did, and we had a kind of whittle-and-spit exchange you’d expect from two smart-mouthed hillbillies. And when we hung up, he said, “Now don’t be a stranger.”

I loved his next book, “Rainbow Pie: A Redneck Memoir” every bit as much as “Deer Hunting,” and we exchanged a few emails over that one, too.

I am under no delusion that Joe treated me special. I think he treated all his readers that way. He took the time, is what I’m saying, and I still don’t know how he had the energy to do that. I found myself linking to his work — articles, essays, and the like — on this blog, and another blog I used to have. He made sense to me.

Cancer got Joe Bageant yesterday. Sharon, who is also a fan, sent me the notice, and when I read it, I cussed out loud. I think we need writers like Joe Bageant, maybe now more than ever. I am going to miss him.

• Tags:

8 SELECT Comments, from original post

By Jane in Virginia on March 28, 2011 8:45 AM

This world has lost one of the last great socialist commentators. We’ll miss you and your steady gaze, Joe.

By Lauri Lebo on March 28, 2011 8:48 AM

Susan,
Your description of your correspondence with Joe mirrors mine. I also was moved to write him after reading Deer Hunting, something I don’t often do. I also received a beautiful thoughtful response from him. I was also told to call him. We continued to correspond and talk occasionally until he got sick. I will miss him and his beautiful funny brilliant prose.

By sharon on March 28, 2011 9:03 AM

I, too, emailed him after I became a fan through his online columns. And he emailed me back, much to my surprise. And, as others have said, it wasn’t just boilerplate. He truly cared.

He came from common folks, and he stood up for them and wrote about them with love, even as he despaired that they would ever stand up for themselves. He spoke truth to power, and he will be sorely missed.

By Tony on March 28, 2011 11:58 AM

Joe was a “redneck Mensch”, and I mean that as a true compliment. I never spoke with him but like other commenters, I received several kind and thoughtful email replies after I wrote to him. Just a lovely person and I will miss his beautiful rants terribly.

By Luke on March 28, 2011 12:04 PM

Your status as a journalist did not earn you extra attention from Joe Bageant.

A friend of mine emailed me a photo of a kid stoking a campfire with a leaf blower. I forwarded the photo to Bageant with the caption “Another triumph of Redneck engineering!”

I wasn’t expecting any sort of reply – after all, it was just a dumb picture of some working class campers gathered around a fire pit, drinking beer and watching this kid with a leaf blower.

Joe loved it. He replied with a great story about his near – burning down of a cabin he’d lived in somewhere in Idaho. We exchanged a few emails, I became an avid follower of his blog. I loaned out my copy of ‘Deer Hunting,’ urged other friends to buy thier own copies.

Now he’s gone. In tribute I clicked over to Amazon and bought a copy of ‘Rainbow Pie.’ Should be here in a few days.

Luke
Seattle

By mr dan on March 28, 2011 12:54 PM

I met Joe Bageant when we in Connecticut Valley Atheists invited him to come speak in South Windsor, CT. He was an unequivocally nice gentleman who was grateful that even such a small group would invite him to share his opinions and anecdotes. He will be missed.

By Susan Campbell on March 28, 2011 12:55 PM

I knew I wasn’t special just because Joe Bageant was so kind to me. But Joe Bageant certainly was.

By John on March 28, 2011 1:03 PM

Loved “Deer Hunting with Jesus” (read it on your recommendation, Susan) and will get “Rainbow Pie”. Joe Bageant had a way of cutting through the clutter and pointing out the truth of a situation. He may not have convinced many neighbors that their politics conflicted with their better interests, but he kept on telling it as he saw it. Do other readers of this blog feel as they did when we lost Molly Ivins?