Thanks, Pat Hunt!

Pat Hunt - ready to march! (May, 2012 - NATO Summit protest, Chicago)

In 2011, I was interested in getting involved in antiwar work . . . but I didn't really know where to find it. Then I met Pat Hunt. As so many people have testified in recent days, the minute you met Pat, there was no longer any question about that.

Pat welcomed people into the movement, and made sure they continued to feel welcome.

Pat's sudden passing has made me stop and notice how important she has been in my life. I met her at a time when many people in Chicago were involved in planning protests marking the 10th anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan and the NATO Summit, and in supporting the Occupy movement. Many of those people are important in my life. But Pat was special.

"I support anti-war candidates! (Know any?)
Pat Hunt style activism -- with a dash of wit included.

I remember Pat coming to meet me numerous times at the Panera in Lincoln Park (where I used to sit hour after hour, working on my laptop) to ask about what I was working on and to encourage me. B.P. (before Pat) I wasn't always so sure about whether it was worth it to do all that blogging and tweeting and everything else I was doing. A.P. (after Pat) there was a voice in my head saying "keep at it!" Even after I was two thousand miles away in Berkeley, Pat found ways to nudge me forward with encouragement on social media.

I remember the way Pat made meetings run smoothly. In a room full of people with strong opinions and strong feelings, she found ways to keep everybody working together. (Her tremendous good will and hearty laugh were two of the secrets of her success.)

I remember Pat's willingness to entertain new ideas. To this day, whenever I'm feeling fearful about suggesting something new, I hear Pat's voice in my head: "If the 'way we've always done it' hasn't gotten the job finished -- maybe we should consider something new!"

I often find myself wondering: how can we encourage more people to devote themselves to the antiwar movement? I'm realizing today that most of the answers to that question have come from Pat Hunt.

Thanks, Pat!


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