Dean Barnett has died at the age of 41. Barnett (I use his last name because I didn’t know him personally) emerged as a blogger, first on his own SoxBlog, then on Hugh Hewitt’s blog, and finally with The Weekly Standard. But he considered himself a writer, not a blogger, and the quality of his prose fully justified this assessment. Indeed, at The Standard Barnett contributed frequently to the magazine itself. It was no accident that, of all the conservative bloggers out there, Barnett was the one that Bill Kristol wanted to bring “in house.”
Barnett’s voice was so engaging, personal, vivid, and funny — in short, so full of life — that even though we haven’t heard it for a while, I can hardly believe he’s gone.
JOHN adds: I met Dean at the BlogWorld Expo last year. Although he knew that his days were numbered, he was remarkably upbeat and seemed entirely devoid of self-pity. He gave every appearance of being a happy man, as I think he was. We will miss him.
Hugh Hewitt, who knew Dean well and worked with him both on his web site and his radio show, remembers him here.
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