An Unparalleled Loss...A Magnificent Legacy

What is the measure of a man? If generosity — the giving of one's self through friendship, hard work and idealism — is a yardstick, the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) was a giant. The Oct. 25 airplane crash that took his life, along with those of wife Sheila, daughter Marcia and five others, has left gaping holes in the hearts of many whose lives he touched in a personal way — in his home state and far beyond.

"I'm an organizer because of Paul Wellstone," says Ben Gordon, director of organizing for New York's Civil Service Employees Association/AFSCME Local 1000. As a student at Minnesota's Carleton College, Gordon became a campus activist with then-professor Wellstone, who later helped him land his first union job. Says Gordon: "His record of sending people into the ranks of labor and community activism and organizing is unparalleled."

Wellstone was "probably 99 percent of my inspiration for being politically active," says Pat Guernsey, a probation officer in Hennepin County, Minn., and president of Local 552 (Council 14). "He was one of us," adds Roxanne Kottke, a medical clinic worker in Duluth, Minn., and steward of Local 3454 (Council 65). She campaigned for Wellstone for eight years "because he was making a difference."

"He was always interested to find out what problems people had, and he'd always act on them," says Linda Williams, president of Minnesota Council 6's PEOPLE Committee, who last fall rode on the Senator's legendary green campaign bus.

"What we had in the Senate was an unapologetic advocate" for union issues, says Eliot Seide, AFSCME's New York area director and former Council 6 legislative director, who joined Wellstone's 1990 campaign.

In 1985, when social worker Alan Netland lost his bid for president of the Central Labor Council (CLC) of Duluth, Professor Wellstone "sent me a note saying, 'Losing isn't the end of the world — keep going, because you'll be a leader some day.'" Netland took the advice, and today, he is president of the CLC as well as of Local 66 (Council 96). "He encouraged a lot of people to take more active roles in their unions."

When I received the November/December PE, I said, "Terrific — this is going on the refrigerator — what an inspiration!" The cover photo of my Minnesota sisters and brothers surrounding Sen. Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila and the famous green bus thrilled me.

Wellstone was a student, professor and leader of grassroots organizing techniques. He represented everything I believe in: economic fairness and social justice. I was glad to know that AFSCME was working hard to re-elect him, wearing out the shoe leather and "walking the talk." That photo will stay on my refrigerator as a reminder of the Senator's energy and passion — and of the fact that my union stood with him and for him.

Mindy Berman
Local 1183 (Council 4)
New Britain, Conn.