Bernard Weiner, co-founder of the Crisis Papers and DU member, has died

[Auggie]

In 1971 he joined the San Francisco Chronicle where he became a beloved theater critic and a cherished fixture of San Francisco's arts community. His passion for finding and championing new works, emerging talent, and burgeoning theater companies led to San Francisco becoming a national theater hotspot, second only to New York.

In retirement he co-founded The Crisis Papers, a political blog he ran for sixteen years, inspiring and amplifying progressive voices and causes around the globe.

He served on the California Council for Arts, helped establish the Marin Playwrights Lab, penned poetry books, wrote and produced plays, and joined the Mill Valley Photo Forum, adding "photographer" to a very full resumé.

Those who knew Bernie best will tell you the artist and the critic were only part of the picture. At home he was warm, funny, and fully present: a devoted father and a steadfast husband whose humor was the connective tissue of family life. He loved to share jokes, often emailing giant compilations of his favorites to everyone he knew. He wanted people to laugh, and we're sure, in his passing, he'd want you to pull up your favorite joke and crack a smile.

He would have loved this obituary, but he'd have had some notes.

FULL OBIT: https://legacy.suntimes.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/bernard-weiner-obituary?id=60935616

Link to Weiner's DU Journal: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=journals&uid=187256

Weiner was 86. Loved reading him in the Chronicle and at the Crisis Papers.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. ..

[UpInArms]

2. rest well, brave warrior

[LoisB]

3. Sad news.

[2naSalit]

4. ...

[senseandsensibility]

5. Rest in peace

Mr. Weiner. You fought the good fight.

[EarlG]

6. My condolences to his family and friends

Bernard had many pieces published on DU back in the days when the site was as much about publishing articles as it was about the discussion forum. He wrote the article below on March 29, 2003, nine days after the start of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Change a few names of people and places, and he could have published this today.

A Familiar Odor in the Air: The Vietnam Connection

Is it just me or is there a smell of Vietnam in the desert air? Once again, in its haste to get its war on, the U.S. has gone into a foreign land, ignorant of its culture, believing that its technological might would lead to a swift victory, forgetting the force of nationalism when a people believe themselves to be invaded.

And the U.S. generals and politicians in charge pretend that all is going swimmingly and that the war willl be over just as soon as the "coalition" forces get into downtown Baghdad and punish the enemy Big Time.

Does any of this sound familiar? How do you spell Q-U-A-G-M-I-R-E?

As we now know, the generals and policy advisors warned successive U.S. presidents not to get involved in Vietnam (see Daniel Ellsberg's book, Secrets), but each President dismissed those inside experts and went ahead anyway, the result of which was the expension of our blood and treasure - and our sense of ourselves as a moral nation - in an unwinnable war.

We know that the top echelons of our current military early on warned the Bush politicos and Mr. Bush himself not to launch this war on Iraq, absent an overt provocation and without a huge international coalition on board; the brass were warned by Rumsfeld to get in line with Bush policy or get another job. They got in line.

Continued...

[Auggie]

8. Thanks for sharing. It was rewarding to read anything he penned. So gifted.

[ananda]

7. When I visited SF ten ago, the theater was fantastic.

I saw an amazing avant garde show
called The Unfortunates.

I'd never seen modern creative theater that
good.

[irisblue]

9. Rest in Peace

[PatSeg]

10. Thank you for posting

[Grim Chieftain]

11. So sorry to read this

May his well-earned rewards be bestowed in the afterlife.

[AllaN01Bear]

12. ""

[blm]

13. 😢🕯️

[rainy]

14. Artistic Sign Language and the coming Bush Fall

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0302/S00100/artistic-sign-language-the-coming-bush-fall.htm

[FemDemERA]

15. RIP...

[BattleRow]

16. Another point of light dimmed.

But the intelligence of his legacy continues to inform and amuse .

R.IP.

[SSJVegeta]

17. I think the crisis papers was shared here in the early 2000s I remember.

May he rest in peace.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

18. REST IN POWER, My Brother.....

You've joined the ancestors & are now one of them. Your memory Is and forever will be a blessing.