Thursday, February 9, 2012

RIP Pewter Gryphon


It is with heavy heart that I must report the passing of Diane Echelberger, more commonly known by her Twitter name, @pewtergryphon.

Diane was one of the strongest champions in the fight to reclaim Wisconsin.  Even though she knew she was terminally ill, she spent much of her remaining time fighting for Wisconsin, participating in rallies, live tweeting hearings and government hearings so that those who could not attend could follow what was happening, doing data entry and phone banking.

During her working life, she was a defender of Wisconsin as well, as noted in this moving tribute to Diane, written when Senator Jon Erpenbach presented her with a plaque and a Certificate of the Senate to honor her lifelong compassion and dedication to Wisconsin.

The words that I wrote when I first introduced the gentle reader to Diane holds as true today, maybe even more so, than when I wrote them:

When I realized that I was seeing Diane in the video, I immediately tweeted it, making sure that I pointed out that she was in it. Literally within seconds, it was favorited and/or retweeted a dozen times. But that is just the way we roll. We pick each other up when we're down and celebrate with each other when the news is good. 
And that is why Walker, even with all of his out-of-state big money, will still be removed from office. He's not fighting special interests, he's fighting for them. He's fighting against the good people of Wisconsin, people like Diane and her friends. And trust me, we stick together like only family can. 
Every day, our resolve grows even stronger while Walker and his allies grow even more desperate. 
We will do this! 
We'll do it for Diane.  
We'll do it for ourselves.  
We'll do it for all of Wisconsin.
Sail on, Gryphon!  We will carry on in your memory and win the state back for you.

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