Orson Bean
Breitbart.com
Big Journalism
1 Mar 2013
…The New Yorker announced that it was going to publish a major piece on him and sent a female journalist to L.A.. I feared a hatchet job. After hanging out with him for ten days, she wrote a love letter.
As his fame spread, well known political people came into his life. Invariably, he would bring them to our place in Venice. (Still seeking his father-in-law’s approval?)
“Tell them the joke,” he’d urge. I had told him a joke once which he loved. “It’s existential!” he’d cry, and laugh himself silly every time I told it.
“They don’t want to hear the joke,” I’d object. “No one thinks it’s as funny as you do.”
“They do want to, they do!” he’d insist. Each time I’d have to tell the joke to some celebrity and Andrew would howl with a laugh so infectious that the guest would wind up doubled over too.
Here’s the joke:
An old guy picks up a hooker.
He takes her up an alley. He drops his pants.
The hooker says, “I gotta have the money first.”
He pays her; she runs away.
He stands there.
He says, “Well…it shouldn’t be a total loss, I’ll take a shit.”
If Andrew were here, you’d be laughing. I told the joke at Andrew’s funeral, managing to hold back my tears.
I know I’ll see him again, when my time on this earth is up. If I make it past the Pearly Gates, he’ll be waiting for me.
“This is my friend God,” he’ll say. “Tell him the joke.”
Read the complete article at Big Journalism
Related:
Breitbart Endorses Liberal over Charlie Crist in 2010
Breitbart on How Being Adopted Shaped His Views on Abortion Andrew addressed a group from Students for Life
Andrew Breitbart Inspired Me with Passion, by Matthew Boyle
Breitbart in the World, by Stephen K. Bannon
…People will remember Andrew as someone who couldn’t sit there and take the bias, lies, and intimidation anymore and decided to take action—and fight. Ferociously and relentlessly fight. And they will be motivated to do the same, to join him in his #War.
That, I believe, will be his lasting legacy and great influence…
Andrew Breitbart, Friend to the Tea Party
…My hope today, as we look back on the anniversary of Andrew’s death, is that his wife Susie and his children know that Andrew Breitbart made a difference! Andrew shaped our national debates. Andrew was a trailblazer in online media. He reminded conservatives of the importance of having fun and using culture to spread our message. He was an energizing and inspiring speaker. His gutsy, brassy, bold attitude when fighting for our values and standing up for our principles set an example from which many elected officials could – and should – learn.
Want to Honor Andrew Breitbart? FIGHT! DaTechGuy
Andrew Breitbart “sits” for an interview at CPAC 2011
Andrew Breitbart, R.I.P., by Micky Kaus
I thought we’d all wind up working for him. I didn’t realize until today how unhappy I’d be not to.
With friends like these, Breitbart didn’t need enemies by Jim Treacher
…I guess what really irks me about this is that even when leftists get everything they want, they can’t stop demonizing those who don’t want it. They can’t help themselves, even when eulogizing someone they claim was a friend. It’s revolting.
Andrew Breitbart’s Journalistic Legacy Alive and Well
…It’s our responsibility to carry the torch and celebrate Andrew’s legacy. That’s why the Franklin Center is proud to sponsor the Breitbart Awards, honoring the journalists and bloggers that keep Andrew’s memory alive by going above and beyond the call of duty to uncover the truth and expose corruption…
‘I’m gonna end on a positive note’ – Andrew, by Joel B. Pollak
Andrew liked this song so much, he tweeted it at least twice. In the early morning of March 1, 2012, while I was trying to put the words together that would announce the worst news, I thought of including this song.
Every time I hear it, I remember those dark moments, when the grief was still private, before we had to face everything it meant, before I had to fight Andrew’s enemies on CNN, in the quiet before the dawn.
Andrew thought of this song as uplifting. So I conclude my part in today’s memorial by sharing it with you…
* * * * * * *
Update: Andrew Breitbart: “Join the New Media Revolution” Andrew at Right Nation, 2012, and at the Smart Girl Summit, 2011
1 A.B. by IowaHawk
…I arrived at his room at the Blackstone, an hour or so before the speech, to find him talking to a camera crew while ironing his pants and fielding interviews on his omnipresent cell phone (the filmmaker was Andrew Marcus, and I think some of the footage appears in Hating Breitbart). That was my first glimpse into the electric chaos that seemed to follow him wherever he went…
via Instapundit:
DAVID SWINDLE: The Legacy Andrew Breitbart Left for The Next Generation.
And here’s the YouTube video of the report Helen and I did from the Washington, D.C. Breitbart memorial last year...
Featuring Katie Pavlich, Cynthia Yockey, Christian Adams, Sean Hackbarth, Stacy McCain, and more…
Go to Instapundit to read the whole thing
Also at the site:
ONE YEAR LATER: Andrew Breitbart’s Example Lives On.
Also, remembering what a schmuck David Frum was about Andrew’s death.
Update 2: The Politics of Hollywood with Andrew Breitbart A Hoover Institute interview, May 2009
Identified as one of the ten most important people in the media that nobodys ever met, Andrew Breitbart details why leftward-leaning Hollywood is dangerous for America and why the people who run it are uninteresting, vitriolic, and vicious. Segueing from Hollywood to the Internet, Breitbart explores why the right dominates talk radio and the left seems to do better on the Internet and how the decline of print media is changing the nature of the national political conversation.
Also, Who Andrew Breitbart Was, The Other McCain
P.J. O’Rourke encounters Andrew Breitbart at the Manchester, N.H., Radisson Bar, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012
In May 2007, I interviewed Andrew Breitbart while he was working — doing his shift as an editor at the Drudge Report — at the D.C. offices of Reason magazine, and described how he worked and why he did it…
