Radical Writer Alexander Cockburn Dead at 71
Radical, leftist writer Alexander Cockburn has died at age 71.
Cockburn’s co-editor at the political newsletter CounterPunch, Jeffrey St. Clair, said the longtime columnist for The Nation died Friday in Germany after a two-year battle with cancer.
Cockburn was known for his criticism of U.S. foreign policy, attacks on Democrats for not being progressive enough, and criticism of Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians.
The editor and publisher of The Nation, Katrina vanden Heuvel, called Cockburn a “provocative, polemical” and “elegant” writer.
Born in Scotland and raised in Ireland, Cockburn was the son of the British novelist Claud Cockburn. In the 1970s and 80s he wrote for the Village Voice. He also had a column for a time in the Wall Street Journal.