Local Heroes

What I miss the most about living in lovely downtown Northampton, MA is the people I got to know in the Happy Valley. For some reason that little corner of the world drew some of the best and most creative minds in the country. I miss that on any given day, but even more so when I run across them in the news.

Avedon pointed me to this interview with Buz Eisenberg at the Talking Dog. I got to know him well during my years at the law firm. He often co-operated on cases. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and a great attorney who always did a tremendous amount of pro-bono work. He's representing four clients in Gitmo. I'm glad to see him getting some accolades for his efforts since I'm sure he's not making any money at it.

And although I don't really know Rachel Maddow personally, I do know her partner Susan and remember Rachel on the local Noho radio before she got the Air America gig so I feel a special connection with her and since they maintain a home in the Happy Valley I consider her a local hero there. Newsweek has a nice little profile piece on her that's worth reading.

Finally, this is hyperlocal and didn't make any actual news outside of his blog, but my pal F. Alex Johnson, of the Drunk Stuntmen, who's sort of famous for being in the award winning Young at Heart movie, just bought a house and has a great post about his first soujourn in his new neighborhood.

[More posts daily at The Newshoggers and The Detroit News.]