William Stetson Kennedy (1916-2011).(Obituary)

Stetson Kennedy was a folklorist, oral historian, writer, anti-poverty government employee, and a lifelong Floridian. Most of all, he was a tireless activist for liberal causes throughout the twentieth century--battling against racism, poverty, anti-immigration and anti-labor movements, and fighting for environmental protection. He died on August 27, 2011, at the age of 94, but his legacy lives on in the Stetson Kennedy Foundation, with a mission to "carry forward mankind's unending struggle for human rights in a free, peaceful, harmonious, democratic, just, humane, bounteous and joyful world, to nurture our cultural heritages, and to faithfully discharge our commitment of stewardship over Mother Earth and all her progeny" (http://www .stetsonkennedy.com/foundation.html). Stetson was a friend and mentor to me and many others, and he will be missed.

Stetson Kennedy was an accidental folklorist, born to a prominent family in Jacksonville, Florida, where his father owned a large furniture business. As a teenager, …