"It was characteristic of Keenen Peck, who died last week at the age of 29, to take the lead in defense of underdogs," writes contributor Sam Day. "He brought inordinate amounts of grace, good humor and skill to the undertaking." The editor of the Daily Cardinal in the early 1980s, Peck became associate editor for The Progressive before enrolling at UW Law School. Graduating cum laude in 1988, he became Sen. Herb Kohl's counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee. "He also acted on his beliefs," writes Day, noting Peck and two friends chained themselves to the Federal Center on East Washington in the fall of 1983 to protest Ronald Reagan's invasion of Grenada. His sudden death from an aneurysm brought an outpouring from friends and admirers from all over the United States, including, says Day, "Washington associates who may some day reach the heights their promising young coworker, now dead, seemed destined to achieve."
The death of Keenen Peck
From the Isthmus archives, June 15, 1990