Hunter Allen (11/17/78 – 04/24/08)

Hunter Allen

On Friday I received a phone call at work with news that my friend Hunter Allen had passed away.

Prior to moving out to Vermont to work on the Dean campaign, Hunter was one of my closest friends in Los Angeles. He’s actually the person who got me involved with Dean in the first place. In late 2002 he invited me to a press conference where Rob Reiner endorsed Howard Dean — to say I was impressed with the then-Vermont Governor would be an understatement. Just a few months later Hunter moved to Vermont to work on the campaign and, thanks in large part to his urging, I followed along a few weeks later.

We had a blast together — two Los Angeles gays roughing it in the outback of Vermont (and Canada), then, just as we were about to sign a lease and move in together for the rest of the campaign, he was shipped off to Iowa for the caucuses.

After the Dean campaign, Hunter moved back to Los Angeles and I moved to DC. We lost touch for a while but in the last year we’d started talking again — I’d planed on seeing him this summer when I’m out in California. When we spoke three weeks ago I don’t think I ever would have guessed it would be the last time I would hear his voice.

I’m still raw from the news. I’m trying to make sense of it, though I don’t know that I ever will. What I do know, is that I’m going to miss Hunter and wish I could have told him how much I valued our friendship before he passed away.

Photo compliments of Michael Silberman.

April 26, 2008 | Filed Under Personal