Sad news, indeed. Latino blogger/journalist Tim Chavez has passed away.

Tim Chavez, former columnist for the Tennessean, died last night at 6:15 p.m after a long bout with leukemia. He wrote about finding out that his illness returned in a blog posting on May 10th:

I never believed my leukemia would be over. The only lesson God wanted me to learn was to appreciate the moments of extra living he gave me, along with the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the 24/7 dedication of my heroic wife. She fought everyone from insurance companies to doctors for me. But I forgot too much of her heroics, which is to my great shame.

With my leukemia back, the moments become more precious. What book would one write at this stage of such a story? What should the world know? What feelings should rise to the surface to make the reader remember the moral?

Utilizing media contacts and his blog Political Salsa, Tim was responsible for getting the story of Juana de la Paz' torture out into the public eye. You'll recall that she was shackled during the birth of her child and then prevented from breastfeeding by ICE agents. His empassioned corazón was howling for justice at the time, which was my first interaction with his work. Tim, you'll be missed.

Vaya con Dios, hermano

Labels: latino bloggers