Longtime Milwaukee opinion columnist Eugene Kane has died at the age of 63, WTMJ reports.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office is investigating the death. No foul play is suspected, and COVID-19 testing is underway. Kane was found unresponsive in his apartment and pronounced dead Thursday afternoon.
“Eugene was a passionate journalist and wonderful writer who cared deeply about justice. As a columnist, he encouraged the people of Milwaukee and America to listen to our better angels, to confront our failures and to not surrender to accepting racial injustices and inequities. He urged us all, including himself, to be better,” said George Stanley, editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and regional editor of USA TODAY-Wisconsin, in a piece posted to the newspaper’s website.
Kane moved to Milwaukee from Philadelphia in 1984 to work for the Milwaukee Journal, which was the city’s evening newspaper at the time before it merged with the Milwaukee Sentinel. He covered many beats as a reporter but is best known for his Raising Kane column, which often stirred the pot on racial issues in Milwaukee.
Kane received awards for his journalism from the National Headliner Awards, the National Association of Black Journalists and The Society of Professional Journalists. He is a member of the Milwaukee Press Club Media Hall of Fame.
