Andrew Breitbart dies with heart attack
Andrew James Breitbart was born on February 1, 1969 – March 2, 2012 , in Los Angeles, a month before Gerry and Arlene Breitbart adopted him. He grew up in the exclusive Brentwood section of Los Angeles, an experience he called disjointing. He was a graduate of Tulane University, having majored in American studies. Breitbart lived with his family in Westwood. He had been adopted by moderately conservative Jewish parents and attended two of L.A.’s most exclusive private schools – Carlthorp and Brentwood. In 2009, Mr. Breitbart started the first in a series of “Big” blogs with names like “Big Journalism”, “Big Hollywood” and “Big Government”. The websites gave Mr. Breitbart a big online perch of his own from which to unleash his assaults on liberal causes and figures.
Breitbart suffered heart problems a year earlier, but his father-in-law, actor Orson Bean, said he could not pinpoint what happened. Someone saw Mr. Breitbart collapse on the sidewalk, Mr. Bean added, and when paramedics arrived they were unable to revive him. Larry Dietz, watch commander at the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, said an autopsy was likely.
Mr. Breitbart earned a reputation for being playful but also selective with the facts. In an infamous case in 2010, he helped instigate the firing of an Agriculture Department official, Shirley Sherrod, by publishing a heavily edited video clip of her speaking at an NAACP event. Her comments, as edited, suggested that she had discriminated against a white farmer more than two decades ago.
His anchor site, Breitbart.com, was visited by 1.7 million people in January, according to website tracker comScore Inc. Though other political sites are far larger – his mentor, Matt Drudge, attracted more than 4 million visits that month -his profile was elevated by public appearances and relentless speechmaking, particularly at tea party rallies, where he was a favorite.
Breitbart leaves behind his showcase, a family of websites that waged daily war with what he considered liberal bias in the media, on college campuses and in the entertainment industry. Joel Pollak, an editor, said Breitbart was planning to launch a retooled version, and those plans would go forward.
Breitbart’s death produced polarizing responses online. Conservatives lamented the loss of a visionary, and attacked the tweets of some liberals who expressed no sadness over Breitbart’s passing.
