By Martin Bosworth

For those who don’t know, pioneering progressive blogger Steve Gilliard died last evening after a long hospital stay. Gilliard was creator and head writer of The News Blog, one of (in my view) the best progressive political sites on the Web.

Gilliard was also one of the earliest and most powerful voices showcased on The Daily KOS. I think it not unreasonable to say that Kos owes much of the blog’s early success to Gilliard, and Kos himself offers a testament to Gilly’s drive and passion.

Although I was blogging long before I ever read any of Gilliard’s work, learning from him and watching what he did made me a better blogger and writer. I’ll miss him, and offer my own tribute here.