November 30, 2015 10:41 AM

HK: The passing of Forrest Roan, friend and mentor

Roan was among the generation of those tough-minded politicos that helped shape QR

Forrest Roan passed away peacefully on Saturday. For the new generation of Capitol players, it is not a name that may mean much, but for the old-timers, Roan was both a formidable lobby adversary and a loyal friend. For this observer, he was one of a dozen or so mentors that took a young guy who had stumbled into a job at a political newsletter and helped him separate spin from political reality.

We sometimes say here at QR that our readers will forgive us for an occasional mistake but not for being naīve. Their names resonate with fewer and fewer at the Capitol but Forrest joins those that have passed including Gene Fondren (auto dealers), Mike McKinney (beer distributors), Harry Whitworth (Chemical Council), George Christian (bigger than any business affiliation), Olan Brewer (campaign analyst), Bob “Big Daddy” Johnson (founder of Lege Council and only one I know of to serve as parliamentarian in both chambers), Tommy Townsend (realtors then trial lawyers) and Reggie Bashur (campaign consultant who passed way too young)—all of whom made it their mission that this publication told the truth as seen by the players who made the process work.

By Harvey Kronberg