Point/Counterpoint's Joe Altschule dies, he was 81

Many's the time in my 22 years' editing the Opinion Page of the Visalia Times-Delta that a reader would ask, "Who's the jerk that decided to give those guys Fife and Altschule space in the newspaper?"

Then as now, I would have to confess: I am that jerk.

Veteran readers will remember that Tom Fife and Joe Altschule were the opposing voices in a biweekly feature on the Opinion Page, "Point/Counterpoint," in which the two of them would argue - Tom from the Republican/Conservative side, and Joe from the Democrat/Liberal view - on a political issue of the day.

And the day their columns ran, I would often get calls.

Mind you, the indignant caller was always reasonable. That is, the reader made clear that it was not Tom Fife they objected to – Tom was terrific – it was that blockhead Altschule. Or, they just loved Joe, but thought that idiot Fife ought to be run out of town. And that I had better start running him in that direction or lose that caller's subscription.

Many is the observer who thought "Point/Counterpoint" contributed to the growing partisan divide in our world, and they could be right.

But I thought it was great, as did many readers. And although my boss, Executive Editor Linda Green, would have liked to have gotten rid of them, she couldn't. They were too popular. Readers loved to love/hate Tom and hate/love Joe.

Sadly, one-half of the team, Joe Altschule, died last month from cancer at the age of 81 in Southern California, where he moved a couple years ago to be closer to his grandchildren and his beloved Dodgers.

From my perspective, it is nearly impossible to write about Joe and not Tom. They were literally two sides of the same coin. They were both opinionated, bombastic, funny and utterly convinced of the righteousness of their cause and the worthlessness of the other guy's.

What readers didn't understand is that Tom and Joe were good friends. They genuinely liked each other.

Fittingly, I met both of them at the same time shortly into the Clinton administration. Tom was a stock broker and Joe an attorney, and they were both the most prominent local voices for their respective political parties. They were co-hosts of a weekly cable-access public affairs program (remember those?) produced at College of the Sequoias. From time to time they invited me to join them on air. We always had a spirited discussion, even if most of it was, "Hey, let's beat up on the newspaper guy."

One thing led to another, and soon I had them contributing regularly to the Times-Delta.

Editing my star columnists was an adventure, a constant battle to instill the lessons of journalism, fairness, logic and sound punctuation.

"No, Tom, that's just name-calling."

"Uh, Joe, you need to address Tom's argument."

"Gentlemen, for once, could you write about something local? Oh, and include some actual facts? True ones, this time?"

"Guys, please ... for the last time, punctuation goes INSIDE the quotation marks. Always."

Let's not even get into the subject of deadlines.

But they had fun with it, and so did readers. Although it was rare that either of them changed anyone else's minds, they articulated some positions that many folks probably could not have for themselves. Love them or hate them, one had to admit that they had their fingers on the pulse of what people were feeling. These days you can get the same vibe on social media.

Shortly before he moved to L.A, Joe and I had lunch together to celebrate Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize. Joe was genuinely conflicted. He was looking forward to spending more time with his grandkids and enjoying L.A., which he loved. But he would miss Visalia, with which he felt such a connection.

Unapologetically liberal Altschule was nevertheless sincerely devoted to rabidly conservative Tulare County. No one ever wore his politics on his sleeve more brashly, and he cheerfully accepted the slings and arrows that came with the assignment as Visalia's Designated Liberal. He relished his role as the loyal opposition, and he didn't give an inch.

In the same vein, Joe took some legal cases, and as an advocate, promoted positions, that others might have considered hopeless. In Joe's eyes, everybody deserved a chance. He was never happier than when he was fighting a case against the rich and powerful. That or trying to beat the house in Las Vegas.

The thing about Joe Altschule was, he cared. He genuinely cared. For his partners, his clients, his community, his country and most of all for his wife, Linda, whom he loved without reservation.

In all, Altschule was a genuine mensch.

"Point/Counterpoint" ended shortly into the Trump administration, which was a blessing. By then there was plenty of partisan chatter to go around, God help us.

And now Joe's voice is silenced, but his legacy of caring will live on.

There are lots of favorite Dylan quotes to wrap this up, but I think Joe would like this one:

"Don't think twice, it's all right."

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Point/Counterpoint's Joe Altschule dies, he was 81