Dan Pollitt, who dedicated his life to fighting for civil rights in courts and academia, died this morning at age 88, according to the Carrboro Citizen, which first reported the story.
Pollitt, who married State Sen. Ellie Kinnaird in 2009, is a past chairman of the faculty at UNC and helped lead the charge against the speaker ban in 1963.
He will be remembered as a champion for equality and justice, especially in liberal circles.
Rob Schofield, director of research at the progressive think tank N.C. Policy Watch, called Pollitt a “brilliant attorney who used his intellect and commitment to fight for the underdog.
“Throughout the last half decade, there was scarcely an important civil rights or social justice cause in our state that Dan didn’t impact for the better,” Schofield wrote at the N.C. Policy Watch blog. “He will be missed tremendously.”
Pollitt was also an occasional contributor to the Indy. You can read his work here.
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