Bill Knowland

California lost a legend last week with the death of Hale Champion, a former Sacramento Bee and San Francisco Chronicle reporter who served as a top advisor to Governor Edmund “Pat” Brown between 1958 and 1966.  He was 85.  Champion was Brown’s press secretary when he ran for Governor in 1958 against Republican Bill Knowland, then the Minority Leader of the U.S. Senate.  He later served as the Governor’s press secretary, executive secretary (aka Chief of Staff), and as the state Finance Director.  He later taught at Harvard, served in the Carter Administration, and worked for Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.