I've waited a minute to write this post because this one stings. Last week my friend Trent Seibert passed away in his home, he was 47.
I met Trent roughly a decade ago through our mutual friend Kevin Whited, author and publisher of BlogHouston. Trent was a dedicated reporter, vodka tonic drinker, and one of the most driven individuals I've ever met in my life.
There wasn't a piece of government malfeasance that Trent wasn't interested in, and it didn't matter if the offending official was Republican, OR Democrat he went after them with equal zeal.
Because of this, Mr. Seibert was not a favorite of the local party-blogging set. He had a habit of offending local Democratic sacred-cows which would not stand with the local Democratic Blogosphere. He also angered Republicans by going after their local champions. As I said, he was an equal opportunity journalist.
I read the e-mail informing me of Trent's death when I got off the plane from a recent trip to Las Vegas. Standing there, in the terminal of Hobby, I had to sit down for a minute, stunned. Trent was just about my age (he was 47, I'm 45) and he was taken from us way too soon.
When I first met Trent he had just began working on Texas Watchdog, which was a non-profit journalism website whose mission was to root out and shine a light on government corruption. He had an insatiable interest in local politics, something lost on so many reporters today who want to focus too readily on the National scene, and he was always interested in hearing thoughts from pretty much everyone on where a story might lie.
Trent and I shared another love, poker. And we took a couple of poker trips to Lake Charles together with varying degrees of success. This might surprise some, but Trent was a very tight poker player, even tighter than I at the table.
He was a sharp, funny man who treated everyone fairly, had a quick wit and a temper that was triggered when he felt public officials were not being honest.
I'm going to miss Trent dearly.
I'll close by saying this: My life is better because Trent was in it, even for a relatively brief time.
That is the highest praise that I can give anyone.
God speed Mr. Seibert.
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