Late last Tuesday afternoon John Radcliffe called. His news was stunning and bad.
“I’m calling because this is the end,” Radcliffe said.
I had known Radcliffe in his various positions as one of Hawaii’s dynamic political leaders. He was a labor leader not afraid to tell his members, first the teachers and then the university professors, they would never get a raise of improved working conditions without the courage and backbone to go on strike.
In June of 2014, Radcliffe was diagnosed with metastasized and inoperable cancer of multiple organs and was given six to 24 months to live.
Last week Radcliffe made his last calls, saying he would “end it tonight.” The pain, he said, was unbearable and “there was just nothing left.”
He died Tuesday night after taking physician-prescribed medicine causing him to drift off into an ever deeper sleep.
Radcliffe understood the fight he was in and he was as brave as the cancer was relentless.
In one way his act marked a final legislative victory. After receiving the terminal diagnosis, Radcliffe fought the cancer but also for a law that would allow Hawaii citizens to end their lives with carefully detailed guidelines. The “death with dignity” proposal had been rejected in the Legislature for a decade or more, but with Radcliffe’s lobbying, it became law.
After announcing support for the movement, Radcliffe said in an email to me in 2018 that after years of chemotherapy, his “track record had been amazing, so far — but let’s not kid ourselves. So why not me to lead this.”
His successes as both a labor leader and lobbyist are well known, but perhaps less known was that besides qualities of smart organization and tenacity, Radcliffe was a man of tremendous empathy.
Perhaps it was his own rough childhood, but Radcliffe was always one of the first to help out those in need. Walking to lunch downtown with him, Radcliffe was always the softest touch for those asking for money.
“How much do you need?” he would ask.
Business partner and fellow lobbyist George “Red” Morris recalls Radcliffe helping “an immigrant family from the Philippines whose kids attend school out in Aiea — he just kind of helped out where he could.
“They turned out pretty well. One is our secretary Melody; the other is her brother, Jade Butay, the state transportation director.
“John pushed him to go to graduate school at Wharton. He was always trying to keep kids focused.”
In past interviews, Radcliffe described himself “as happy as a person with a terminal and very ugly disease can be. I have gained peace, tranquility, certainty — but mostly gratitude for the wonderful life I have had and am having.”
Radcliffe ended our last phone call, wishing the best for my family — a classy, brave man who neither in public nor private ever backed down.
Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.
