The human rights movement has lost so many giants of late but somehow, transition of poets and artists hurts the worst. Their work becomes the first draft of our history. That's why songs and films are so important. A hundred or a thousand years from now, they may be all that people remember of what we were.

Those who tuned in to my erstwhile daily call-in talk TV show will remember a lot of Anne Feeney songs.

Those who subscribe to my e-bulletins have frequently seen this headline: "We just come to work here, we don't come to die."

The song was written by union longshoreman Harry Stamper but like any great artist, Annie rewrote it and made it her signature.

It has also often graced the Barbwire as opening line over the years.

Last year, I wanted to use the song in a union radio campaign and I called her. She was visiting her son in Los Angeles, gave me the OK and didn't ask for a fee. I told her the union would insist.

When I talked with her that final time, she was hurting but would still do whatever she could for the cause of workers.

Almost decade ago, I had a video crew ready to record her appearance at a local bistro. Turned out, it was my last chance.

A WORTHWHILE LIFE, as Socrates might opine: "In 1972, while at the University of Pittsburgh, she co-founded Pittsburgh Action Against Rape," The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

"She graduated from the Pitt School of Law in 1978, worked 12 years as a trial attorney and served as president of the Pittsburgh Musicians Union. She also was president of a NOW (National Organization for Women) chapter. In 1991, she hit the road hard, traveling around the country to perform at folk festivals, labor conventions and rallies, including the World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle, Solidarity Day in Washington, D.C., and the 2004 March for Women's Lives.

"Her songs were recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and she shared stages with such legends as Pete Seeger, Billy Bragg and Loretta Lynn.

"Her business card read: 'Performer, Producer, Hellraiser' ."

Anne Feeney was my kinda girl.

HELLRAISER, TOO. Lacy J. Dalton, Nevada's resident country music legend and wild horse advocate, has added two timely originals to her awesome body of work. But be careful. A visit to the two top listings at LacyJDalton.com will bring you close to tears. They did me.

The longtime Comstock resident just added "Mr. McConnell," a country waltz that tries to thaw the pogonipped heart of the U.S. Senate minority leader with advice from his mother. Last year, Lacy released "I Can't Breathe" in remembrance of George Floyd, murdered by a Minneapolis police officer now on trial.

You will feel George Floyd's desperation and pain in Lacy J's soaring wail.

I don't know if she ever met Anne Feeney, but Lacy's recent work does Annie proud.

Annie's "We Don't Come to Work Here" will be linked to the NevadaLabor.com edition of this column along with a retrospective video and Lacy's website.

If those songs don't motivate you to do something for your fellow living beings, nothing else will.

LAND OF THE LOST. I've been hit with so many obituaries of late that I have not had room for them all.

First came former State Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, on New Year's Eve. Then Dr. Richard Siegel, former chair of the UNR poly-sci department, ACLU Nevada president and my colleague on the Northern Nevada Multiple Sclerosis Society board for more than a decade.

On January 31, we lost BJ Thomas, longtime leader of Las Vegas International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees Local 720 (aka the stagehands union) and the Nevada chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute. A great advocate and a good friend.

Cy Ryan, 88, dean of Nevada capital reporters, died last week. The Nevada Press Association Hall of Famer was the gold standard for hardassed but accurate state government and political reporting.

Cy once wrote a story which included me that was screamingly funny but a major embarrassment to the Nevada Republican Party. It ran verbatim in the Reno Gazette-Journal statewide edition but was killed by editors in the Reno-Sparks run when they realized what they had.

Cy's credibility was such that journalists knew you could take his accuracy to the bank. But the RGJ's conservative editors were timid and their local readers lost a legendary laugh.

Last week came news of the death of lifetime union man Larry Yenko. Like Anne Feeney, he was a distinguished Nevada labor lawyer.

BJ, Larry and Annie now stand with Sen. Neal, Dr. Siegel, Big Cy and former AFL-CIO President John Sweeney as we mourn their loss and exalt their exemplary lives.

All Nevada labor mourns. We carry on in their honor.

As Lech Walesa might shout, Solidarnosc!

¡Sí se puede!