Ed Durkin was out in the garden at his house on Lake Poygan (near Oshkosh) last Friday afternoon, spreading straw on his garlic plants as the onset of winter loomed when he was stricken.

Before the ambulance got there, Ed had passed away in the arms of his wife of 65 years, Winnie.

"He died with his boots on," remarked his son, Pat, the outdoor writer whose column appears in papers across the state and in the State Journal on Sundays.

Yes, with his boots on, a description that defined Ed Durkin's life and the incredible influence he had on Madison during so much of his 88 years.

Madison's younger generation probably doesn't know of Ed and the role he played is shaping the city's Fire Department, fighting for the rights of unions, and working for peace in a world that doesn't seem to want it. He was truly a Madison original, an icon to be long remembered and revered.

Those who were here during the 1960s and well into the '90s remember him as the fireball unionist who got Madison's firefighters a more sensible workweek and decent wages and then as the fire chief who tore down barriers and conquered prejudices by hiring women and minorities to make our department one of the most diverse fire departments in America.