Joel Connelly, considered by many to be the Dean of Seattle political journalism, died on April 15, the victim of a long battle with diabetes. He resided for many years in Madrona neighborhood and on Whidbey Island. Oddly, as a tough journalist, he was widely loved both by friends and sources, as well as by residents of Horizon House, and particularly his caretakers, where he courageously lived his last few years as his body wore out.
A working journalist right to the end, Joel’s last article of the 528 he wrote for Post Alley, was published on the last day of his life, just hours after he passed. He went out strong, relishing life and revered for his story-telling and amazing memory.
Connelly grew up in Bellingham, went to college at Notre Dame and the University of Washington. He worked for 47 years at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, starting in 1973. As a reporter he interviewed four presidents and many prime ministers of Canada (a specialty), chronicled the preservation of wilderness (hiking much of it), and doggedly wrote about the failure of the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), a misbegotten effort to build nuclear power plants, for which he was a runner-up for a Pulitzer Prize.
His outspoken attorney and partner was the characterful Michelle Palethorp, and her children adored their stepfather. He was fiercely loyal to “Mickie,” the Catholic Church, Notre Dame football, classical music, his poodles, backcountry hiking with his friends, and (perhaps surprisingly) the Hearst Corporation, which owned the P-I. As a friend said, he was “a giant heart.”
I was a neighbor of Joel’s and his editor at Post Alley. He was a beloved mainstay of a Madrona institution, the years-long Tuesday breakfasts at the Hi-Spot Cafe. A highlight of each Christmas were the parties Joel threw at his jam-packed home, to which all kinds of politicians and journalists beat a path. As a friend observed, Joel was put on this earth to write and report, and a steady stream of contextual, sly articles flowed from him, right up to the last day.
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I will miss Joel’s articles very much. The best. the very best.
Joel’s last story for Post Alley yesterday was his third in four days, his 34th in 2026. He was not resting on his laurels, he was riding them hard. The hole he leaves is very much in the present, not just in his illustrious past.
Thank you for loving tribute to Joel, David. He will be so missed.
Way too soon. ConnelLey was my introduction to the NW. Thanks for giving him a voice via POST ALLEY.
In the two years I served as the Post Intelligencer’s City Editor, Joel was one of 39 reporters on our excellent news staff. Among that group about eight or nine were the standout stars. Joel’s quiet, dogged professionalism required virtually no supervision. His natural instincts for politics enabled him regularly to scoop other political writers in the region. His coverage was honest, probative, and framed in the appropriate context.
Indeed, Joel was the dean of political writers in the Pacific Northwest. That is true because sources often came to him with news tips knowing that if Joel pursued the story it would come with legitimacy and effect. But he was no patsy. Joel knew the wheat from the chaff. As editors we valued his sense of what constituted real news over fluff.
It’s important to note that Joel did not care so much to be liked, as he cared about being taken seriously as a journalist in the context of freedom of the press. It turned out, as David Brewster so accurately put it: Joel was recognized as “. . . a tough journalist, [and] he was widely loved both by friends and sources . . .” Such wide-spread regard only occurred because Joel Connelly earned it.
I too thank you, David, for this wonderful and deserved tribute. My condolences to Joel’s family, his many colleagues and friends.
Joel’s passing truly marks the end of an era in Pacific Northwest journalism. He was a walking encyclopedia. Few, if any, could or will match his knowledge and understanding of its issues and personalities. He informed and explained. And earned the respect of both his colleagues and generations of politicians. Thanks, Joel.