by: Washington Post Editorial Board

William Raspberry, who died Tuesday at the age of 76, demonstrated that civility and principle can co-exist, that passion doesn’t preclude compromise and that people can hold on to their convictions without insisting that anyone who disagrees is evil. His way of stating his opinions with an understanding that they might sometimes be wrong, and of listening respectfully to other views, distinguished Mr. Raspberry during four decades of writing commentary for The Post, and it is particularly missed today.