Erwin Knoll; Longtime Editor of The Progressive Magazine

Erwin Knoll, called by consumer advocate Ralph Nader “the most versatile progressive journalist in America” and branded a political foe by Richard Nixon, who placed him on the presidential enemies list, is dead.

Knoll, the longtime editor of The Progressive magazine who successfully battled the government for the right to print secrets about the hydrogen bomb, apparently died of a heart attack in his sleep Wednesday, said Progressive publisher Matt Rothschild on Thursday.

Knoll was 63. For 21 years, he was editor of the Madison-based monthly, which he described as an “ecumenical journal of the American left.”

He was a celebrated and outspoken defender of free speech and a staunch opponent of militarism. He frequently appeared on PBS’ “MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour” with other regional editors.

A year after Knoll took over The Progressive, the magazine gained national attention when it tried to publish an article about the H-bomb based on information obtained from unclassified sources.

A judge granted the government an injunction barring the article’s publication. But while the case was being appealed, several newspapers published much of the same information and the government dropped the case. The Progressive went ahead with the story.

Knoll said at the time that the articles demonstrated that “there are no secrets about the hydrogen bomb. The information the government claims to be secret is readily available.”

“Erwin’s death is a big loss for the 1st Amendment,” said Raymond J. Dall’Osto of Milwaukee, one of the lawyers who represented the magazine in the case.

Knoll, a native of Austria, became a U.S. citizen in 1946. Before joining The Progressive in 1968, he was a reporter and editor for the Washington Post, Washington editor for the Washington Post-Los Angeles Times News Services and Washington correspondent for Newhouse News Service.