Our condolences to the family of Joel Brinkley, who passed away at the too-early age of 61. Brinkley, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former director of the Fund for Investigative Journalism, was also a frequent moderator of Commonwealth Club of California programs until he returned to the East Coast in 2013. He was also the featured speaker in some Club programs, including this 2011 program on "Cambodia's Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land."

He died this week of pneumonia in Washington, D.C.