I was sad and surprised to hear that David Cohen, longtime “public interest lobbyist,” died while visiting relatives over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Washington Post had a good obituary recounting his career, which included a stint as president of Common Cause and as head of an institute teaching people how to lobby.

Just two weeks before his death, David hosted an event at Politics & Prose for the 2016 Almanac of American Politics, at which I spoke along with co-authors Richard Cohen and James Barnes and political analyst Charlie Cook. As many will know, I was principal co-author of the Almanac from its first edition, released in November 1971; for this latest edition, published by Columbia Books under license from National Journal, I wrote an introduction. I was an original investor some 40 years ago in Politics & Prose, founded by David’s late wife Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade, and as I noted my $5,000 investment was returned with interest. “Carla always liked to pay people back as soon as possible,” David said.