Camejo, Peter 1939-2008 (Pedro Cameja, Pedro Camejo, Pedro M. Camejo, Peter Miguel Camejo)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born December 31, 1939, in New York, NY; died of emphysema, September 13, 2008, in Folsom, CA. Political activist and organizer, politician, investment broker and manager, and author. Camejo was a lifelong activist for political and social reform, a supporter of liberal and sometimes radical causes who was a candidate for vice president of the United States in 2004. He was born into a life of privilege and prosperity, but he spent his life defending the poor and underprivileged Americans who lacked the economic or political power to fend for themselves. In 1960 Camejo and his father, a wealthy Venezuelan immigrant who developed resort properties, participated in sailing events at the Olympic Games in Rome. For the next decade the younger Camejo marched for civil rights in Alabama, campaigned for the rights of migrant workers in California, and protested war in Vietnam. In the 1970s, Camejo entered national politics as a candidate of the Socialist Workers Party for president of the United States. In 1987, after gaining experience as an investment broker at the firm of Merrill Lynch, he created his own company, Progressive Asset Management, where he advised clients on investments that supported an agenda of social responsibility in the financial sector. He was also an officer of the Earth Share federation, a resource network of hundreds of organizations dedicated to environmental preservation and improvement. At the turn of the new century, Camejo reentered the political arena. As a three-time candidate of the Green Party for the office of governor of California, he promoted a liberal agenda in support of universal health care, personal choice in such areas as abortion rights and the legal use of marijuana, and against legalized capital punishment. In 2004 Camejo joined consumer advocate Ralph Nader's presidential campaign as his vice presidential running mate, and he supported Nader's political platform again in 2008. Camejo wrote books on political and social issues, including Racism, Revolution, Reaction, 1861-1877: The Rise and Fall of Radical Reconstruction (1976), a contribution to The Lesser Evil? The Left Debates the Democratic Party and Social Change (1978), and an edited work, The Nicaraguan Revolution (1979).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, September 15, 2008, sec. 2, p. 4.

Los Angeles Times, September 15, 2008, p. B7.

New York Times, September 15, 2008, p. A23.