The Breitbart Embassy on Capitol Hill will host a memorial gathering for Chip Gerdes, a behind-the-scenes conservative operative, who died last week of a sudden heart attack. He was 42.

“Of all the beautiful tributes out there, the best obit of Thatcher is missing — the one that would have been written by my late friend and mentor Tony Blankley, my predecessor as TWT Editorial Page Editor,” writes Brett Decker, Editor-in-Chief of Rare, the new conservative media outlet, to FishbowlDC on the death of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. “No doubt those two are in heaven together talking politics now. Tony was born in London and became an American patriot, serving in the Reagan White House and in Congress for Speaker Gingrich. Tony’s dad was Winston Churchill’s accountant, and Tony never quite shook that subtle lingering English accent. They don’t make ‘em like Maggie or Tony anymore — tough and principled political fighters who are also classy.” Tony Blankley died of cancer in January of 2012.

There was a large number of layoffs at Human Events, as announced at an internal staff meeting this morning, FishbowlDC has learned. But it’s actually much bigger than that.

The conservative publication is shutting down its print edition entirely*. Eagle Publishing, which owns Human Events, released the following statement:

“Washington, DC (February 27, 2013) – Eagle Publishing, Inc. announced today it
has made the difficult decision to cease publishing Human Events, the conservative
weekly newspaper. The issue dated February 18 is the final issue.

“This was a difficult decision, and one we did not make lightly,” said publisher Joe
Guerriero. “As everyone knows, the newspaper business is a very tough business.
Contrast that with the explosive growth of digital media, which we’ve seen with our
own websites, HumanEvents.com and RedState.com.

“Eagle Publishing has willingly subsidized Human Events for quite some time now,
choosing to do so to serve the cause of conservatism,” he added. “But the realities of
the 24-hour news cycle and the brutal economics of a weekly print publication have
become insurmountable, as they have for so many other now-extinct print publications
such as U.S. News &World Report and Newsweek.

“Human Events has been a powerful voice in conservative politics and the
conservative movement for nearly 70 years, propelled by a dedication to limited
government, strong national defense, private enterprise and individual liberty,”
continued Guerriero. “While the print publication will no longer exist, we are
confident Human Events’ mission to defend and promote conservatism will continue
through our popular websites, HumanEvents.com and RedState.com, our influential
political newsletters, such as RedState Morning Briefing, Daily Events, and Guns &
Patriots, and the blockbuster political books published by Eagle’s book-publishing
division, Regnery Publishing.”

*This post has been updated to reflect the fact that it is specifically the print edition of Human Events that will discontinue.

In a breaking news alert from Politico, we learn that Joe L. Allbritton, “one of the most influential media and financial figures of his generation, died Wednesday in Houston at age 87.” Allbritton founded the media company that includes Washington’s WJLA-TV, NewsChannel 8 and Politico. Robert Allbritton now runs the company.

Read the Politico obit here.

Jordan Ghawi, the brother of Jessica Ghawi, a sports intern for 104.3 The Fan who died in the Aurora, Colo, tragedy last night, has posted a diary-like portrayal of his sister’s death.

At approximately 0215 CST, I received an hysterical, and almost unintelligible, phone call from my mother stating that my sister, Jessica Ghawi, had been shot while attending the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Denver, CO. I was able to contact the man that was with my sister, mutual friend Brent, who stated that they were in the theatre when an incendiary device was fired into the crowd and that shots rang out immediately afterwards. Brent further stated that he took two rounds and that my sister took one round followed by an additional round which appeared to strike her in the head. At this time, I do not have confirmation that she is alive or dead. Brent has been transported with non-life threatening injuries to a local hospital. I am on the next flight out of San Antonio to Denver and have already contact Aurora PD, operating jurisdiction, as next of kin.

See the gripping details of how the young woman died inside the theater here.

What is being done to care for the four children of conservative media mogul Andrew Breitbart?

During a memorial service for Breitbart in Washington last night, it was announced that a fund has been set up for this purpose.

Donations can be mailed to: Breitbart Children’s Trust, 149 S. Barrington Ave, #735, Los Angeles, CA 90049.

NationalReviewOnline‘s Jonah Goldberg announced it here.

Current TV’s David Shuster and the late Andrew Breitbart fought regularly on virtually every public platform there is. Even FBDC played host to a bitching match between the two in late February. Shuster called Breitbart “crazy.” Breitbart accused Shuster of lying and, even worse, bad reporting.

But on Saturday, the bad blood between them seemed to vanish as Shuster paid tribute to Breitbart on his radio show “Take Action News.” (We can’t help but imagine Breitbart ranting even at this. The pair rarely agreed on much of anything.) For nearly 15 minutes Shuster recounted the feisty, yet symbiotic, relationship he had with Breitbart. He said they related warmly off the air.

“He and I had our clashes, over the years,” Shuster said. “As much as I was sometimes so frustrated with Andrew, he had an incredible knack for attracting attention and bringing attention to his causes and to his beliefs.”

Shuster then played a clip from talk radio host Bill Press‘ show, in which Shuster had a heated exchange with Breitbart over the integrity (or lack thereof) of Breitbart’s media tactics.

“We also had some pretty amazing conversations off the air,” Shuster said after he played the clip. “Off the air, Andrew Breitbart and I talked about our families. We talked about members of our own family who were sick. He could not have been more supportive on those issues and kind and generous.”

Shuster said he is mourning Breitbart’s death and described him as “a hell of a guy.”

Over the weekend, Breitbart.com associates unveiled a brand new website. Longtime Breitbart business partner, Larry Solov, wrote that this was what Andrew Breitbart “dreamed and planned” before his sudden death last week. Solov says, “Andrew’s battle – our battle – has only just begun.”

But that isn’t all that has begun. It seems there is a strange online phenomenon, an explosion of Breitbart grief porn happening one click, one avatar at a time.

The battle, at least on the newly unveiled Breitbart.com, begins with a piece posthumously filed by Breitbart titled “The Vetting.” Just weeks before he died, Breitbart warned that he would lead the charge to vet President Obama and warned that he had videos. In this latest piece, Breitbart exposes that Obama took part in a panel that occurred following a Chicago production of a play called “The Love Song of Saul Alinsky.” While it seems a thin start to the vetting the website promises, you can bet that there’s always something brewing in the Breitbart camp.

To us, that’s the legacy of Breitbart. You never knew what was going to happen next. Each story and stunt seemed more outrageous than the last. We’re happy to just leave it at that.

But, others want to take it further. Rolling Stone‘s Matt Taibbi infamously called his remembrance of Breitbart “Death of a Douche.” Which led to Slate asking the question, “When Did Douche Become an Insult?” Have we really gotten there in the Breitbart debate? Does Slate really need to go that far off the map to keep the Breitbart topic alive? And this came after allowing writer Matt Yglesias to gloat over his death on Twitter.

Twitter isn’t any more sane when it comes to Breitbart’s death, but it is telling. While co-workers and friends offered up remembrances of the man and relayed personal stories, there was a bizarre race to prove who knew Andrew best. There is an online movement for people to change their Twitter avatars to pictures of Breitbart. It appeared to begin with The Daily Caller‘s Jim Treacher, whose avatar is Breitbart on that yellow-hued piece of toast. (Can we just say how weird it is to scroll through Twitter and see dozens of Breitbart faces in various poses and frames staring back at us?)

There’s even a hash tag called #armyofandrews trying to convince the masses to change up their picture. Pundits were racing to see who could get the best picture of them with Breitbart as their avatar. Big Journalism Editor and CNN Contributor Dana Loesch quickly (and rightfully, he was, after all, her boss) changed her avatar to a picture of her and Breitbart. Actor Adam Baldwin, a contributor to Big Hollywood and a conservative pundit, also changed his avatar to an image of him and Breitbart. Over the weekend, he tweeted this out as a message from beyond.

“Goodbye Fellow Patriots. Keep Up the Good Fight.” – twitpic.com/8s0dab

— Adam Baldwin (@adamsbaldwin) March 4, 2012

Other online conservatives followed suit. Like @KamaainaInOC, who posted this picture of her and Breitbart… Read more

In what is likely the most poetic reaction to Slate‘s Matt Yglesias‘s distasteful comments on Andrew Breitbart on the day he died, The Weekly Standard‘s Matt Labash declares him a “prick” in a late-night story that is making the rounds.

The focus of the story is hardly Yglesias. But the lines are a comical aside. He wrote: “(Well done, Matt! Perhaps you could pass your thoughtful sentiments on to his fatherless children, since they likely don’t follow you on Twitter. Prick.)”

In this story, Labash takes the reader on a journey — into a bar with Breitbart, on a trip to Chicago and on a plane with the conservative pied piper. The plane ride is a telling anecdote. Labash thinks he might get sleep on the plane ride back from Chicago. No such luck — Breitbart finagles it so that seatmates can swap and he and Labash can spend some quality time together. Rather, Breitbart could perform a one-man act and Labash could enjoy the show.

The end is eerie. Once in baggage claim, Labash asks if he can read a poem at his memorial service. Breitbart agrees to allow it. An excerpt:

Several years ago, when Breitbart was in the middle of one skirmish or another – I don’t even remember which one – I told him that I didn’t know whether I should encourage him, but that he made me laugh, as always. I asked him when someone finally shot him, “Can I read a poem at your memorial service? ”

“I think I should stop,” he admitted of his latest caper. “But it’s so fun and the hate mail is something to behold….And of course you can read my favorite poem, William Carlos William’s ‘Little Red Wheelbarrow’ at my wake.”

Journopalooza, the charity event that showcases the bands of local journalists, is scheduled for March 9 and there will be a special tribute to the late Davy Jones of the Monkees. Jones died yesterday.

WaPo‘s John Kelly and his Monkees tribute band “The Stepping Stones” will perform at the event and end their set with Monkees song “Pleaseant Valley Sunday” in dedication to Jones.

Journopalooza will be held at The Hamilton on 600 14th st, NW. It starts at 7 p.m.

Below is a video of The Stepping Stones performing at least year’s Journopalooza: