Longtime Name In La. Politics John Maginnis Passes Away

John Maginnis, the founder and publisher of LaPolitics Weekly and LaPolitics.com, died early Sunday morning at the age of 66.

According to LaPolitics.com, Maginnis died at his New Orleans residence, where he enjoyed spending weekends with wife Jackie Drinkwater-Maginnis.

"His fervor for politics…was overshadowed only by his love for Jackie and the rest of his family," says LaPolitics.com writer Jeremy Alford.

Maginnis' passion for covering La. politics over the past few decades led to him becoming one of the most recognizable names in that industry.

Maginnis' love for delivering the news began goes all the way back to distributing The State Times on his bike after school. He then served as editor of The Daily Reveille at LSU and as a reporter for The Catholic Commentator.

And that was only the beginning for Maginnis. In addition to his work at LaPolitics Weekly and LaPolitics.com, he wrote a syndicated column that appeared in 21 newspapers around the state. He also wrote three books, "The Last Hayride," "Cross to Bear," and "The Politics of Reform."

"John devoted his life to covering the news," says Alford.

And because of that, Maginnis was honored in 2000 when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the LSU Manship School of Mass Communications.

Funeral arraignments have not yet been set.

La. Governor Bobby Jindal shared his thoughts on Maginnis:

“Supriya and I were saddened to hear the news of John's passing.

For decades, John captured our unique style of politics, and in turn, his work helped shaped the debate of where Louisiana should be going in the future. It's safe to say he is the historian on Louisiana politics.

In no uncertain terms, his work has truly impacted Louisiana culture and politics. Indeed, reading his books and weekly columns should be a rite of passage for anyone who works in Louisiana politics. But even more, if you just love Louisiana, and want to know about our history, John's work is a must read.

John was a fixture around the Capitol, always trying to get to the bottom of an issue. He had an incredible gift that enabled him to uncover stories and narratives that no one was talking about, but would ultimately drive the debate.

His work is prolific, but John could capture the essence of Louisiana politics in a single sentence.

I'm saddened that I will not get to read John's future accounts of Louisiana politics, but I know that I can always pick up a copy of "The Last Hayride" or "Cross to Bear" and take in his fantastic work.

John will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.”