Lucien C. Haas, 86; Newsman Became Aide, Speechwriter for Key Democrats

Lucien C. Haas, an influential aide and speechwriter to Democratic politicians for more than 20 years, died in his sleep Tuesday at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was 86.

Haas was a spokesman for Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) for 13 years, an associate press secretary to Gov. Pat Brown and a speechwriter for his son, Gov. Jerry Brown. Haas was also an early advisor to then-Los Angeles Councilman Tom Bradley, helping him develop his winning 1973 campaign strategy against incumbent Mayor Sam Yorty.

Haas also served on then-state Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp’s Commission on the Prevention of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

And in 1964, Haas took a leave of absence from Gov. Pat Brown’s staff to be public relations director for a measure to amend the state’s Constitution to remove anti-discriminatory housing laws.

“He was on the scene in every kind of Democratic activity,” said Richard Maullin, a pollster who was Gov. Jerry Brown’s first state Energy Commission chairman.

“His real concern was for the civic quality of life in Los Angeles. He was an idealist about L.A., viewing it as a unique place with many redeeming qualities, when others were running it down.”

Haas was an early and committed environmentalist who was involved in issues ranging from offshore oil drilling to saving the blue butterfly.

“He was a passionate person,” said Tom Quinn, a onetime Democratic political strategist who owns City News Service, a Los Angeles news wire. “When Lu stated his positions, he did it loudly and he did it consistently and with lots of punctuation.”

Haas was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on July 15, 1917, the son of German immigrants. He was drafted into the Army during World War II, serving in France in intelligence.

After the war, he went to work for the Los Angeles Daily News as a copy boy. He became a reporter and worked on the rewrite desk, and was a leader in the Los Angeles Newspaper Guild, defending colleagues accused of disloyalty during the virulently anti-communist McCarthy era.

When the paper ceased publication in 1954, Haas took a job in public relations for a beet sugar group in Denver before returning to California, where he began his association with Gov. Pat Brown.

When Brown was defeated by Ronald Reagan in 1967, Haas became press secretary to Cranston.

In 1981, Haas joined Gov. Jerry Brown’s staff. When Brown ran for the U.S. Senate in 1982, Haas wrote most of his speeches calling for a bilateral nuclear arms freeze.

Known for his colorful writing, he once compared the growing public clamor for an end to the arms race to the eruption of Washington state’s Mt. St. Helens in 1980.

“One day the rumbling began,” he wrote, “and shortly thereafter a volcanic blast startled the world. Today, suddenly, in overwhelming numbers, people are crying out to stop the madness that has transfixed the Soviet Union and the United States.”

After his retirement in 1984, Haas was active in many peace and environmental causes. Paul Weeks, a friend who worked with him at the Daily News, said Haas often led nature walks, “identifying every flower anyone stepped on or stooped to smell.”

He is survived by his wife, Jan; daughter Maxx Haas of Santa Monica; sons Lu of Missoula, Mont.; Dirk of Truckee, Calif.; Vernon of Santa Monica; and Jack of Malibu; and four grandchildren.

Services are pending. Contributions may be made in Haas’ name to peace or environmental groups.