Actors at the Great American History Theater in St. Paul are rehearsing "Wellstone," a three-person play based on the life of the late U.S. senator from Minnesota.

Construction workers are pouring sidewalks at the nearly-finished Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building in St. Paul.

And today, a month shy of the third anniversary of the couple's death, the Wellstone Memorial and Historic Site will be dedicated in Eveleth, Minn., near the field where the senator's plane crashed, killing all seven aboard.

Nearly three years after his death, Paul Wellstone's legacy shows no sign of diminishing. Two books about the senator were published this month alone. Wellstone Action!, a liberal political training center based in St. Paul, boasts 8,500 alumni across the country and now is adding "advanced placement" classes.

And at least a dozen buildings are named after Wellstone and/or his wife, Sheila, including schools, a housing complex and a battered women's center.

Celebrities such as actors Robert Redford and Warren Beatty offer support to Wellstone's training network. Lesser-known Minnesota artists have paid their respects with everything from a seed-art portrait displayed at the Minnesota State Fair to Wellstone-inspired songs with titles such as "Who Will Lead Us Now?"

"It's amazing how many things are popping up, and in so many different areas," said Mark Wellstone, the senator's younger son. "I thought after three years people would have forgotten or not worked so hard. ... It's an honor that it continues."

For people who supported the Wellstones, all this is a fitting tribute to a remarkable couple. For Minnesotans with contrasting political agendas, it's sometimes too much.

"It's clear that Wellstone touched a nerve in Minnesota and there is nothing inappropriate in honoring him," said David Strom, president of the conservative Taxpayers League of Minnesota. "But I'm concerned about what appears to be a sanctification of Wellstone."

For example, there are green bumper stickers that say "What Would Wellstone Do?" - a takeoff on "What Would Jesus Do?" Strom thinks that borders on dishonoring anyone who doesn't think like Wellstone.

"Politics is really driven by metaphors," said Strom, "and Paul Wellstone's life and death is a metaphor for many people. As a symbol, he's very powerful."

Living legacy

The epicenter of the growth industry spawned by Paul Wellstone is the St. Paul office of Wellstone Action! a few blocks from the senator's 2002 campaign headquarters. Headed by Wellstone's longtime campaign manager, Jeff Blodgett, and staffed by many ex-Wellstone aides, it aims to become a powerful national training center for progressive political candidates and organizers.

In Minnesota, at least, it's already left a mark. Eight of the 13 freshman DFLers elected to the state House last year were Camp Wellstone graduates. Likewise, at least six graduates of a January training camp advanced in September primary elections for various city councils, said Ralph Remington, the top vote-getter in Minneapolis' 10th Ward and one of those alumni.

On a recent afternoon at Wellstone Action!, workers were filling orders for bumper stickers, T-shirts and dozens of copies of "Politics the Wellstone Way," published this month by University of Minnesota Press.

In the room next door, organizers for Campus Camp Wellstone, a project started this year, were hashing over logistics for six camps across the country this fall.

On one wall was a poster for "Wellstone World Music Day," which commemorated the first anniversary of his death. A bookshelf full of "Vote" videos were ready for future get-out-the-vote drives. A copy of "Wellstone!" -- a feature-length documentary about the lives of Paul and Sheila -- was in a bag on the floor.

There also was an unusual metal sculpture that looked like a factory festooned with smokestacks. It was emblazoned with the words "Wellstone Action."

"Someone just came in one day and gave it to us," explained Ann Johnson, coordinator of Campus Camp Wellstone. "We're not sure what it is."

A large photograph of Wellstone's green bus was posted on one wall. The real bus is still on the road. Now under the guardianship of the Northfield Historical Society, it rolls out to venues such as the Rice County Fair and the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary School in St. Paul.

"Last year we marched in the Cinco de Mayo parade with the bus," said Christine Osorio, school principal. "We had our school staff and families, and a retired bus driver and his wife."

Students at the school have conducted "life-story interviews" with Wellstone's three bus drivers, Osorio said. A teacher wrote a "catchy school song," she said. And the school is looking for new ways to connect with Wellstone, she said.

Civic dialogues

Meanwhile, a series of "civic dialogues" honoring the Wellstones continue. Held in private homes, coffee shops and libraries, they explore political themes and chart action plans.

Last Thursday, about 30 people gathered at Old Man River Cafe in West St. Paul to discuss combating domestic violence. Sheila Wellstone, who championed the issue, had spoken at the coffeehouse a few weeks before her death.

Local songwriter Lyra Peterson sang a few tunes inspired by the Wellstones. "And who will lead us now?" goes one refrain. "It's what we've all been wondering. When the one who leads is gone. We've been searching long. ..."

The abundant memorials are practically unmatched in modern-day Minnesota, said historian Hy Berman. The closest parallel came when the sudden death of Gov. Floyd B. Olson in 1936 led to "a flurry of things being named after him," Berman said.

"But Wellstone was unlike most politicians, in that his chief legacy is grassroots community organizing," Berman said. "That, and the fact that he died at the peak of his political [career], gives a greater tragic impulse to these efforts."

© Copyright 2005 Star Tribune