DAVID TATE.(MAIN)

David Tate, who died last week, accomplished more in his brief 55 years than most people would dare attempt in several lifetimes. He was an author of fiction and nonfiction, a lawyer, a therapist, a developer and, in one brief Walter Mitty fling, tried his hand as a West Coast stand-up comic. Yet he will likely be remembered in the Capital Region for something beyond these endeavors -- his tireless role as the driving force behind Barnraisers, the volunteer group he founded nearly a decade ago, long before volunteerism became a popular political cause in Washington.

Barnraisers literally altered the landscape in some of the poorest neighborhoods in the Capital Region. …