Tributes Acknowledge Brower's Efforts

Environmentalist's commitment to protecting the planet inspires hundreds who attend a memorial to carry the torch

Friday, December 8, 2000
THE BERKELEY VOICE
Community Newspaper of Berkeley

 

By Kate Darby Rauch
STAFF WRITER

There were wolf howls and wry comments from John Muir. Or at least an actor doing a darn good impression of Muir. There was poetry and politicking. There were seedlings for all --- new shoots from an array of plant types passed out to the crowd.

And if one message seemed to set the tone of Saturday's memorial service to environmentalist David Brower, who died Nov. 5 at age 88 of complications from cancer, it was take the torch and keep it blazing.

"I don't think this is really a closing. David's inspiration and memories and example will move on," said Eric Kessler, 29, a community organizer living in Kazakhstan who trained under Brower. "I don't think anyone is really saying goodbye."

In tribute after tribute, comment after comment, people speaking at and attending the public memorial service at the Berkeley Community Theater sounded the theme that Brower's work, his commitment to defending the world's natural spaces, must continue. Not just his honor, they said, but for the sake of the Earth and all of its habitants.

In particular, they lauded Brower's aggressive and spirited approach to environmental causes, his unwillingness to back down, a devotion that irritated some but got things done.

"I would wish that we be bold today in a Brower-like way," said Huey Johnson, a longtime California environmentalist, friend and colleague of Brower's.

"He was in essence the anchor to keep the (environmental) movement's head in the wind."

Roughly 1,000 people attended the afternoon event, coming from around the world. Nearly filling the theater, the eclectic crowd of predominately devoted environmentalists listened to speeches from colleagues, comments from family, a video tribute, a "John Muir" monologue and music, including an eerily beautiful wolf howl piece by saxophonist Paul Winter, a friend of Brower's. At the end, Winter asked the audience members to join in for a group howl to Brower, which they eagerly did.

Additionally, a side room of the theater was set up as a sort of memory exhibit, filled with pictures, posters, articles and other memorabilia of Brower's life.

Here people mingled, reading, chatting and sometimes stopping to scribble comments on paper taped to the wall.

"Dave was a living summit. Like any great landmark people were drawn to him and left inspired," someone had written.

"We know you're now saving the heavens and the stars," wrote someone else.

"Who can even begin filling one of his shoes," wrote another.

Brower, who was born in Berkeley, was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, turning the organization from a small, largely recreational group into a major political force. After being ousted from the Sierra Club in 1969 following clashes with the board, Brower  formed Friends of the Earth, continuing to champion national and international environmental causes, and later the Earth Island Institute, where he was active until his death.

Outspoken, opinionated and fiercely passionate about his beliefs, Brower led the fight to prevent dams in Dinosaur National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park, was instrumental in the formation of nine national parks and seashores, and was a force behind the creation of the Wilderness Act of 1964.

He wrote numerous books, produced documentaries and is credited with popularizing the photography of Ansel Adams.

He was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Through it all, Brower's message was that the natural world is a pristine but defenseless treasure, holding the meaning of life and deserving uncompromised protection.

A skilled mountain climber, Brower's outdoor passions began with family trips as a child to the Sierra Nevada. He passed this tradition along to his own four children, raising them as much on the trail and under the stars as in their Berkeley home.

Brower's daughter, Barbara Brower, urged Saturday's crowd to take a small potted plant as they left the theater.

"Take it home, plant it and take good care of it," she said. "We'll make this the first day for the hope of the Earth."

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Rauch, Kate Darby. "Tributes Acknowledge Brower's Efforts." The Berkeley Voice.
    8 Dec. 2000, pp. A1 and A9.

 

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