Summer 1999
Vol. 14, No. 2

Editorial Remembering Henry Kendall, 1927-1999 "No more than one or two decades remains," began a statement in Earth Island Journal over half a decade ago, "before the chance to avert threats we now confront will be lost and the prospects for humanity immeasurably diminished. A new ethic is required, a new attitude toward discharging our responsibility for caring for ourselves and for the earth. This ethic must motivate a great movement for convincing reluctant leaders and reluctant people themselves to effect needed change." The full statement, delivered to the world at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit was signed by two thousand scientists, including 101 Nobel Laureates, none more important than 1990 Physics Laureate Henry Kendall. The "Scientists' Warning to Humanity" statement was written by Henry Kendall and circulated for review by the Union of Concerned Scientists, which he co-founded in 1969. This is but one small example from the life of a great man who showed the world that scientists too have an obligation to care about the Earth and about the future. According to his warning, scarcely a decade now remains, but Henry Kendall remains no longer. MIT physicist, mountaineer, photographer, philanthropist, and still an undersea explorer, diving at age 72, he somehow did not surface alive.P I first came to know Henry and his great generosity in the late Sixties, when he helped the Sierra Club finance Everest: The West Ridge. Other fond memories of Henry include his assuring me in my opposition to nuclear power: "When the lights go out, we have won." Henry provided even more assurance during the years I spent at Friends of the Earth, in the form of more than half a million dollars. I still remember when Friends of the Earth was publishing an incredible newsletter (the Stockholm Conference Eco, II), I borrowed $2500 from Henry to help finance it. When I sent a check to pay it back, he returned the check, boldly crossed out. He liked to remain anonymous, so I won't reveal that he was an initial major contributor to Earth Island, Inc. which would later become Earth Island Institute. On second thought, I think it might be good to reveal this while I can still remember. In remembering Henry, we can write of a man who recognized the urgent dangers of his time and responded with intelligence, compassion, and generosity. We will write of a man whose absence has left humanity "immeasurably diminished." Copy Bill Gates on all such writings. I think Ted Turner knows already. - David R. Brower