Edward Goldsmith Pioneer of the Green Movement Dies Aged 80

Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Posted in Commentary Environment | Tagged Commentary, Environment

Lipitor Online Buy Lipitor Erythromycin Online Buy Coumadin Penisole Online Buy Phentrimine Zelnorm Online Buy Elavil Flomax Online Buy Aldactone

Edward Goldsmith, founder and editor of The Ecologist (since 1970), lead author of A Blueprint for Survival (1972), founder of the Green Party, died peacefully in his sleep on 21 August 2009 at age 80. Teddy’s monumental life time achievements will need to be assessed by a dedicated biography. He was a prolific and influential writer as well as active campaigner. Among his numerous books and essays, the three-volume magnum opus, The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams, co-authored with Nick Hilyard and published between 1984 and 1992 was crucial in turning around the policy of the World Bank’s support for large dam projects. Throughout his life, Teddy campaigned tirelessly for the protection of indigenous peoples and traditional cultures.

Most of all, Teddy was kind and attentive to everyone to a fault, and always had time for people. He remained a sharp and independent thinker almost to the last. What he enjoyed most was a congenial argument on a finer intellectual point in philosophy, politics, anthropology, religion, art, or any other discipline you care or dare to engage, as Teddy had extraordinary breadth as well as depth in the knowledge he was passionate about.

I first metTeddy when he invited me to a conference he organised in Cornwall more than 20 years ago on evolution and the Gaia hypothesis. Needless to say, it changed my life forever. Since then, he has been a great friend and mentor.

We love him dearly, all of us at ISIS, for his big heart and soul, for his fount of knowledge and consummate story- telling.We owe him a life-long debt for showing us The Way (his last major work first published in 1996), and because he had so unstintingly championed and supported us over the years.

Teddy leaves a huge legacy of love, of friends and followers who are committed to carry on the tasks he has set us.

To celebrate Teddy’s life, we republish one of his most important essays, Towards a Biospheric Ethic, which first appeared in SiS 18 in 2003. Here it is, slightly re-edited, as fresh and relevant today as it was then.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/Towards_a_Biospheric_Ethic.php

========================================================

This article can be found on the I-SIS website at http://www.i-sis.org.uk/EdwardGoldsmith.php

All new articles are also announced on our RSS feed http://www.i-sis.org.uk/feed.xml