A Litany of the Dead

The number of interesting and remarkable people who have died in the last few days must be noted.

First of course is the great Desmond Tutu, one of the most important figures of peace in the last half-century. I don’t particularly have anything to add about Tutu that hasn’t already been said, but his importance can’t be overstated. And if toward the end of his life he became a celebrity peace activist that wasn’t really on the ground, well, who cares. I think he’d earned it.

Then you have the legendary biologist E.O. Wilson, merely one of the 10 most important scientists of the last half-century, not to mention a great writer and communicator of science, which is too often not valued in that community.

But those two very famous people are far from all.

Jonathan Spence was a genuinely great historian of China, a genuine giant of the entire profession, to the point that this Americanist not only knows who he is but is familiar with his work. And if you understand the specialization of professional historians, you know that is unusual.

Sarah Weddington is a gigantic hero for arguing the correct side in Roe. Almost glad she left us before she saw her career’s prime achievement be erased by the Supreme Court.

The Dallas Buyers Club is more OK Oscar bait than great movie, but the death of its director, Jean-Marc Vallée, at least needs to be noted. Wild was alright too. Not great. Also Oscar bait. But not unworthy.

Thomas Lovejoy was a giant of biology and the person who coined the term “biological diversity,” someone deeply committed to reversing the enormous damage humans have done to the planet. Like Weddington, I feel a certain sense of rightness that he left before what he knew was coming was something he had to witness personally.

Finally, a word for Gordon Carey, one of the many unsung civil rights activists who really moved the entire movement forward through his actions, in this case his role in training activists for sit-ins and the Freedom Rides. For that matter, given the incredibly bravery of the Freedom Riders and the real physical and mental sacrifice those people made, other than John Lewis, who can you name?