JOHN DENVER AND HIS LEGACY
“To Sail On A Dream On a Crystal Clear Ocean,
To Ride On The Crest Of The Wild Raging Storm,
To Work In The Service Of Life And The Living,
In Search Of The Answers To Questions Unknown
“To Be Part Of The Movement,
Part Of The Growing,
Part Of Beginning To Understand….
“Ey, Calypso The Places You've Been To,
The Things That You've Shown Us,
The Stories You Tell,
Ey, Calypso I Sing To Your Spirit….”
This heart moving tribute from one world famous nature-lover, JOHN
DENVER, to another, JACQUES COUSTEAU, became a song that for many of us
stirred profound feelings. JOHN DENVER was a gentle man who owned
a magnificent, perfect pitch voice and fully lived his passion.
Not only did he write words and lyrics to hundreds of songs about the
human condition and his connection to nature, but his activism for
conservation of our environment, crusade for world peace, AND the end
of world hunger won him many accolades and awards.
In 1980 JOHN DENVER stood beside PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER as the ALASKA WILDLIFE AREA ARCTIC
NATIONAL was 'preserved' with the signing of THE
ALASKA NATIONAL INTEREST LANDS CONSERVATION ACT. We all know what
has happened to that in the past month. Nothing appears to be
sacred anymore. But we must not lose heart. There are many
ways to reinvigorate. Go to www.johndenver.com to start the
healing.
Another group that John served proudly on was President Jimmy Carter's
PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ONWORLD HUNGER. Also on that commission
was singer/songwriter HARRY CHAPIN. What still exists as part of
that can be found at www.thp.org (The Hunger Project). Its top
priority is to educate women in Africa, Asia, and Latin America as to how
to use their power to bring about sustainable living.
John also created WINDSTAR in 1976 along with his good friend Tom
Crum. WINDSTAR is a non-profit ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
ORGANIZATION using holistic approaches to problems. Located on
nearly 1000 acres in beautiful Colorado, it teaches that we affect each
other by our actions. It holds EARTHcamps for kids around the
country also. More information can be found at http://www.wstar.org/
THE SPIRIT OF JOHN DENVER is still alive and well! To honor this
tireless citizen of the world, we should each try to clean up our own
little corner of the globe. It is not easy because sometimes it
involves giving up something we think we cannot live without, or facing
someone with whom we have disagreements. But, it can be a growing
experience. So sing a song while you work at this. Or
better yet, get out your old 33 1/3's and give them a spin once again
to get that feeling back of YES! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND MAKE A
JOYFUL NOISE WHILE WE DO IT.
In the words of JOHN, “REJOYCE IN THE CREATIVE SPIRIT THAT LIVES IN
YOU. USE IT CONSCIOUSLY TO CREATE THE LIFE AND THE WORLD YOU
WANT”.
CPR…Conserve/Participate/Recycle….Salutations!
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