Sailors,
Well maybe some of you are not
sailors, however since you are all mostly GIS’ers and most certainly
humans. I hope you will appreciate this story.
I have been subscribed for some time
because of my interest in sailing to serviceatsea.org. Drew has great ideas
about spreading the use of GIS. This letter is not yet posted on his website,
so if you have problems reading it let me know and I can convert it to plain
text.
Brad
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Paul
Newman and Service At Sea
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His legacy for the conservation
GIS community...
Asheville, NC - September
27, 2008 -
 Dear Friends of The GIS Institute,
I'd like to share a few thoughts on the passing of Paul Newman, and what
his legacy means for all of us in, or near, the GIS community...
Like many of you, I am touched by the news of his death today, as I feel
the connection to him and his family is a special one. We all know Paul;
the cool-hand actor, the car-racing enthusiast, and the Newman's Own face
on all of those products. Yet we in the Service at Sea and GIS community
have another connection to him through The GIS Institute...
Above my desk is a treasure, a gift I received from Paul Newman in
December of 2005. It arrived before Christmas in a plain white envelope -
I opened the letter right there in the bustling post office in Boulder, CO. Inside
was a short note, and a very generous check. He wrote that his daughter,
Nell, had recommended he donate to Service at Sea, and he continued
writing, "I am happy to support an organization she feels strongly
about...I wish you and your organization continued success. Sincerely,
(signed) Paul Newman". I framed the letter that day, and hung it on
the wall, just over my shoulder so I could glance at it while I worked on
the plan for Service at Sea. A few months ago we received another
generous donation from him. When I called Newman's Own to confirm, a grant
program manager joyfully said, "you have friends here - happy to
help".
So
how do the donations and legacy of Paul Newman affect the GIS community?
In 2006, his funding for The GIS Institute provided the seed capital to
run our first proof-of-concept trip "Service for Africa", a six
week project that delivered GIS training for over 100 people from 20
different conservation organizations in five African countries. Alumnus
of those courses have gone on to create a successful GIS Conservation community
in Kenya, others have gone on to GIS related jobs in parks in Southern
Africa, and still others are using GIS to care for the Gorillas in
Uganda, the Cheetah of Botswana, and the creatures and mangroves of the
Niger Delta.
In 2007 we refined our offerings, and began testing our courses in
Spanish, running existing courses with the added challenge of a language
barrier. Without the support of Newman's Own, the University students in Panama, and the community leaders working
for healthy forests and Tepehaun Indian land rights in Mexico,
would not be using GIS in their efforts to create a just and ecologically
rich world. In the United States, funds went toward supporting Sealife
Conservation, who work to eliminate marine debris from the oceans and
estuaries of California, The Alaska Marine Conservation Council, who
advocate for native fishing and hunting rights, and The Prince William
Sound Science Center, supporting science and education efforts in that
unique setting. These organizations all received GIS software grants from
ESRI, and GIS training services from The GIS Institute, supported by
Newman's Own donations.
Now in 2008, water and ocean health continue to attract us at The GIS
Insitute. We are continuing our work in California,
and now we are in Belize,
looking at and mapping the atolls, coral reefs, and mangroves of this,
the 2nd largest reef system in the world. I am hopeful that these waters
will continue to reveal their mysteries, as we learn to support them and
look at them in new ways with GIS and other technologies.
Service at Sea has not yet become the program of The GIS Institute that I
envision as the founder and chief steward of this organization. For all
the right reasons, we did not purchase and launch a boat last year as
planned, but it was not for the lack of support from Paul Newman.
So
just what is this legacy that he leaves us with?
I think it is to support audacity. He formed a for-profit company
designed to give away 100% of its profits, he generously gave away 250
million dollars, and he did it without asking a lot of questions on the
way in, nor did he ask for detailed reports on progress. He did the right
thing, and trusted us all to run with it.
I saw recent video of him on the Newman's Own site today, a sort of
goodbye I think. At the very end, he said "...lay back and raise
hell, bye."
I will honor him by continuing to live knowing that geography and
geo-technology are key platforms for adding to the sum of human
knowledge, that simply staring at a map can enhance your experience on
the earth, and that dreams should be big, and a little crazy.
We'll miss you Paul.
Drew Stephens, Director,
The GIS Institute, Service at
Sea.
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Service
At Sea | PO Box
1124 | Boulder
| CO | 80306
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