Christy-- Markess is in Wisconsin, I believe, but that's just like being here in Minnesota--where it's also cold and cloudy. Sen. Wellstone was my beloved senator. He represented me--as I often said: "Wellstone's MY man." Now I'll be borrowing Markess' wonderful Sen. Feingold.
My first awareness of Paul Wellstone was when I used to work for a bankruptcy attorney during the farm crisis in the early '80's. The trustee was needed to handle all the farm bankruptcies. Paul Wellstone worked with a group called Groundswell. They protested at bank foreclosures and forced farm auctions. They made a difference and his popularity with farmers is legendary. The real farmers are REALLY sad. A lot of people are REALLY sad. Susan > Are you in Minnesota? I just returned from a Sierra Club conference atC > Kentucky State University Farm. Mark Ritchie (president of the Institute for > Agriculture and Trade Policy www.iatp.org) was the key note speaker the > night of the plane crash. Of course he was a close personnel friend of the > entire Wellstone family, and it made for an extremely touching lecture by > Mark on the concepts of Sustainability and Survival as they relate to > agriculture, environment and the future of this planet. I am sorry about > this tragedy. > > Wendel Berry also spoke about the need for continuous dialog and > redefinition, to keep the concepts such as organic and sustainability alive. > In a personal converation, he told me, in response to concerns I have > regarding our own KY Dept. of Ag Organic Certification Program falling apart > as a result of the USDA impostion, that 'its got to be about Trust'. > > And in his talk (Wendel Berry) , gave a new definition for sustainable. > > 1)Nothing is wasted > 2)Perenniality (of both landscape and the people on the land) > 3)Diversity > > Christy > > > > > My level of paranoia is nearly palpable with the loss of Well*stone. > > The shock is measurable though. > > I guess in comparison to the DC area folks at least in this case there is > a > > feeling of culpability not just the unknown. > > > > There is a rhythm and a field however hard to divine. > > > > In Love & Light > > Markess > >
