On August 19, 1991, a good man, Larry Bogart, graduated from Planet Earth -- no doubt with highest honors.
    Under his low-key guidance, the people of this country defeated over 100 proposed nuclear plants. He raised funds to stop the dread reprocessing center at Barnwell, South Carolina, a dirty process which would have, after a fashion, "closed" the nuclear fuel cycle.
    He personally headed off the breeder, a plutonium maker, cooled with liquid sodium, which flames upon contact with air...he drove it out of 6 proposed locations in the state of New York and a 7th in Pennsylvania, down into Oak Ridge, Tennessee, home of all things nuclear...and in due time the scientific community said not only no, but hell no...
    Thousands, literally thousands of us came to know Larry one-on-one through the Citizens Energy Council, as he conscientiously chronicled the nuclear age with his one- man publication. I take no small pride in being included in his Honor Roll for "civic responsibility" which helped to stop the spread of nuclear power...and there are nearly 400 of us who worked closely with him.
    He didn't think so, but time may show that what he did was enough -- minuscule, like a walnut moving in its shell, as his teacher Gurdjieff used to say -- but that little bit was enough.

    Larry often said, "I am going to sue them for mental anguish!" What could be more anguishing than to know, so clearly, as he did, that we are on a path that will ultimately make oxygen dependent life on Earth impossible; that will destroy the protective immune system of humans and animals; that is throwing long-lived poisons into our air, water and food; and that is developing elaborate plans to poison space.
    As soon as Larry understood what was going on back in the early 1960`s, he dropped the comfort of his high paying executive salary and devoted himself to the task of averting disaster. His life was a testament to the highest aspirations of service.
    Larry was right. Radioactivity IS seeping out all over -- into everything. For example, barrels of radiation waste dumped 30 years ago into the oceans off the coast of Massachusetts, New Jersey, California and other spots, are now breaking open, resulting in massive fish kills which will surely lead to other impacts. Everyday  releases from the world's 400-some nuclear power plants accumulate in human bodies.  Previously unknown infectious diseases, resulting from weakened immunity, are emerging -- now ratified by a recent announcement of cases of patients with "AIDS" symptoms but, with no virus! And "Lyme Disease" with no tick!
    Larry understood what we are headed for.
    What can we do to carry forward his work? Larry never gave up -- to his last day when he was on the way to the post office to circulate still more critical information among his wide range of friends.
    As Larry never gave up, we must not give up. The power of life, combined with the power of our Faith will create a turn in the path we are now on, and an alternative to the devastation we face.

"Faith can move mountains."

     I never met Larry, but have been a subscriber to his newsletter for over 20 years.  I depended on his understanding, insights, conviction, impy sense of humor and fearless and wise use of strong adjectives and adverbs.  What will we do now?
     It was wonderful that Larry could inspire and work with all those people whose understanding of nuclear physics, statistics, medicine, etc. enabled them to know what they were talking about.  Larry knew that we all needed each other and strove to bridge the gap.
     I could go on and on-as I'm sure could many others.  Maybe our best stories should be compiled into a memorial book for Larry.

      Sometimes looking into his beautiful China-blue eyes, so full of heavenly lights, would cause me to take a deep uncomfortable measure of myself.  Other times, I would find real contentment just sharing a room with him.  Our connection was often without words or shared ideas or interests, and inconstant, but at the time of his passing, I knew that I had lost a real friend.
     I'll always remember the helping hand he extended me at what he correctly perceived as difficult times for me. His love and concern for our son, Tino meant something that I' ll always cherish, and I'll never forget how much he was loved by this very special man.
     From this time on, we in his family, will sense a void in our gatherings where this extraordinary and perplexing man once was.  He is sorely missed.

    I love him and I'm sad about it.

    Larry will always be with us.  His information and encouragement helped us successfully fight the establishment of an immense nuclear power park in northern Minnesota.  As he gave himself for others, Larry led a holy quest to protect the planet and its inhabitants from nuclear fission.  May his spirit live forever.

     You must believe firmly as I do that, in the not very distant future, Larry will be recognized nationwide as the extraordinary patriot, visionary, humanitarian and successful antinuclear activist that he was.  He was the wake-up call for us all and the most important and appropriate thing we can do in his memory is to push on with the struggle, gathering support and strength to banish the nuclear menace in all its forms forever.
      Nothing less will do in love for Larry and his leadership.

     Larry Bogart:  A mind and hand of steel, unswerving on one issue; the central issue of our generation and those to come -- nuclear power.  Larry's stance caught me up and has carried me on since 1966.  His materials are now among my papers at the University of New Hampshire Library.

 Larry and I go back a very long time...Larry was a man who understood.  I am saddened by this great loss.

     There are simply no words to express my measureless gratitude to Larry for his generous assistance to us in our (eventual) defeat of plans to install nuclear power in Wisconsin.
     When we began our struggles in 1973, he came to feed our impoverished minds with an endless stream of information and fill our quaking hearts with such courage and determination that, a year later, the impeccably cool chief PR official of Wisconsin Electric pounded the table in fury and declared LAND "the absolute worst grass-roots anti-nuclear bunch in the whole country."
     Without Larry, there would probably be no nuclear plant moratorium in Wisconsin today and thousands of radiation victims would be dead, dying or unborn.
     I felt honored to have known Larry.  His superior qualities of mind and heart were always blended with that quality which is the hallmark of the truly great -- absolute humility.
     I know that through the efforts to preserve his lifework, he will not be forgotten.
 

The quotation is spoken by Horatio as Hamlet is dying, if memory serves me.
I cried when I read it in high school.  I cry now.

"Now cracks a noble heart,
Good night, Sweet Prince
Flights of angels sing
thee to thy rest."

      The first time I heard his name was when a long-since forgotten acquaintance called and told me that I should send some of the fact sheets I'd compiled against atomic power plants to a man by the name of Larry Bogart who was quoted in the New York Times as saying that atomic power was the answer to New York's air pollution problems.  I remember thinking there was one-chance-in-a-million that I could affect someone so strongly in favor of the atom.
     A few days later I followed through and was surprised and delighted to hear Larry say that he had indeed read my material and would like to discuss it.  At the suite of offices he had at the time in the UN Plaza building (money flowed in then, as now, to anyone proclaiming the virtues of the atom), he told me that he had begun to have misgivings, and that there were a few questions especially troubling to him; my fact sheets and the items that I'd collected added to these concerns.
     He said he couldn't promise me anything except that he would seek answers to the questions.  It was only a few weeks before Larry invited me to attend a meeting and news conference held in a church near his office.  He announced then that he had been wrong in promoting atomic power as the solution to anything, that it was a dangerous technology being poorly handled, and that from then on he would be promoting safer, saner energy alternatives.
     This honest statement and the commitment that came with it affected me beyond any words I have to explain.  How many people are honest or humble enough to admit having been in error and willing to correct their course?  I knew that I had found a rare treasure -- a man I quickly came to honor in a way I had previously honored only my own father.
     Larry proved to be that one-in-million I thought that he would have to be to respond in so positive a way.  But he was one-in-a-million in many other ways as well.
      His values were so completely spiritual, and how refreshing that in an age where most people -- and sadly even those who consider themselves "good" people -- really worship the god of money.  It was not long before Larry had to leave the suite of offices and learn to work from his home and largely on a shoestring.
     Indefatigable and gifted in public speaking, he quickly made converts in virtually every state.  His letters and articles, the books he contributed to, the wonderful newsletters, his testimony before Congress and various licensing boards, his dedicated work and encouragement to others ...these go far beyond the ability of any single person to know or remember.
     I honestly don't think that any single human being has done more to alert the public to the hazards of nuclear power than Larry. No one is more indebted to Larry than I am because it was he who saw the possibilities for a book in the materials I brought to him in 1967.  This led to my publication of Perils of the Peaceful Atom, with Richard Curtis as co-author.
     Larry also introduced me to many other wonderful people -- some living some departed, but who will live on as he will in minds and hearts of all who knew them.
     The grief that we feel is a natural reaction to our loss, but it is overcome by the belief that for Larry, as for all who do God's work on earth, death is not the end of life but a transformation to eternal life.  And hence our temporary loss is, I believe, Larry's eternal gain.  A friend with whom I shared a few of my most precious memories said that when God calls someone like Larry it is to continue, on a higher plane and under infinitely better circumstances, work that person had started on earth.
     I remember that Larry was pleased to be "on the side of the angels" with regard to nuclear power.  I think that he is much closer to them now and able to accomplish even more for the preservation of a livable environment on earth.  So while we will all deeply miss the wonderful friend, companion, leader and spokesman Larry was, I hope that all who knew him will join me in thanking God for the enormous privilege of having known and loved him.
     To his family, I can only extend heartfelt sympathy and the hope that remembering how much Larry had meant -- will always mean to so many people -- also brings a measure of comfort.  Not only for what he did, so tirelessly and faithfully, but for the example he set and the inspiration he will always be. REST IN PEACE AND JOY, MY GOOD FRIEND, MAY GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS

     If my late husband, Dr. Joseph Meiers, were here today he would wish me to add a tribute to his friend, that indomitable fighter for the environment and opponent of nuclear energy, as Larry spoke so eloquently at his memorial six years ago.
     So in his name and in mine, let me say how grateful we have been to have the friendship of and opportunity to cooperate with this brave and dedicated man, Larry Bogart.

      I don't think Larry and I ever met.  If we did, it was for a thirty second handshake at Critical Mass in 1974.  Nevertheless, he has been a presence in my life for almost 20 years, beginning in 1972 when we formed the North Anna Environment Coalition and began to draw upon his expertise for our long, long opposition to those fault-sited reactors.
     His information and inspiration were invaluable, but the most memorable mail that he ever sent me was a postcard with two words: DON'T REST!
    He himself certainly never did, even when age, infirmity and discouragement might have slowed other people.
    The planet has lost one of its major protectors.

No believer in death, yet I mourn
for the loss that is ours.

But for you Larry, our unique herald,
I do not perceive that you will cease from striving.

With fervor and with hope in your new mode of being
I salute you!

You were and are a gentle-man
in the full first sense of that name.

You were and are a priest
more real than many purported so to be.

I discern you on the ramparts of the Spirit
resuming, after a respite, your barely uninterrupted watch
over this well beloved planet, guiding us ever;

and I pray
that illuminated by the far-glowing light of conviction
we may carry forward unestranged
your warning, imbuing all whom we meet
with the awareness that you, Larry,
were the first to kindle.

     Larry Bogart was a foremost member of our movement against the horrors of nuclear power.  He will always be remembered as a leader in the Hudson Valley opposition to Indian Point and for his tireless opposition to an atomic facility at Cementon.  His counsel inspired thousands...
     So I feel saddened by his passing, but also eternally grateful that God led me through life to my meeting with Larry Bogart in 1977.  Since that time, we've been close friends, but now I can hope to emulate this great teacher and learn more deeply.
     Through the dedicated work of Larry Bogart, the world had been warned of impending nuclear disaster; now it is our responsibility to fight on.  With love, gratitude and thanks to one of the greatest people I've ever met.  God bless you, Larry.
 

  ...Of course, those of us left behind will miss his physical presence, but his spirit is and will be with us in peace, love and light.

     I didn't know Larry for long, but it was a privilege--a real inspiration--to know him at all.  I'm sorry that he didn't live to see his complete victory.

      There is no truer martyr than Larry to the cause of ridding the world of its most dire peril.  His dedication will shine to the day of nuclear extinction OR salvation.
 

      I believe that in time many more thousands of individuals will come to recognize and appreciate Larry's service to humanity.
     I never had the opportunity to get to know Larry on a more personal level, but our association in the cause of putting an end to radioactive pollution was one that was enlightening and supportive to me.  I always admired his ability to pinpoint what was quintessentially important in the voluminous information he amassed.  I will miss Larry's communication and his presence in the continuing fight for a healthy and peaceful world.

      Larry Bogart was of course an inspiration to me.  While our long periodic phone visits let me take advantage of his extraordinary store of knowledge, they also restored my hope that we can win -- that we can shut down all nuclear power plants, and that people can make a difference.
     Because Larry kept bouncing back with energy and determination--and hope--he forced the rest of us to keep trying.  His encouraging and sometimes complimentary comments to me were invigorating and challenging.
     I don't know how many of us were leaning on his shoulders.  I just know I was.
 

     The light that shines from you heart has touched many others...the world needs more people like you.

     We feel as if we have lost a family member.  His place will be very empty, but we must carry his message to all who will listen.

      It is with profound heartfelt Christian love I offer my prayers in behalf of our dear and beloved friend Larry. Truly, he has been an example par excellence to our fragile humanity. I shall continue to thank god for his enlightenment.
 

     Larry Bogart's contribution was not limited to his unequaled effort in slowing down significantly the proliferation of nuclear power. He will be remembered, perhaps with greater fondness, as a person who strove to practice the golden rule on a cosmic scale.

      We share the gratitude for Larry's patience, imagination, creativity, common sense, foresightedness, and grit...His pulling us together across the continent meant we couldn't fail. And I don't believe we shall. Larry was great!

     I first met Larry in 1980. We were introduced by a poster hanging on the wall in Anna Gyorgy's office at Critical Mass.  The poster was a rather eye-catching front page of the Des Moines Register, proclaiming a catastrophic atomic disaster at
Indian Point, and the panic that has resulted in the Northeast. The paper as dated 2 years into the future.
     The poster caught my attention. And I wanted to meet the creative, imaginative designer. For I was trying to catch the attention of General Electric before GE's reactors popped a containment. I confess that I was a novice about these dangers, atomic, Larry was repeatedly recommended as being the most knowledgeable source. When I read John Gofman's book Irrevy, I noticed that it was dedicated to Larry Bogart. So I just HAD to meet this wise person.
     Larry poured a flood of information through my mail box in the last 10 years. I've learned more than I ever WANTED to learn about radiation hazards. But he also inspired me to work harder than I ever wanted to stop the radiation-mongers. Each year he helped me draft new stockholder proposals to submit to GE. And he accompanied me to talk personally to Chairman Jack Welch, to help educate GE about the hazards they generate.
     GE immortalized Larry Bogart and another anti-nuclear giant, Leo Goodman, in GE's magazine reporting the stockholder meeting that was held in Richmond, Virginia in 1982. GE showed a closeup photo of these two dignified "stockholders" attentive to the proceedings. If GE ever does de-nuclearize and "Bring Good Things to Life", it will be in large part due to the direct and indirect influence of Larry Bogart.
     Larry has certainly changed and enriched my life, and I want to publicly express my love and appreciation of his influence.

      Whenever I turn on the stove, go out into the sun, swim in the Gulf, I will always think of Larry. Restoring our energy with the use of natural resources, no nukes, no coal, less oil, this was his dream. And it WILL become a reality because of Larry and all those he inspired to think and act good, green, healthy and pure.
     His persistence and tenacity made one work that extra hour, give up that second meal, think positive, and most all, stand up and shout, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!"
     We must question authority, we must educate the little guy, the poor guy and most of all, the mixed up greedy bums in Washington.
     Women WILL change the world, a statement made, followed and believed by Larry Bogart. He will always have a special place in my heart. And if God is willing, I will be around to see his dream fulfilled.   Wherever you are, Larry, I know we will receive a newsletter any time now!

     Larry Bogart entered this world an old soul with attributes refined and burnished. He was equipped with a brilliant mind, an educated heart, and phenomenal patience, endurance, and courage.
     As a young boy, when he wasn't buried in books, Larry spent hours in the woods establishing close relationships with plants and small animals. By the age of 12 he had developed his religious nature to the point where his Lutheran pastor asked him to preach at the Sunday evening services. At that time he expected to become a priest. This changed in favor of writing and publishing at Harvard where he was Secretary of The Crimson and reported football games for the Boston Globe.
     This flair for the creative sprang into full bloom after Larry left Harvard and became reporter, editor and publisher of 4 local newspapers on Long Island. Then came the war and with it a critical challenge in Larry's life.
     By this time Larry had a wife and son and was therefore not eligible for the draft. He took a job overseeing quality control in the manufacture of proximity fuses for the Navy. When he discovered irregularities in the process and imperfections in the product, he reported them to his boss, the manager of Works Progress, who rebuked him soundly. "If you won't report this, I will," Larry told him.
     "You wouldn't dare," was the response.
     "I can't see sending defective equipment to our men whose lives depend on it. So, if you don't, I will."
     "You'll be sorry."
     "I promise you, I shall do it." And he did.
     So Larry was fired and 3 days later was drafted, despite the protest of the local chairman of the Draft Board and of the Army Major who had asked to have Larry in his command so
that he could write some of his army manuals. But in the special order from on high Larry was branded "troublemaker," immediately sent abroad and put in the front line near Metz. He found himself in a squad of 120 men who were ordered to attack after they had swum across the Moselle River. When the attack was over, 23 men were alive and Larry, a lowly private, had become commanding officer. Subsequent harassments by the Army are too numerous to mention.
     Larry was a man of contrasts. At home with the savants, he was equally compatible with the far less gifted. Essentially a man of peace with love of gardening, birds and animals, books, and music, and with active concern for people in need and compassion for those suffering, life's blueprint led him into 25 years of strife.
     As Vice-President in charge of public relations at Allied Chemical, Larry had an opulent salary and an expense account that afforded visiting VIPs lavish hospitality at restaurants and theaters. He also had a staff of 34 to implement his ideas.
     What changed Larry's secure way of life was the self-revelation that man's enthusiastic embrace of atomic fission could lead to dire consequences for humanity. From then until his death there were two motivating thoughts; the probability of ill and dying victims of nuclear power, land timelessly unusable, societies snuffed out. The other, how to oppose nuclear power successfully and to substitute one of the many alternatives. This effort continued for 25 years. A psychic once told Larry in 1959 that he would always have just enough money for his work but never any for himself. And so it was. For example, he  cut his own hair, wore $3 shoes from garage sales and drove a hand-me-down gift car which expired on April 20th.
     It is impossible to provide a complete picture of this indefatigable, totally committed worker. He traveled the country from coast to coast, a veritable Paul Revere, stripping nuclear propaganda to the bare bones of truth. As citizens learned of threats to health from radioactive emissions, of nukes built on earthquake faults, nukes built in populated areas with no evacuation solutions and no solutions to nuclear waste, they formed hundreds of activist groups. As a result, the construction of 80 plants has been prevented. Larry effectively furnished the leadership in providing authentic
information, printed materials, speakers, funds and modus operandi.
     Countrywide cohesion has been effected through Larry's biweekly bulletin which he started 25 years ago. These imparted vital information as did his many lectures. So great was the impact of his bulletin received in New Zealand that a woman from Aukland came to New York last year to volunteer her services (free) for 3 months. And work she did -- no matter what the assignment.
     Many conferences in different parts of the country have been the creation and inspiration of Larry. One such was a two day session held in the Senate Auditorium on Earth Day, 1970, for members of Congress. Eager to impart impassioned warnings on the grave risks of nuclear domination of our society were 14 scientists, each an expert in his own field. Among them were Gofman, Tamplin, Huever, Martel.
     This has been no ego circuit for Larry. Actually it had increased agony for him as knowledge of the frailty of the operation of both plants and operators has been extracted from official files. His nightly sleep had been shattered since he learned that reports of nuclear accidents (such as TMI 2 the week of 3/22/90) would be kept from the public and that 19 plants are now on the critical list. Because people at home and abroad sent him such information as the increasing incidence in leukemia around nuclear facilities, he felt personally responsible for potential innocent victims -- especially the children. At this point, however, many of the fighting groups had settled back in exhaustion, despair or cynicism, which left him to plan ways and means for getting the word out and to coordinate whatever efforts raised their heads. "No use going on," they'd say. "The controllers are too powerful, too rich." "Maybe it's the Dutchman in me," replied Larry, "but I can't give it up. Too much at stake."
     In spite of undeviating dedication to saving humanity wherever threatened, Larry Bogart always found time for the small cog in the Universe needing some expression of concern and love.

     I want to begin my comments with a statement made by Larry's little Grandson, Tino, who, when asked how he was feeling about losing his abuelo, replied simply and eloquently that he loved him and he was very sad.
     Tino speaks for us all.
     We all loved Larry and we will all miss him.
 While thinking about doing this, I worried about how I was going to be strong enough to say all the things that need to be said about Larry without breaking down.
    I called upon God and I even called upon Larry to send some strength.
   The response in unison was, that I would find it within myself.
   Larry is definitely with the angels..... and all the things that need to be said about Larry are here in the faces and hearts of those whose lives and work Larry has touched and inspired.
     No question about it, Larry was an inspiration to most of us here.

     I would like to read the last paragraph of a letter which was sent to Florence, the woman Larry always referred to as his bride. It was written by Christopher Cole, a member of the student Environmental Club at Fordham University, and a total stranger. He was apparently inspired to write the letter after he had read about Larry's life and death in the New York Times.
     After noting Larry's great strength, and describing him as a man obviously ahead of his time, he adds for Florence, "Most importantly, is the fact that your apparent self-sacrifice, dedication and resolve to support him in his uphill and undoubtedly frustrating mission is so admirable. Mr. Bogart has made a significant and lasting contribution that will benefit all mankind and I know that he couldn't have done it without you! "
     We all, everyone here, thank you Florence and your sons, daughters in-law, and grandsons for all the sacrifices we know you have made.

     While searching the library of my mind for the right words to use to describe Larry, tenacious and kindhearted were always at the top of the list.
     And, In talking to the many who have called to express their feelings about Larry, I have heard the word "genius" more than a few times to describe him.
     Florence and I had a conversation the other day while we cleaned out the sunporch, one of the many stations throughout the house Larry chose to use as an office and to store his many books and papers. As we both gazed at the massive disarray around us, we agreed how difficult it can be to live with a genius.
     Before, I left with the van filled with part of what will one day be the Larry Bogart Memorial Library, my friend gave Florence a loaf of home made sour-dough bread. She held it and remembered that she and Larry had made plans to retire to New England, and spend leisurely days baking bread together.  We know, that it would have been some bakery, and we are sorry it did not happen for Florence and for Larry.

     You will hear the words of Dr. Ernest Sternglass. Although Florence has requested that our words do not only focus on Larry's work, it would be hard for Ernest to speak of anything else.  Like Larry, who was the man who first inspired Ernest to go public with his findings, Ernest is consumed by a sense of urgency and motivated by a devout dedication to justice.  Larry would be pleased by Ernest's words, and flattered that he was being credited with inspiring the most recent Russian revolution.

      Lately, when I think of Larry, I think of the garden he tended with love and great joy. He wanted his ashes to be sprinkled on his tomato plants.
     And I think of the plants he carefully dug and put in pots and old coffee cans for the trip to my own garden. These will always be there to remind me of his kindness and generosity.
     He always had a smile, a little present, and most of the time, a solution.
     Just a few days before the accident, he was at my office and met Sandra Ramos, another outstanding human being who works to make the world a better place in the area of halting domestic violence. Larry had a solution for her. Wearing that familiar glint in his eye that seemed to radiate from his soul, he said that he would help establish an anti-battering brigade -- a sort of all male vigilante troop to go out and batter the batterers. She said she liked the idea and Larry said he'd join the brigade.
     Larry's brigade probably would have done more to curtail domestic violence than all other measures thus far tried.

     In the course of a lifetime, few of us are fortunate enough to know and to learn from one of the truly special individuals that grace this earth with their presence. Larry was one of these individuals and has lit the way for many others.
     Larry was described as "one in a million" by Elizabeth Hogan, the woman who had sent him some fact sheets about atomic power plants in the mid-1960's, which started him on the long and difficult journey he chose.
     She describes Larry's values as being completely spiritual and provides us with these comforting words. "The grief we feel is a natural reaction to our loss, but it is overcome by belief that Larry, as for all who do God's work on earth, death is not the end of life but a transformation to eternal life. And hence, our temporary loss is Larry's gain. When God calls someone like Larry, it is to continue on a higher plane and under infinitely better circumstances, work that person has started on earth.
     Though we will deeply miss this wonderful friend, companion, leader and spokesman, I hope all who knew him will join me in thanking God for the enormous privilege of having known and loved him.
     To his family I can only extend heartfelt sympathy and the hope that remembering how much Larry has meant, will always mean, to so many people, also brings a measure of comfort. Not only for what he did, so tirelessly and faithfully; but for the example he set and inspiration he will always be." (unquote)

     Our loss is profound, but we must console ourselves -- for Larry's presence on this Earth was truly a gift to us all --to his family, his friends, his co-workers and to the hundreds of thousands of people who will not be forced to live downwind from  a nuclear reactor because he cared.
     Elizabeth closes her message with these words for Larry...

    "REST IN PEACE, MY GOOD FRIEND,
     MAY GOD BE WITH YOU ALWAYS".

     Larry Bogart has been an inspiration to countless thousands of people, myself emphatically included, with his passion for truth and justice.
     Always a tireless worker in an uphill struggle for humanity...
     Always preserving his sense of humor and his twinkle...
     His generous spirit will be sorely missed, but we can take heart and solace that his inspiration will continue in many minds and hearts.
     He added a very great deal to all that counts in life.

     As those of us who have had the privilege of knowing Larry Bogart are honoring his memory at a time when the world has suddenly been transformed and the cold war has ended in a manner that none of us could have anticipated, it is fitting to reflect upon the amazing way in which Larry's efforts to warn of the danger of nuclear reactors contributed to this startling revolution.
     Although it was a handful of atomic scientists led by Albert Einstein, Bertrand Russell, Albert Schweitzer and Linus Pauling who first warned of the danger of nuclear war in the 1940's and 50's, no one in the scientific or medical  community expressed any public concern about the danger presented by the peaceful atom. Despite the fact that studies of the potential consequences of a nuclear reactor accident had been carried out by scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory during the 1950's for the Atomic Energy Commission, the results had been kept secret. The enormously large number of deaths and economic damage to society that would result were so great that it would have aroused widespread public concern at the very time when our government had already decided to proceed with  the construction of the first commercial nuclear reactor to generate electricity at Shippingport near Pittsburgh.
     As we now know from declassified records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, this decision was taken by the Executive Branch of our government in order to counteract the rising concern of the public about the rapidly accelerating testing of ever more powerful nuclear weapons and the fallout that had irradiated Japanese fishermen in the Pacific after one of the early hydrogen bomb tests during the height of the cold war.
     Tragically, the fear of Communism combined with the fervent hope that the peaceful atom would atone for the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki persuaded the vast majority of scientists, engineers and physicians that nuclear weapons are necessary. It seemed that nuclear reactors which promised cheap, clean and limitless sources of energy in a world that would eventually run out of fossil fuels had to be built. Thus, an overwhelming consensus of expert opinion, perceived military threat, and ignorance of the full consequences of low doses of radiation from releases into the air, the water and the diet led a handful of political leaders guided by their scientific advisers to suppress the results of the Brookhaven Reports, and to proceed with a vast program of nuclear reactor construction unchecked by public scrutiny.
     An analogous fear of western military and industrial superiority persuaded the leaders of the Soviet Union to undertake a similar program of reactor development for both military  and civilian nuclear reactors and to keep knowledge of the true extent of the dangers from radioactive releases from their people. But because the Soviet Union possessed a much smaller industrial and scientific base than the U.S., because secrecy was easier to maintain in their police state, and because any criticism or expression of concern about nuclear testing or reactor safety was much more severely repressed, their program proved to be far more fraught with serious accidents and radiation exposures of both workers and the public than in the U.S.
     In the absence of any knowledge of the true danger, all over the world the peaceful atom was perceived as a great boon, holding promise of an end to an unlimited supply of energy to light the cities, run the factories and irrigate the deserts to make them bloom. Enormous investments were made by the oil industry and the major banks in uranium and the means to produce nuclear fuel that would be certain to replace coal, gas and oil in all industrial societies.
     In the face of all these powerful forces favoring the rapid development of a large nuclear industry, it took enormous courage and insight for Larry to examine the dangers of nuclear reactors when they were first brought to his attention by Mary Louise Weik. But once he had convinced himself of the validity of concerns about the safety of the large nuclear plants that were being rushed into operation, he dedicated himself completely to the task of warning and organizing the public with the tools that he, among all other concerned individuals knew best how to use the public media that had been kept in ignorance of the full extent of the danger.
     Although Leo Goodman to whom Larry went for information had been the first to intervene against the licensing of a nuclear plant on behalf of the union leader Walter Ruether, it was Larry who recognized the need to organize grass-roots opposition if the enormously powerful forces pushing for the massive construction of thousands of untried large reactors were to be stopped. He also recognized the need to involve concerned scientists who previously had only been worried about the effects of radioactive exposures to bomb fallout, and thus, by 1970, managed to mobilize individuals such as John Gofman and Arthur Tamplin as well as myself in the effort to educate the public.
     Within the next few years the opposition to nuclear plant construction and licensing by local citizens grew enormously, fueled by the increasing efforts  of Larry to organize local citizens, publish newsletters, arrange news conferences and mobilize scientists and physicians who had been unaware of the dangers of reactors such as George Wald and Henry
Kendall, whose newly organized Union of Concerned Scientists provided vital engineering know-how to bring out the technical details of reactor safety problems.
     The battle to halt the further construction of reactors was finally joined by Ralph Nader, who organized the first Critical Mass Conference in 1974. Beginning in the U.S. and then all over western Europe, demonstrations and sit-ins multiplied, eventually involving many thousands of ordinary individuals, both young and old, representing a new kind of peaceful revolution that the industrial world had never seen before. And although the effort to end the operation of all nuclear reactors did not succeed, no new reactors were ordered by electric utilities in the U.S. after 1978, the year before the accident at three mile island vindicated Larry's deep concern. As a result of the enormous efforts in organizing the citizen's opposition to nuclear reactor construction begun by Larry, only about a hundred are now operating in the U.S. instead of the one thousand that had been planned by the nuclear establishment.
     Thus, Larry achieved ninety percent of the goal that he had set for himself, but the full fruits of his efforts have exceeded anything he could have imagined. We now know that it was the grass-roots opposition to nuclear plants that sprang up in the Soviet Union after Gorbachev's call for Glasnost, which grew enormously after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, that fueled the nationalist movements in the Ukraine and other republics of the Soviet Union, having spread there from the U.S. and Western Europe. And, on the very day that Larry died, August 19, 1991, it was the desire to be freed from the arbitrary power of an inhuman technocratically oriented central bureaucracy that gave the people of Moscow and Kiev the courage to protest and man the barricades in order to gain their freedom.
     I like to think it was Larry's fighting spirit that helped Boris Yeltsin and the young people of Moscow to end the Communist tyranny and with it the threat of nuclear war that has been hanging over the world for nearly half a century. And with the end of the need for a nuclear deterrent in sight at last, we can now hope to realize Larry's dream of freeing the world from the danger of all forms of nuclear energy, for our children and the generations to come.

     Larry Bogart died last month. Most people never heard of Larry Bogart. Larry Bogart founded the American antinuclear power movement. Sure, there was Linus Pauling and Albert Einstein, and John Gofman. But at a time when most of those guys were advocating forging warheads into reactor-domes, Larry Bogart was pounding the pavement outside Consolidated Edison. Larry goes back to the very beginning, when even the atomic scientists thought nuclear power would be cheap, safe, and clean.
     Leo Goodman, David Comey, June Allen, Jeannine Honicker, Pat Birnie, Harvey Wasserman, Judy Johnsrud, Faith Young, Joe Harding, Bob Alvarez, Kitty Tucker, Sam Lovejoy, Karen Silkwood, Ralph Nader...you can't name an antinuclear pioneer that wasn't in some way, directly or indirectly, influenced by Larry Bogart.
     Larry Bogart was a self-made maverick: a muckraking journalist in Long Island, a whistle blower in a defense plant, and a "troublemaker" in the Army. At the front near Metz, his commanders tried to get rid of him by ordering him to swim the Moselle River under fire and take an enemy stronghold. When the position was finally taken, only 23 of his 125-man squad were alive and Bogart, a private, had become the squad commander.
     As a Vice-President of Allied Chemical. Larry had an opulent salary, an expense account and a staff of 34 to implement his ideas. He gave all that up in the 1950s to blow the whistle on nuclear power. He bought $3 shoes at garage sales, cut his own hair, and drove a hand-me-down gift car. For 25 years, he spent all his time, and all his money, just spreading the word.
     Back before there was a Natural Rights Center there was the Shutdown Project. Before that there was the Catfish Alliance. Larry Bogart wove the disparate threads of southern anti-nuclear sentiments into that coalition. Lao Tsu said, of true leaders, when their work is accomplished, the people will say, "We did this ourselves!" Many of the people who came from 8 southern states to form the Catfish Alliance (slogan: "No Nukes Y'all)  never heard of Larry Bogart or knew that he had provided the spark that became their bonfire. In a way, Larry was the inspiration for the creation of our Center. His no-minced words newsletter, which cost $10/yr -- but only if you could afford it -- and changed names almost every issue, was a constant treasure-trove of research and cutting-edge thinking into alternate energy futures. Larry did more than curse the darkness, he cast light.
     As I look back over the past several years, I marvel at the accelerating pace of our success as an environmental movement. Recycling has taken root in virtually every community. You can go to McDonald's and eat a meatless meal, from a recycled paper container. No sooner did we raise an alarm about global warming than there was enormous coalescing of nations and peoples in an attempt to reverse the destruction. A U.N. global warming convention, modeled on the Montreal ozone treaty that paved the way, is in the offing. Even the rainforests may yet be served.
     The exception to the rule is nuclear power. It is as if, by the force of billions of squandered dollars, we are determined to keep a part of ourselves frozen in time -- stuck in the late '40s and early '50s.
     For the past ten years we've argued in court that nuclear energy is unnecessary because of the exponential rate at which energy-efficiency breakthroughs are being accomplished. In megawatts, as in computers and semiconductors, the price of the next new  step keeps plummeting, even as the speed and quality of innovation skyrockets.
     In the memory of Larry Bogart we dedicate this issue of Natural Rights -- and rededicate ourselves -- to that fight which he began.

From a letter sent to Larry shortly before his passing

    I have long intended to write you concerning your "retirement," though I know that this retirement is more apparent than real... It seems the appropriate time for a few words of reverent awe as well as great appreciation for such prodigious achievement in this seemingly profoundly indifferent environment.
    What Leo Szillard was to the nuclear arms race, Pete Scoville was to nuclear arms control, and Paul Erlich to the deterioration of the natural environment, you have been to the far more insidious (and less apparent to the public) danger of nuclear power.
    I continue to marvel at the inexhaustible eloquence of your newsletters.  You have done all that any one man could have done -- and are still doing it.  Anything that I could put into words would be woefully inadequate to encompass it, but I do send my recognition of what has taken place over these years.

     "In going to the back bench, I wish to acknowledge the invaluable help from scores of remarkable women, especially Mary Hutchinson and Dorothea Seeber, who have given almost 50 years of their lives to this work, and to my wife of 50 years, Florence, who has given me unfailing support and freedom to give my best energies to the task."