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IN MEMORIAM... ACTIVIST/ACTOR DENNIS WEAVER PDF Print E-mail
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Wednesday, 01 March 2006
By Melanie Knight

“(Bush’s) mantra right now is 'We must stay the course, stay
the course.' Folks, if you are going 70 miles an hour toward
a brick wall, you don't stay the course. If your quarterback
keeps calling the wrong plays and fumbling the ball you don't
"stay the course". You get a new quarterback. For the safety
of our nation and the welfare of our children, it's time to
bench George W. Bush."--Dennis WeaverOn February 24, Dennis Weaver died of complications from
cancer at his home in Ridgway, Colorado.

Most obituaries concentrated on his acting career, which is
admittedly impressive. I first saw him as the father in
GENTLE BEN, then as McCLOUD, one of my all-time
favourite shows. Every time I’m on a lonesome highway,
with a big rig truck behind me, I think of his character’s
experience in DUEL.

In retrospect, I think one of the main reasons I liked him was
that he reminded me of my father: both strong, intelligent,
kind and loving men who stood up for what they believed in,
even when those around them did not agree or understand;
men who stood up for what was right.

I had never heard of vegetarianism until I read an article
about Weaver in 1974. I did NOT rush out in a frenzy to
become one, just because he was. But it made me start
thinking about the idea. Five years later, I gave up all meat.

Only briefly mentioned in recent articles about Weaver were
his environmental interests and concerns with feeding the
hungry. When he tried to speak about them, he was told
people only wanted to hear about his acting career. Weaver
didn’t get the attention as an activist that other actors have
gotten, but he was VERY active, and spoke out against
Bush and the Iraq War as well.

Here are some facts, and then some of his own words:

From DennisWeaver.com:

In 1983, Dennis, Valerie Harper and several concerned
community leaders founded Love Is Feeding Everyone
(L.I.F.E.). Once providing supplemental food to 400 people
each week, through Dennis's leadership, as President and
Chairman of the Board of Directors, L.I.F.E. now supports
200 agencies who collectively are feeding 150,000 hungry
people a week in Los Angeles County. L.I.F.E. now serves
as a role model for groups throughout the U.S. who wish to
launch a program like L.I.F.E. His work with L.I.F.E. earned
Dennis the 1986 Presidential End Hunger Award.

A man of action, Dennis is living in a home he built.....an
environmentally friendly solar-powered mass house made
from recycled automobile tires and cans. It is called an
"Earthship" - an independent sustainable living space......a
living space that is not dependent on archaic centralized
energy systems that are greatly damaging the planet. The
"Earthship" is the brainchild of Taos, New Mexico architect,
Michael Reynolds. (A film about the house) for three years,
was shown on PBS stations across the country.

Dennis actively supported the United States' participation in
the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) in Rio (the Earth Summit) in June of
'92. In May of '92, he delivered his now famous "McCloud"
Senate speech as part of the preparatory conference for
UNCED, which was held in the UN's General Assembly.

Dennis serves on the Board of Directors of ECO (Earth
Communications Office)... a group of creative people from
the entertainment industry who are dedicated to using their
power of communication to inform and influence people to
take action to save the home we all share...our wondrous
Mother Earth. He is also on the Advisory Board of the
"Center For Environmental Solutions' " based in Denver,
Colorado.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."
 
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