Read a beautiful message from Joe's sister, Maryann, who lives in London.  It appears that optimistic activism is a Bird family tradition!

Greetings from London. I'm Joe's other sister, Maryann, and I just wanted to say a huge "thank you" to you and all who've come up with such a wonderful memorial idea. I'm sure that Joe would love the idea of the butterfly waystations (and the Aztec notion that the monarchs are the spirits of fallen warriors). Indeed, he'd be  the first to volunteer to help create such sites.  

I don't know whether or not Joe ever knew the Latin  phrase "rus in urbe" -- essentially, countryside in  the town -- but he certainly embodied the concept.  He  loved wide-open, wild spaces, but also cherished  urban  parks, wetlands, gardens and individual trees and  plants.  A memorial that blends fun, education, nature and  civic involvement is a very fitting tribute to Joe.

 Although I'm about 3,000 miles away from Trenton,  I'm  keen to help in any way I can -- and look forward to seeing what you and the kids and the other volunteers create!
 
With all good wishes,
 Maryann Bird


p.s.) Just FYI, I work for two London-based  websites,  http://www.openDemocracy.net and http://www.chinadialogue.net, which address a wide range of political and environmental   subjects.  openDemocracy's logo is a butterfly (though not a monarch). It was chosen because of the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory: the idea that tiny atmospheric changes, like the movement (or not) of a  butterfly's wings, can produce huge and dramatic results later in time:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect. 


For openDemocracy, that means political movement  through free thinking and open debate.   Let's hope Joe's memorial butterfly waystations will have their own positive dramatic effects on all who work to create them and all who visit them (including the butterflies)!

Maryann Bird is a London-based freelance journalist with a special interest in environmental and human-rights issues. A writer and editor, she was previously a staff member at Time magazine (Europe), The Independent, the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times

Read a hopeful article about the future of cities by Maryann at the following address at chinadialogue.net:
http://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/720-Preparing-for-an-urban-future

Preparing for an urban future

Maryann Bird

January 26, 2007

Will humanity's historic move from countryside to city mean opportunity or apocalypse? Maryann Bird examines the Worldwatch Institute's latest State of the World report, which opts for optimism.