Gregory Friedman remembrance
Conservation Northwest / Aug 12, 2017 / Work Updates
Gregory Friedman, the nephew of our founder and Executive Director Mitch Friedman, passed away on August 4, 2017.
We deeply appreciate that some are choosing to honor and remember Greg through a donation to Conservation Northwest. Greg hiked in and was impressed by Whistler and the Sea to Sky area of southern British Columbia, and donations will help support our efforts to protect and recover grizzly bears and their habitat there. Thank you!
YOU CAN MAKE A DONATION ONLINE, OR BY CALLING 206.675.9747 EXTENSION 129 DURING BUSINESS HOURS. IF YOU ARE MAKING AN ONLINE DONATION IN MEMORY OF GREG, PLEASE NOTE IT IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF OUR ONLINE DONATION FORM. THANK YOU!
By Mitch Friedman, Executive Director
My family suffered an incredible loss on August 4th, when my nephew died due to an accident. In Gregory Friedman’s passing at just 27 years, the world was denied so much beauty and promise. I’m deeply grateful to the many people who donated to Conservation Northwest in his memory. Carrying on to protect nature, which was dear to Greg, is all I can think to do.
More than 1,200 people came from across the country to celebrate Greg’s life. They included the woman who he was about to engage, the sensei who trained him to win national karate championships as a boy, his fraternity brothers from Tulane University, and the entire football team from where his legend stands a decade on. We heard tear-soaked stories from lifelong friends who revered Greg for his wit, humility, artistry, and deep intellect, and counted on him for his thoughtful perspective. He was kind and attentive to all. The event spiked sales of Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, Greg’s favorite book, which explores the human relationship with nature. He shared violent video games with his contemporaries, symphony with my mom, and classic poems with my dad.
My family is enduring great pain from this loss. I lament the many more talks, hikes and games we should have shared. But I treasure many personal memories and value that a life cut so short was yet so full and left such an indelible mark. Greg Friedman lives on in the lives he touched and exemplary trail he blazed.