Dr Owen J Lynch: A Tribute

Farewell My Friend, My Mentor, My Guide

[18 November 2024]


 

With a heavy heart and deep grief, I write to share the sad news of the passing away of Dr Owen J. Lynch on 13 November 2024.

Owen was my first boss at my first job at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) in Washington, DC, and became my greatest mentor and close friend. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to learn, work, travel with him, and to have occasionally glimpsed the world from his eyes... As one of the major 'shaping forces' of my life, I’ll be eternally grateful to Owen.

A visionary, brilliant thinker, innovative leader, inspirational professor, unconventional legal luminary, and a bit of a rebel, Owen was—in many ways—ahead of his time. He had an innate ability to inspire people and motivate them to act for the greater good. A deeply caring and sensitive person, he had the kindest, most compassionate heart. His life was devoted to issues of environmental justice, sustainable development, and human rights of marginalized communities, with a special focus on community-based property rights. One of his great passions was mentoring young lawyers who believed in social justice. Responsible for the establishment of several leading public interest environmental law organizations in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, Owen is loved and respected in many parts of the world.

Owen left us too soon; he was only 71. But he leaves behind a remarkable legacy – in his work, writings, books; the legal revolutionaries he inspired; the unique organizations he helped create; and, in the hearts and minds of those of us fortunate to have shared some life space with him.

Writing about Owen in the past tense is painful. The thought of him not being in this world is difficult to accept. But I believe he is in a better place now. I also believe that Owen will always be with us, in a different way, in a different realm. His spirit, with its indefatigable drive for justice, will live on. His words of wisdom will resonate in spaces of learning, and in my soul, always.

You will be deeply missed, dearest Owen, by so many around the world. May your beautiful soul rest in blissful peace and continue to spread light as it always has.

~~~

Obituary in The Minnesota Star Tribune: https://lnkd.in/g6wg6wsv

Owen’s book ‘Balancing Acts: Community Forest Management and National Law in Asia and the Pacific’ is available online and free of cost.

 A paper that Owen and I co-authored: One Species, One Planet: Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development

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