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Nathan W. Osborn

Nathan Osborn Obituary

OSBORN, NATHAN W.

On June 16 2005, a welcoming face disappeared from the streets of D.C. Long-time bike courier, indefatigable activist and source of joy, strength, and humor to all who encountered him. Nathan was the husband of Daphne af Jochnick, son of Howard and the late Grace Osborn, brother of Corwin Osborn and Victoria Rockman, uncle of Gabriel, Mateo, Aurora, Rebecca, Larissa, Nicolas and Martin. He couriered most recently for Dynamex, worked with the Pledge of Resistance, Washington Action Group, the Bread and Puppet Theatre and ETAN, the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, serving on the ETAN board and as a UN Elections observer in East Timor in 1999. Nate will be remembered for his great heart and inspired ways. Contributions in Nate's memory may be made to ETAN, PO Box 15774, Washington, DC 20003. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, at Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th St. N.W.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by The Washington Post on Jul. 3, 2005.

Memories and Condolences
for Nathan Osborn

Sponsored by Daphne af Jochnick.

25 Entries

Spencer Young

May 11, 2013

I haven't thought about my courier day in a long time and was reading throught the facebook page for D.C. Couriers and saw the post about Nate's passing.I met Nate around 1989 when we were both couriers at U.S. Express. Always had interesting conversations with him and admired him .Nate, you lived true to your beliefs. Sorry you had to go so soon.Have not been in touch with anyone from D.C.in a long time and just heard. I had talked with Nate about East Timor a few times and know it is a cause he deeply beleived in. Would like to make a donation in his name. Does anyone know a group he favored? Contact is [email protected]

Don Bonsteel

February 18, 2011

Dear Nate,
Still thinking of you after all these years. Rest easy friend.

holden brooks

April 10, 2007

Daphne, I don't know whether you are still reading these messages, but I wanted you to know that I thought of Nate today when I heard about the elections in East Timor. Surely he has had a hand in these great developments. I hope you're well; you're often in my thoughts. Holden

Nate smokes (as we all did) on the night of the first serious post-vote militia gunfire in Same, East Timor, Sept 2 or 3, 1999

Ramie Blatt

November 30, 2005

Nate and I met in the town of Same, East Timor, where we were observers with the International Federation for East Timor for the historic 1999 referendum on independence from Indonesia.

I joined the Same observer team a few weeks before the vote, and while I can't claim that I became a close friend of Nate's, I can say that we went through as intense and incredible a time in Same and then in Dili as I have ever experienced: when the tension and fear during the run-up to the vote was transmuted to euphoria at the massive 99 percent turnout and the overwhelming result, and then gave way to fear again and anguish at the awful violence and destruction that followed. His presence was a comfort to me both when I'd first arrived, and then later when rumours and threats of violence came thick and fast and we were all scared to stay and yet scared to leave.

So while I didn't get to know Nate very well, I did find out that he was a good man, deeply devoted to East Timor, the wider political cause, but also to the individual East Timorese people that we all came to know and to admire. I believe that through his actions then and especially his long dedication before, he made an important contribution to the independence of East Timor and the East Timorese people.

I was deeply saddened when I heard the news of his death. I send my sympathies to Nate's family and loved ones.

Nate stands out in yellow in this group photo with Timorese UN workers, Same, East Timor, August 31, 1999

November 29, 2005

Team photo (Rob, Ramie, Suzan and Nate) as we observe the ballots being taken by helicopter to Dili for counting from Same, East Timor, August 31, 1999.

November 29, 2005

Nate, Inge and Suzan driving to the helipad field the day after the historic ballot in Same, East Timor, August 31, 1999

November 29, 2005

Brenda Yanni

August 23, 2005

Dear Ms. af Jochnick,

I am not sure if this is properly addressed, but as I don't/didn't know you or Nate personally, I don't feel comfortable being more informal.

I am sorry for being so late in sending you my condolences for your husband's untimely death. I have not properly kept up with the Indonesian news and list serve and only recently came to know of your husband's death.

Though I did not know Nate personally (I don't think, perhaps we did meet at an Indonesian or East Timor Action conference or event) I imagine that my husband did know Nate more directly as he too was involved with Indonesia and East Timor and an attempt to make sure that Human Rights were protected in those countries.

I lost my husband, without warning, of what I assume was a heart attack in October 2004, so I know, a bit, what you are going through in your loss and if you ever want to talk, please feel free to contact me.

At least for me, it helps to know that my husband was well loved and respected by all for his work and his compassion and concern for others. I think your husband was the same, I can see that there is an outpouring of love and sadness at his death and I hope that this outpouring of love will help to sustain you as it has helped me.

They lived short lives but did more with those lives to help others than many do in longer lives and that is a wonderful thing to remember.

Once again, I am so sorry for you loss and your sadness.

Robert Naiman

August 13, 2005

I was shocked and deeply saddened to hear this bitter news.

I will always remember Nate for his unique combination of tireless energy for activism, ever-sunny disposition, and gentleness.

My sympathy to all his friends and family.

Robert Naiman

Dan Beeton

August 5, 2005

Nate,

The last time I saw you was at a Fall show at the Black Cat. We each had no idea the other was a fan of the Fall, so it was great running into you.

You were always a committed activist, which is why almost every other time we talked you were on the way into or out of the ETAN office, or it was in the middle of a march somewhere. Your concern for humanity was always evident - you always asked me about what was happening in Burma.

You left us much too soon, but you still accomplished a great deal while you were here. You're an inspiration for anyone engaged in human rights work, and you will be greatly missed.

Aydin "Chiya" and Suheyla Ayhan

July 21, 2005

You will always be in our hearts and missed dearly by us all. Even though i only knew Nathan for a short while, it was the greatest honor of all knowing him and being his friend.

Holden Brooks

July 20, 2005

Nate's death was one of the most bewildering, dismaying things ever, particularly considering how conscientiously he lived and how loving a life he and Daphne had together. I hope he lives on as a powerful example of how to embrace opportunities and others.

Durvalina Guterres Anawalt

July 17, 2005

My heart goes out to Nathan and to all those who knew and loved him for he truly helped many others in his short but remarkable life. I may not have known him but I am one of the many Timorese he helped when he selflessly volunteered to help us cast off the shackles of tyranny and achieve our freedom as an independent nation of East Timor. My husband and I having lived in Same and Dili know of his work and contributions very well. He will long be remembered in the prayers of many Timorese. Obrigado Barak, Terima Kasih, Thank You for your sacrifice in helping us achieve our dreams of freedom.

Ben Terrall

July 14, 2005

I still can't really believe Nate is gone. Living on the other side of this continent (the U.S.) from him, I didn't get to see him enough after meeting him circa '96 or so at some ETAN-related event, undoubtedly my first lobby daze.

Nate was a really special person that I have to admit I took for granted a bit. I took for granted that there would always be, at some point, another wild mix tape or CD, along with a screamingly funny, drop-dead deadpan, but never arch, message that would always be, above all, endearing.

I can't think of too many other activist buddies that I could talk to about both London Review of Books and Eugene Chadbourne's LSD C&W. In fact, I can't think of many humans other than Nate that could stradle both those poles and many other equally improbable extremes.

I hugely regret not getting to spend more time in his always interesting, enlivening company, but I most definitely appreciate having had the chance to know him. As I talked about him to mutual friend Ed, we both realized what a straight ahead unpretentious bohemian (in the absolute best senses of that overused word) Nate was, and a real working class intellectual to boot, no mean feat. As Ed said, he was a well-adjusted oddball, and a consummate team player who never puffed his ego at the expense of others. He was an inspiration to both of us, and lately I'm realizing how much he will continue to be a huge inspiration to me.

What a great guy. My deepest condolences to all his family and friends.

love,

Ben

Rob Wesley-Smith

July 13, 2005

Nate

I never met you but I wish I had.

Having read about you only after your death, I can only admire your sense of social justice, your physicality, your imagination, your dedication to the cause especially for the East Timorese people, your preparedness to do the mundane tasks as well as the spectacular.

At least you lived to see massive progress in the Timor struggle, beyond our wildest dream during the dark days of the 24 years and including the mid 1990's. All volunteers like you, Nate, to observe the election in August 1999, defying the intimidation of the Indonesian military and their militias, are to my mind heroes, and none of these heroes have been acknowledged by governments, but we do. You are a hero Nate.

The Timor struggle has made bonds across the world, and I feel a deep sense of loss on your departing. Please your family should know the respect in which you are held.

Wes

Rob Wesley-Smith

Australians for a Free East Timor

Darwin

10th July 2005

Nate at the 1999 Mumia Abu Jamal Rally in Philadelphia

Damon Fodge

July 13, 2005

I met Nate in 1998 through activism. I was listening to WPFW and heard about an East Timor demonstration down at the Indonesian embassy. I’d been reading about East Timor for a while and so I left work immediately and headed down to the embassy for the showdown. Nate was one of the first people I met there, and we both proceeded to go to jail for a couple of hours for crossing the police line. In hindsight, I think Nate was more concerned about losing a Suharto puppet than being arrested. One of the first things that I remember was that Nate was so laid back and genuinely nice. When you talked to Nate you felt like you were the only person in the world that he cared to listen to at that moment.

Soon after, I became an East Timor activist, even trying to join Nate in East Timor as a UN observer (I didn’t end up going for personal reasons). It was so inspiring to have done activism with Nate. For a while many of us kind of thought in the back of our minds that East Timor might not gain its independence but through the dedicated leaders like Nate at the forefront of the movement, East Timor is now its own country. I remember one time that we held a really small protest outside the embassy. I think it was just Nate, me and about five other dedicated protesters. A Portuguese reporter happened to be there and got a photo of Nate holding up a blood-spattered sign that I’d made. We heard later that that photo made the front page of the Jakarta press and had a big effect on the changing politics at that time in Indonesia. I remember feeling proud to have been a part of a movement that had so much momentum and even though there weren’t that many people in DC that knew the issues and were active on it, we were getting the job done.

Nate and I went to a conference on East Timor in Vermont and we were the only two people to run and dive off the end of the dock into the cold lake beneath. If Nate hadn’t been there, I don’t know if anyone would’ve gone swimming that night. It was uplifting to have someone always wanting to have fun no matter how serious the occasion.

Nate was also an active member of a small DC film club that I’d started called “The Polish Club”. We’d watch political films and discuss them afterwards. It was great to have Nate at the discussions always lending level, experienced thoughts to some of the other crazy, radical ideas that were being thrown about.

From the Polish Club, we started the Anarchist Soccer League (ASL) where Nate gained the nickname “The Blizzard of Os” after his highly energetic soccer playing skills. Nate came to almost all the pick-up matches we had and even joined us when we went to the Philadelphia Mumia Abu Jamal protest in which the ASL played soccer in the streets.

I will miss Nate tremendously. I hadn’t seen him as much as I would’ve liked in recent years but it was always comforting to know that he was out there fighting the good fight and doing exactly what he wanted. He wasn’t concerned about making lots of money or what zip code people lived in. Nate was the kind of person that makes you want to live a better life.

Nate, I’ll never forget you.

daphne submitting for John

July 12, 2005

Ms Jochnick-
I would like to express my most heartfelt condolences at the death of
your husband, Nate. I saw the article in the Post today and felt just
completely dumbstruck. I knew Nate from my time as a DC bike
messenger, and he was one of those presences that made me feel lucky
to work in the industry. He was a consummate professional as well as a
warm, unpretentious, good-hearted man. I could talk to him about
anything and be rewarded with his insights, but of course it was when
the subject turned to his work in the human rights struggle that he
really shone. It was always a wonder to me, on days when it seemed
like enough of an accomplishment to just get up and through another
day on the bike, that this man was going home and taking more time out
of his day to help people he didn't know on the other side of the
world. He was really one of those people who, in a quiet, unassuming
way, was helping to change the world for the better.
In the messenger community, we are separated from our colleagues for
most of the day, and get to know one another in little intervals:
waiting at a loading dock, signing in at an office building, passing
one another at a bike rack. Once in a while we get together for a race
or a party, and that is when we get to find out a little more about
each other. Nate, to me, was one who constantly surprised me with the
depth of his character- someone who made me feel that under the
surface of ordinary life there were people who were doing great
things. The last conversation I had with Nate was characteristically
eye-opening. I was walking to the office building I work in now and
met him coming out of a building at 21st and L st NW. We chatted, and
he asked me how the road racing was going (this is what I am known for
among the couriers). I had some good results last season and so was
feeling pretty good about it, and I gladly reeled off a few stories
about my little successes. Nate was -again, characteristically-
receptive and encouraging, and congratulated me on my victories. Then
I asked him what he had been up to. He proceeded to, in his low-key
manner, fill me in on the work that he had been doing for human rights
and for ETAN: traveling, organizing, writing, campaigning. When he got
done bringing me up to date, I felt in a sense very small, because the
racing that I'd been doing seemed so frivolous in perspective. But I
didn't feel diminished; he was never, ever overbearing or
holier-than-thou. It was just that in his own down-to-earth way he had
given me a glimpse of a wider perspective, and shown me once again
what a real accomplishment is: helping other people.
I was not close with Nate, nor could I ever expect to meet him at a
regular time or place; our relationship was one of happenstance.
However, I think that I will, as the world will, feel his absence
quite acutely. -John Whittington
PS- I would like to publish a short remembrance of Nate on the
District of Columbia Bicycle Courier Association's new website, which
I am currently developing. I will send you a link once the page is up.
If you would like to send a picture, or direct donations to a charity,
please let me know.
Thanks- John

Don Bonsteel

July 12, 2005

Nate was a friend for over 30 years and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He was a kind and gentle person, who had the courage to do right and always help the underdog. The world is a poorer place without him.

R Streeter

July 11, 2005

Nate was an inspiration to so many, all over the world. My heart goes out to his family and friends from all corners of this small planet, and most especially to his beautiful and courageous wife, Daphne.

Partic Pepper

July 11, 2005

Sorry, Daphane. How strange.

Patric

Eric

July 10, 2005

Monday, June 20, 2005

RIP Nate Osborn

On Thursday of last week, at 2:30 PM, my friend Nate Osborn died from complications related to cancer.

I met Nate through work with the East Timor Action Network, and he was one of the most devoted activists I've known. He was a "long hauler" -- he was involved for as long as I've known about East Timor; he served with the International Federation for East Timor's Observer Project; and he constantly gave his time to the endless list of tasks facing ETAN/DC.

Nate was also an indefatigably positive person (I can't recall a single instance of his having bad feelings toward anyone), and radiated a calm reassurance. He had a deadpan sense of humor, and took delight in the little things of life. After several hours of discussions and "decision making" in a conference room, Nate would lead the assembled ETANers through Tai Chi exercises to help us relax. Even after Timor Loro Sa'e won its independence and many ETAN activists turned toward other pressing concerns, I knew I could expect to see Nate at our national meetings, and I always looked forward to seeing him.

Nate was also one of the only ETAN folks who ever gave me feedback on my music. At one ETAN gathering back in the day, I brought copies of my album Viva Timor (now out of print), and sold them for $1.00 each. Nate grabbed one up right away and the next day (it was a 2-day gathering) told me how much he enjoyed it. He asked about the process I used to make the tunes, and every time I saw him, he asked about my latest work.

Good knowing you, Mr. Nate O. May you be at peace wherever you are.

billie nate

July 10, 2005

Diane Macchiavelli

July 10, 2005

My heart goes out to all of Nate's relations for the loss of his being. He lives on in the hearts and minds of all who knew him for we carry eachother in our hearts. Love particularly to dear Daphne as she learns a new solo dance.

Kathleen Wilsbach

July 5, 2005

I only met Nathan once, when he recently adopted a rabbit to be a friend for his rabbit Billy from the House Rabbit Society. I thought she was a lucky rabbit to have Nathan and I thought McTavish, the rabbit he and Daphne adopted, was very lucky to go home with such nice people. Nathan was obviously a very loving and compassionate human being. I was very sad to hear he had died.

Phil Wells

July 4, 2005

From what I've read and heard about my second cousin, whom I'd never met, I really wish I could've known him as he seems like my kind of guy. My condolences to Dapne, The Rockmans, and The Osborns

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