THOMAS LOVEJOY III

Although I had not touched base with Tom for years, I feel a hole in the small universe of people who I admire and will miss not being able to reach out to. Tom was part of my misspent youth and I am grateful for it. Tales from Belem and going up the Amazon in search of St Louis Encephalitis as well as dinners, croquet and rainwater madeira while I was at Penn gave me something to dine out with ever since. My Mother was on several boards and sometimes chose to serve if she knew that Tom was...

Tom was a gentle, kind and generous man, and at the same time a fierce advocate for the natural world. Also someone who would go out of his way to help a friend, or perhaps just an acquaintance in whom saw a bit of promise. In 2005, when I was making a somewhat unhappy exit from WWF, he called out of the blue. I still remember his words: "Brooks, is it possible you could use a place to work from, downtown?" The answer was yes, and I had the unexpected opportunity work with him at the Heinz...

I was eternally grateful to Tom when I became Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts under Clinton and the Republicans in congress worked tirelessly to shut us down. One evening at a big party I was being grilled by Washington pundits about the meaning of art; flustered, I came up with a puerile response causing the five of them to rise from their chairs and leave me to my stupidity. A man in a smart bowtie and amused smile came over and whispered in my ear "let me take you to lunch...

RIP Tom.

Please accept my deepest sympathy for your loss. May God comfort you and give you peace during this time of grief.