Arthur Lisch

1938 - 2020

Arthur Lisch, artist, social activist and visionary passed away at 3:45 a.m., Friday February 7th, 2020, surrounded by love. Arthur was born in New Jersey on December 4th, 1938 and over his 81 years lived in Rhode Island, Canada, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Pennsylvania, New York, California and finally Seattle, Washington. Arthur is recognized as an "artivist" and humbly contributed to significant cultural events that shaped a generation of activism and social change. Some of his works included being a founding member of the San Francisco Diggers, an architect of the Summer of Love, an antiwar protest mastermind, a leader of the 1973 US Navy vs Culebra Action and pioneer in the effort to create alternative fuels.
Arthur appears in Joan Didion's Slouching Toward Bethlehem, Peter Coyote's Sleeping Where I Fall, Mat Callahan's Explosion of Deferred Dreams, Notes from the New Underground and numerous articles where he is referred to as a "worker-priest" and the "brain trust visionary" of the antiwar movement. His ideals and life-long pacifism inspired peace actions and creative justice initiatives that reached far and wide. Arthur's gift toward furthering social change was his capacity to envision an initiative, create the support to uphold the initiative and engage a community of people to collectively participate in the ownership of the vision.
Arthur is survived by his wife of 51 years Paula Lisch, daughter Eleuthera Lisch, and daughter Sarah Lisch, and son Damon Lisch with Jane Timberlake. Arthur is also survived by grandsons Max and Milo and his sister Lynda Manna.
A memorial service will be held to honor Arthur's life on Sunday October 18, 2020 in the late morning at the Peace Site at Ragle Park in Sebastopol. The memorial service will be followed by a work party for the Peace Site in honor of Arthur's legacy as its founder. As Arthur would say, "you are all invited to freely participate."
For more information about the Peace Site as an example of Arthur's work check out the link below.
http://www.sacred-sites.org/creating-a-contemporary-sacred-site/