Comments for Remembering Val Plumwood

Comment on About by Asad Keshavarzi

Asad Keshavarzi — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:02:59 +0000

Dear Peter Brandis,
I was reading Raimond Gaiata’s “The Philosopher’s Dog” and then tried to find some book reviews, and I finally came to Val Plumwood critique that gave rise to new questions in my mind. I searched Plumwood’s name on the Internet to send her a mail but sorrily I noticed she has passed away. Anyway, I offer my condolensce and hereby express my respect for Val. Give my hello to your friends who are Val’s.
Best Regards,
Keshavarzi
from Iran

Comment on About by Afeissa

Afeissa — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:49:15 +0000

Hi Peter,

I am a french philosopher working on environmental ethics since several years. I have heard about Val Plumwood since the beginning of my work in this field, and I have been in contact with her from june 2007 to december 2007 because I planned to organize a seminar with her in France (but did’nt finally succeed to do it).
What we need, I think, is a complete bibliography of Plumwood’s work. Could you please make it available as soon as possible?
Thanks.
Hicham Stéphane Afeissa.

Comment on Memorial Page by jim isenberg

jim isenberg — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:11:18 +0000

I just learned about Val’s death today. I have many very warm memories of spending weekends with her and Jill Bowling (my former wife), both in Australia and in America. . I will always remember going to dinner at a restaurant near Val’s home in Braidwood, bringing along her pet wombat. The restaurant folks were happy to help prepare a bowl of (formula) wombat milk for the little wombat to eat while we ate dinner.

Jill was a very good friend of Val’s. Very sadly she died 20 months ago, in a tragic accident in Nepal. It is shocking for them both to be gone.

Jim Isenberg
Eugene, Oregon, USA

Comment on Memorial Page by jan copland

jan copland — Mon, 19 May 2008 02:39:32 +0000

YOu were an inspiration , I miss you. I enjoyed being in the forest with you
janet

Comment on Memorial Page by Ruth Irwin

Ruth Irwin — Sat, 17 May 2008 22:22:59 +0000

I’m grateful to have this opportunity to talk about Val Plumwood. I couldn’t make it to her funeral, and along with many, many other prople I want to pay my respects.

Val’s work iss incredibly important, and possibly not yet fully recognised by the wider community for its philosophical and ecological potential. It is not simply that she has produced a really impressive legacy but instead, something far more worthwhile. Val has been one of a handful of people who have opened up a space for rethinking what it is to be human and how to shake ourselves out of the dead-end of late modernity.

Possibly one of her last articles was submitted to me shortly before she died. It is called “Nature in the Active Voice”. It is coming out an edited collection titled _Climate Change and Philosophy; transformational possibilities_. It should be out at some stage next year.

Val will leave a real gap in advocates for ecologcialy sensitive, cultural change at a time when voices such as hers are sorely needed. Hopefully the rest of us will step up and realise some of the ideas that she has set out with so much thought and care!

Ruth Irwin, University of Auckland
r.irwin@auckland.ac.nz

Comment on Memorial Page by Pip Wilson

Pip Wilson — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:14:48 +0000

Thank you for many things.

Comment on Memorial Page by Jane Salmon

Jane Salmon — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:04:13 +0000

Val,

You were warm, wise, flawed and caring, detached and engaged, lively and an elder.

Your love and knowledge of nature was shared with exuberance and insight.

Your values were carefully wrought.

We didn’t understand the half of your intelligence.

You are a point on the compass, prematurely sheered off.

And you are missed every day.

The planet is so lucky to have such an intellect, such knowledge, such a friend.

Comment on Memorial Page by Simone Fullagar

Simone Fullagar — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 04:57:49 +0000

Dear Val,
How you will be missed, but not forgotten. I will always remember the kindness and intellectual generosity that you showed me as a young honours student starting out on an ecofeminism journey all those years ago. You retold the story of the crocodile encounter as we sat on Plumwood mountain and it moved me to later write about ‘being prey’ in my PhD thesis. Nature was never an easy object of romantic identification nor an evil otherness for you. By unsettling those nature/culture, feminine/masculine boundaries you encouraged us to think differently, to act more reflexively and to live our ethics with courage, humour and vulnerability.
Simone

Comment on Should a memorial service be held? (Discussion closed) by Jennifer Weissel

Jennifer Weissel — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:19:28 +0000

I would like to attend Val Plumwood’s memorial service - is it to be held Sat 12 April? or later? Many thanks, Jenny Weissel.

Comment on Should a memorial service be held? (Discussion closed) by Johanna Blows

Johanna Blows — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 01:57:33 +0000

Postponing to June sounds good to me, because the travel is not so easy for us, and we don’t feel up to another big trip so soon I imagine that others, too, will have things to catch up on…

But what is this academic forum? Some reflections on the influence of her work would no doubt be central - what else? What about the more personal side, perhaps some people may want to say something about what Val has meant to them in their life?

Could we meet again at her own place?

By June, perhaps the nature of Val’s heritage will be clarified, and this may be a good time to discuss plans for carrying forward Val’s work.