The Passing of Carl Oliver Lemke Sack

The body of my dear friend and comrade breathed its last breath today. I have had a very hard time finding words that are worthy of describing this human. But everything will be harder now without Carl. While I know that he was a fan of the Joe Hill slogan, “don’t mourn, organize!”, how can you not mourn someone like Carl? I have never known a finer human being. He was a seemingly tireless activist – whose energy and passion benefited so many worthy causes – from the anti-war to the labor to the environmental movements. But he was far more than just an amazing activist – he was a truly amazing human being. Carl was the kind of friend who was always there for you. Always, and I mean always. No. Matter. What. He was thoughtful, generous, patient and kind. No matter if you agreed with him or not, you could always count of him having the best of intentions. I don’t know how he did that. I don’t know how one can be the way that Carl always was. He was so special, so kind, and so unique. But if we were all just a little bit more like Carl, then what a better world this would surely be. And that, I think, is probably the best we can strive for now – to try to make the world a better place by all being at least a little bit more like Carl. Good bye friend.  ~ May 2, 2024