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Goodbye, Frank. Hundreds knew you as a man of principle, a man of
good humor. We mourn your passing deeply. Thousands more mourned
after reading your life's achievements in newspaper accounts
following your death in April. We relived the journey of your
battles to preserve Upper Newport Bay. Those early battles in a long
war that consumed so much of your time back in the 1960's and
1970's.
We have all benefited from the fruits of your labor.
I shudder to think what might have happened to our bay had you not
married Francis, or moved to Newport Beach in 1962; had you not made
the decision to follow through when your son reported that access to
the bay was being restricted, instead of shrugging it off.
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The rest of us thank you again for giving so much of yourselves
to a cause, for drafting so many others to take notice and join the
dedicated few. (And make dozens of lifelong friends to boot.) Thank
you for having the spunk, the intelligence, and the congenial
personality that converted many skeptics during a time when others
passed on helping because a battle appeared to be lost. The tide
turned, didn't it? As you'd hoped it would.
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Supervisor Tom Wilson shares his memories
about Frank and the importance of what the Robinsons accomplished. |
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Thank you for serving as the ultimate role model to your
children, your friends, your coworkers, your community, and the
nation. In a time before we celebrated an "Earth Day," you
demonstrated so beautifully how to affect change within the system
by immersing yourself in the process.
Thank you for leaving us the ultimate legacy, and the perfect
mechanism to remember you and your wonderful wife for the rest of
our lives. We can each choose to enjoy a visit to the Back Bay in
our own ways. We can wonder at the multitude of wildlife existing so
close to our doors, and realize how precious a commodity open space
has become. Thank you for helping to preserve that open space, on
behalf of generations of resident and migratory wildlife from
Central America to Alaska.
Thank you for showing us how a few volunteers can transform the
world we live in. You inspired me to reach inside myself and find
parts of me I never knew were there.
Thank you for cautioning us that the work to save the Bay is never
done. Each year new volunteers join seasoned veterans to lead tours,
restore degraded habitat, and tackle the multitude of tasks at hand.
The ones who join next year, and from now on, will not have the
pleasure of meeting you, Frank, and seeing that smile, or hearing
one of the many jokes you often shared. But they will have the
pleasure of helping to preserve Upper Newport Bay.
Your spirit lives on, Frank, in ways to numerous to recount. Thank
you for sharing your journey with us in so many ways, and for so
long. We'll miss you.
"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my
spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled
by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in
magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper
function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days
in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time." Jack London,
Jack London's Tales of Adventure.
Amy Litton, Naturalist
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