A place to share memories of an unforgettable colleague and friend
“A man is not dead while his name is still spoken”
— Terry Pratchett
Go straight to the stories in the comments
Steve passed away July 31st, 2019, of a sudden and aggressive lung cancer.
We are gathering stories to celebrate his extraordinary life – simply leave a comment below, and do remember to either log in or sign your comment with your name.
200409. news. PICTURE KENT BLECHYNDEN DOMINION POST. GreenZone. Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council Steve Sawyer. 
Rongelap Islands, Pacific. May 1985 Greenpeace campaigner Steve Sawyer, during the evacuation of the inhabitants of Rongelap Islands, which is contaminated by US nuclear weapons testing. Photograph: Fernando Pereira COPYRIGHT:GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL address: Ottho Heldringstraat 5 1066 AZ AMSTERDAM +31 (0)20 7182058 
May 17 1985. Arrival of the Rainbow Warrior at Rongelap. Steve Sawyer. Sawyer is welcomed by the Islanders. photo: Pereira/Greenpeace copyright. Greenpeace International Ottho Heldringstraat 5 1066 AZ AMSTERDAM 020-7182058 
GWEC Press conference 
Steve Sawyer on the shores of the Arctic Ocean near Prudhoe Bay Alaska on Greenpeace expedition, August 1980 
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Day Two 
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From left to right: Nick Nuttall, (Spokesman, UNEP), Steve Sawyer, (Secretary General, GWEC) Tulsi Tanti (Chairman, Suzlon). The press conference of the GWEC, the Global Wind Energy Council and the UNEP under the headline: “Wind Energy as a key contributor to CO2 savings” Speakers included: Nick Nuttall, (Spokesman, UNEP), far left, Steve Sawyer, (Secretary General, GWEC) second from left, Tulsi Tanti (Chairman, Suzlon) third from left/center, Han Junliang (CEO, Sinovel) second from right. Chrstoph Bangert/Danish Wind Industry Association 
From left to right: Nick Nuttall, (Spokesman, UNEP), Steve Sawyer, (Secretary General, GWEC) Tulsi Tanti (Chairman, Suzlon). The press conference of the GWEC, the Global Wind Energy Council and the UNEP under the headline: “Wind Energy as a key contributor to CO2 savings” Speakers included: Nick Nuttall, (Spokesman, UNEP), far left, Steve Sawyer, (Secretary General, GWEC) second from left, Tulsi Tanti (Chairman, Suzlon) third from left/center, Han Junliang (CEO, Sinovel) second from right. Chrstoph Bangert/Danish Wind Industry Association 
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Workshop on the Pricing Policy of Wind Power in China, Oct 26, 2006, Beijing. 
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Update March 2020: Thank you to everyone who donated funds in Steve’s memory, to be applied in support of young activists working for a safe climate and clean energy future. An announcement regarding this programme will be made soon.
Obituaries in the press:
The New York Times
The Times (London)
The Economist
The Washington Post
The Monadnock Ledger
Renato Redentor Constantino
Greenpeace International
From the Antrim, New Hampshire memorial:
Songs Steve Sawyer loved – a playlist
Winslow (Tom) Sawyer speaks about growing up with Steve
John Cascino reads a remembrance from Peter Lamb
From the Amsterdam memorial:
Recording of the Livestream (Adobe Flash required)
Andy Stirling Tribute
Peter Bahouth Tribute
Tribute Video
Remembering Steve Sawyer 
Today as I woke up, my first thought was “Something is wrong with Steve”. I tried to figure out why that thought was in my head and realised I hadn’t seen much activity on his FB account in recent times. This is the time of year his birthday reminder (well – to anyone involved with Greenpeace SOO-HOO much more than a birthday reminder) and family holiday pictures tend to pop up. On my phone, a text message from colleague and friend Cindy Baxter: “Have you heard the sad news about Steve?” I hadn’t. Of course, it would be very Steve-like to want to keep his illness quiet. While he could chew your ears off about global climate (or any other) politics for hours on end, he was not much of a communicator about personal issues at the best of times.
We hadn’t really been personally in touch very often since the early 2000’s, when he left Greenpeace to pursue his tireless climate activism at the Global Wind Energy Council. But ever since we got linked on Facebook in 2007, I always sort of kept half an eye on his account. Being his personal assistant when he was Greenpeace International Executive Director was my first ever “serious job”. So apart from friendship, regularly checking up on his FB profile was also purely professional deformation.
There is a group of former Greenpeace colleagues who really understand the natural physics summed up by the formula “Getting [XYZ] Done With Steve Acuteness & Accuracy”. SA&A means it has to happen “sooner than now” and can only be expressed with nuclear clocks in terms of preciseness. In those days Steve’s presence ruled my working life which extended from waking up until whenever it was time to crash, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. He professionally WAS for years, automatically the first thought that popped into my head and the last one before I slumbered off. I had just turned 21 when I got to work for him. Being hired by him was the best thing that could have happened to me at that point in my life. The impact he has had on me was fundamental: as a first year journalism college dropout – an academic achievement I’m not particularly proud of but which was absolutely the right decision at the time – HE, Steve Sawyer, personally, with his IQ of at least 150, was my university. The office of Greenpeace International in the old centre of Amsterdam was campus. Harvard, eat your Haverford out.
It is impossible to put into words, let alone express into gratitude, what a privilege it has been to start my working life so directly influenced by such a genius strategic, great philosophic and brilliantly funny intellect. Yet I am able to give it a shot, because he was my highly erudite English grammar tutor in the process, while busy beyond belief saving the planet. If you have to draft his letters, you will soon exterminate any possibility of inadvertently making spelling or grammar errors. Not even the fact that the language in question is not your mother tongue would be a legit excuse for those. Still, as your boss, Steve was impossible NOT to love. The fact that I will be a fanatic Eric Clapton fan for the rest of eternity, is exclusively due to Steve. Of course I will never be able to trump Steve at it. Nor do I have the ambition.
Steve’s direct influence on my life already started 7 years before I got to work for him. It was 11 July 1995 and I was at home, a depressed 16-year-old from a recently broken family, recuperating from heavy abdominal surgery for a luckily non-malignant condition. So with not much else to do, I was glued to the television, and saw on the news that the day before, in Auckland, New Zealand, the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior had been bombed and sunk by the French Secret Service, which killed on-board photographer Fernando Pereira.
I only understood later, that it was the fact that the entire crew were out celebrating Steve’s birthday during the explosion, that saved their lives. Pereira drowned because he went on board the sinking ship to try recover his film rolls with material from their anti-nuclear mission. A peaceful mission that was increasingly successful in harnessing global support. It had been met with state aggression at various times, but never as devastating as this. For the next days on end I followed every development, shocked, yet with increasing glee, as it became clearer and clearer that this crude violent attempt to silence the voice of peaceful anti-nuclear reason began to have exactly the opposite effect the French authorities had hoped for their ability to continue testing nuclear arms in the Pacific.
I was born early in 1969, the year that a group of Canadian anti-nuclear activists who would soon call themselves Greenpeace, hired a boat for the first time, and sailed into a nuclear testing zone in Alaska, successfully delaying a US nuclear test with their peaceful, non-armed, human presence. Ever since I was 7 and learned about world news events as a Cold War child, “Greenpeace”, to me, equalled HOPE. The Greenpeace men and women I saw peacefully putting their lives on the line for nuclear and environmental sanity, represented in my life and that of many kids, a “rainbow miracle” of human possibility against the dark shadows of the nuclear arms race and the horrible, meaningless industrial slaughter of whales and baby seals.
Not many people get to work directly with their heroes. For some people who do, it can be a big disillusion to find out they are only human too. For me that was never the case. Because even less people get to be the lead singer in an amateur cover band with their heroes on guitar, at Greenpeace parties, with a strong component of the repertoire made up of Clapton material.
As a thought pioneer, Steve absolutely lived the truth that action speaks louder than words. While we haven’t achieved full denuclearisation yet, while the climate crisis is so far still worsening due to lack of acting on what we know, the awareness Greenpeace set out to create about these issues is nowadays mainstream. The long, excruciatingly painful and difficult battle for the minds has gained the necessary critical mass.
The challenge now is to get the world to [&^%$#@*&] ACT on this awareness with Steve Acuteness & Accuracy. If we do, it may not be too late.
Steve would have wanted is last email to the world at large to convey the above. Writing these words is a sad last privilege as – forever proudly – his former Greenpeace assistant, and forever friend.
Steve, so no, I hadn’t actually read about the bad break you got. Yet I consider myself the luckiest person on the face of the earth to be amongst those who have known and worked with you from up close. So long as any of us are still alive, your name will continue to be spoken. With all my love to Kelly, Layla, Sam,
Joss
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In a way all that needs to be said is that when I read the message from a friend in Amsterdam and scrolled down there were similar ones already saying the same from other friends in Brussels, Innsbruck, Johannesburg and Cape Town. All came in while I sat in a single meeting.
Our warrior friend with the big heart and beard and the easy smile. He who had energy not for one year or five but for decades. I had a similar job to his at GWEC when I met him, just national not international. Once at a wind conference in Las Vegas, as Cirqui Soleil conjured Michael Jackson in a hologram, (it was the formal entertainment to the event), I looked at him and saw him nodding off. He´d arrived jet-lagged again, coming from wherever and across however many time zones.
There were capacity constraints, there always are. Just yesterday someone said that if one truly cares about climate change, the work load is always infinite. That was Steve. We played golf once a year in Cape Town, he used to say how much he looked forward to it. Every year we´d talk about plans to get more resources, ease the load. “When I turn sixty”, he used to insist – it would happen. It did, for a while.
And yet he loved what he did, never tired of it for very long, was always up for another challenge and another campaign.
The last time we spoke I called him, suspecting something. He was just about to find out what was wrong and how serious it is. We talked a good while, it didn´t sound good. Then it was time to say goodbye, the conversation was ending. “We´re in it with you, Steve”, I concluded, marveling at his equanimity. “Thanks mate”, he greeted, and we hung up awkwardly, many things unsaid by mutual choice.
The campaigns will surely miss him sorely. So will I.
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Steve was always an inspiration, in the past and going forward.
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Steve, you are simply the BEST. The earth will miss your commitment and courage. We will never forget you.
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I remember Steve firstly as someone who was usually laughing, and secondly as someone who wasn’t afraid to do things differently. I am speechless and terribly sad to hear he has gone. RIP Steve, and love to those who will miss him dearly.
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Steve was a true mensch in all he said and did (in the best non-gendered sense of that word).
OMG why do ye take away the morning dove 🕊 and leave behind the rats?
Riposa in Pace, Steve, you are missed dearly.
Here is music to comfort his family and friends:
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Dat GP Ned met GP Int. een kantoor zou delen op de Keizersgracht in Amsterdam had niemand binnen GP voor mogelijk gehouden.
En toch werd het een succes door het rustige en flexibele karakter van Steve.
Het Tokkeltje heeft daar natuurlijk ook aan bijgedragen voor de insiders.
Ron van Huizen
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Steve was a champion, an inspiration, a fighter, and such a nice person. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Steve for many years trying to get the world to tackle climate change. Steve was a warrior in that fight. I always loved bumping into him and comparing notes around the progress we were making, the challenges we were still confronting, and the stupid things that the other side was spinning. I can vividly picture seeing his grey beard and wheeled bag walking down a corridor of a climate negotiation in some boring conference hall. I knew right away it was Steve and I knew that I wanted to stop walking. I probably never had the time as I was rushing to something else, but I knew that my next thing could wait and that even a couple of minutes talking with Steve was worth it. He always had a sharp wit, a smile, and a keen sense of where to push to achieve progress. The world will miss him. We need many more people like Steve on the front lines of our battle to tackle climate change. But I know that his legacy will live on in the people he inspired, the governments and companies he convinced to change direction, and emissions reductions he helped set in motion. My condolences to Kelly and family.
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I will always remember the first time I met Steve. He was visiting the Greenpeace office in DC as the director of Greenpeace International in the early 90s. As a new person on staff I was impressed by his sincere interest in hearing everyone’s thoughts on the future of Greenpeace. Over the years his integrity, humility, intelligence, compassion and passion for saving the planet were a constant source of inspiration. In addition to his leadership on climate, I appreciated his commitment to the peace mission of Greenpeace as well. He is a role model for us all and will be sorely missed. My thoughts and prayers go out to Kelly, Leyla and Sam.
The 2015 interviews of Bunny & Steve on the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow warrior hit me as an especially poignant tribute to Steve today:
https://eyes-of-fire.littleisland.co.nz/crew/interviews/legacy.html
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My condolences to his family and the GWEC family. I hope we can take some of Steve’s passion to fight for a cleaner world. He was an inspiration for the entire Wind Industry.
Karin Happke
GE Renewables
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A strong man is gone. From the sea to the wind. Salut Steve. Tu étais parmi les premiers.
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Thank you for the inspiration & leadership.
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He was a massive inspiration to us all – my condolences to his family. His passing has certainly come as a shock.
Michael Nagasaka – a fellow Blues guitar player and a former colleague at Greenpeace International who used to make Climate Impact videos with Steve and the Climate Change campaign
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I cannot get my head around the thought of Steve not being among us anymore. And I cannot get over the fact this is an unfair, immeasurable loss for his family but on a broader term for the planet and its defenders.
I had the privilege to work with him at Greenpeace International for a few years. When I met him I discovered we partially shared a birthdate and that his was the birthday the crew of the Rainbow Warrior was celebrating that terrible 10 july 1985 when the French secret service bombed the ship. And while since I knew about the bombing my birthday was no longer the same, it felt a bit better since I started to share the birthday wishes with him.
He was a brilliant mind, he was sharp and witty, relyable and always willing to look for solutions. Somehow I can close my eyes and see him zooming along on his step scooter from the opposite side of the office floor, coming along to the comms area to comment on a piece of breaking news or following up on a media request.
So sad to miss such an inspiring person, such a tireless warrior. Thanks Steve, for all that you have taught us, for all that you meant for us, and for all that you will still inspire us with. My love goes to Kelly and the family.
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I liked and respected Steve a great deal, particularly for his toughness, always without fail speaking truth to power, his overriding humanity and the way when in the middle of a very depressing UNFCCC meeting, his face lit up as he saw Kelly across the Maritim foyer. A genuinely great man so sad to hear of his passing.
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We came to visit their home in New Hampshire about 6 summers ago. I was 15 at the time. That was when i first found out what an amazing guitarist he was! He played an amazing version of Clapton’s ‘Nobody knows you when you’re down and out’ and I was so impressed that he responded: “well it’s not that hard, let me show you” and he started teaching me the song. He sparked my passion for music and i tried learning to play the guitar all summer.
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Black Hills Survival Gathering, 1980. “What befalls the earth befalls the people of the earth.” That’s where I first me Steve. A gathering of activists organized by Lakota people resisting the mining of the Black Hills. Greenpeace had a low key presence. Steve had the long hair of my earlier years but I quickly realized that he was no hippie. Steve was planning a direct action in the Beaufort Sea and was lining up pledges from the confederated offices of the still very new Greenpeace USA. We talked direct action plans, business and money. As others know, Steve understood the big picture but also was in command of all the details. Our team does not often have those guys. Bob Hunter talked of Greenpeace as a band of “mystics and mechanics”. Steve would have preferred if the mystics also got the mechanics. Before one meeting of the Greenpeace USA board we had planned to happen at an island in Washington State, I offered up my Toyota sedan for transportation. The problem is the old Corolla had just failed to turn over for the fist time its 170,000 mile life. Steve fixed it. I think it was a timing belt, but if Steve was here he could tell me. At the meeting, Steve presented the budget. He knew every line. I am guessing Steve probably knew every line — lyrics and music — on the 1969 Blind Faith album too. These memories are all from a time before Steve became a most dedicated and loving Dad and he and Kelly made a life in Amsterdam on Dufaystraat. He spent his entire adult life doing all he could to help keep this planet we live on habitable for his family and friends and everyone else. We owe it to Steve, and all other warriors we have lost, to keep up the fight and to achieve all that we can.
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Tribute to a great man, a teacher, a hero. If only one of ten thousand persons on Earth had his commitment, his passion, his knowledge, his intellect, the world would be a much better place today already. We shared stories, gossip and serious strategic talks. And always with a smile in our faces. I worked with Steve on several issues over the last decades when I was in WWF and also lately when I joined CAN a few years back. The last time I talked to him was about 3 weeks back when we talked about the upcoming Global Renewable Energy Conference in Korea – and despite his condition, he was full of ideas and suggestions.
Coming from Hamburg, Germany, also with a heart for the sea and ships, I can only quote a song we have in the harbor district – but that is for Steve: Sail on my friend, sail on. May God give you the good wind you need for new adventures and the good deeds you will undertake overseas. Sail on Steve – you will be always in our hearts
Stephan Singer CAN International
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Beautiful words; thanks !
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Thank you Steve for looking past my rough edges as a GP intern/volunteer/campaign/weekly update scribe and rogue kangaroo oped writer. Your global vision – including supporting the development of the toxic trade campaign — was vital. Thank you for your work on the leading edge of change for so long, the planet is so much better for having you aboard. With a heavy heart and best wishes for Kelly, family and friends.
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I had the great luck to meet Steve in the late 90’s and enjoyed his advice on how to fight for the environmental change we need and his assessment of the world we were working in. Practical, visionary and patient he was always generous with his time – for which I was deeply appreciative. In losing him we’ve lost an amazing environmentalist and person who made a difference wherever he focussed his mind and efforts. My condolences to Kelly and his whole family. – Peter Tabuns
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Je suis bouleversé par cette nouvelle.
Que de souvenirs d’amitié avec Steve au cours de ces années difficiles de 83/89 avec aussi le renouveau de GPF
Steve était un merveilleux personnage et un leader exceptionnel
Il n’y aura plus cette lettre que nous recevions avec bonheur tous les ans pour la nouvelle année
A Kelly et enfants,ma profonde amitié
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Forever alive in our hearts and minds.
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I had the privilege of working with Steve at GWEC for the past six years. In that time, I was greatly inspired by someone whose passion for (saving) planet earth and its people moved moutains. Thank you for all you have done, Sir. You will be in our hearts forever.
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Just heard the terrible news of Steve Sawyer passing away.
Is this why it’s so dark, cloudy and raining here in the UK today, because we lost a great man.
My condolences to Kelly and his 2 children.
Rest In Peace Steve
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Goodbye Steve, your commitment, knowledge, passion, kindness and wisdom will always be a point of reference for my life.
I still remember the campaigning meetings where we used to call you “god” for your immense knowledge on climate geopolitics, while you were asking where your “son” was, referring to my long-haired “Jesus” look.
I will cherish the knowledge you have passed on to me and will always keep you in my heart.
Ciao, Maestro.
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Some of us hope for better days for our planet; Steve kicked the World in the ass and made it get better.
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Steve´s vision, sharp strategic mind, acute authenticity, humour and immense generosity have been imprinted in anyone that had the privilege to come across him. How thankful I am to be one of like ones. I always felt I could come to Steve for guidance at key difficult moments at Greenpeace. As a good and strong sailor, he helped us many times to navigate difficult institutional waters and was always firmly faithful to his true Rainbow spirit.
Kelly my thoughts are with you. Please be well and look after yourself.
Ana Toni
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Many beautiful and so very true words from those fortunate to have known and worked with Steve. My earliest memories of Steve was when trying to break through the log jam of indecision in management in securing some serious resources for deploying the MV Solo to Cherbourg at the time of the Akatsuki-maru plutonium transport to Japan. Of course upon returning from vacation it took Steve minutes to resolve the issue – calm, focussed and decisive. He was the very best of persons and his passing has triggered a realization that one of the main reasons I was and remain proud to be a part of the Greenpeace family was Steve. Just over a month ago I spent a wonderful two hours with him where he enthused and laughed about his adventures through the North West Passage with Henk on Tiama. Thank you Steve for being who you were. My very deepest sympathies to Kelly, Leyla and Sam and to all those who loved him over the decades.
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There was a load bang and the hovercraft crashed nose down into the sea. The three crew on board were thrown forward violently forward against their harnesses. With engine noise gone there was now just the sound of the blizzard roaring outside the small hovercraft. The cockpit glass was white, covered by a sheet of ice. The air temperature was well below freezing.
A terrified cry came from the pilot “we’re sinking”. Sea water was rising on the cabin floor. Wordlessly the three looked at each other. They were going to die. And soon.
I was there by accident, chance or bad luck. A mechanic pushed into the hovercraft on takeoff when an angry, drunken mob attacked. Hating Greenpeace and our campaign against the slaughter of the Harp seals. I was not going to die without a fight. I opened the cockpit door and crawled out into the blizzard to see what had happened to cause the crash. I could make out the propeller now broken hanging down from it’s support. Assessing the damage I could see only one chance to keep us from sinking. Disconnect the propeller driveshaft so that we could re-start the engine and use the lift fan to hover the craft and drain out the water.
It worked and the prospect of a quick death was delayed. Enough fuel to last for maybe a few hours if we raised the craft every ten minutes to drain out the water.
So the situation was this. We were drifting further out to sea from Halifax harbor. In a blizzard in February. No heat, food or water. No one knew where we were. Chance of rescue seemed faint. We were sitting in the cockpit in silence. Our breath coming out as white fog. Suddenly the other crewman shouted “I know. Let’s put a rag in the fuel tank and blow up the craft! We’ll be martyrs for seals”
The pilot and I exchanged looks. We were both thinking “now we know where we will get food”. My hand went down to my tool bag and my fingers wrapped around the handle of a hammer. I was not going to be a martyr for the seals if I could help it.
The minutes passed slowly. Start the engine when the water was three inched up the sides. Run engines until the water was gone. Sit and watch the water rise again. Cold, wind howling outside against the thin aluminum skin.
The fuel gauge went slowly down but the storm seemed to be lessening too. The wind noise dropped and a new noise replaced it. I opened the cockpit door and I could see an inflatable Zodiac coming slowly towards us. In the bow was a guy with an axe and at the engine was my friend Steve Sawyer, a fellow crew member on the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior. The sea was frozen and they had to chop a channel threw the ice to get to us. I was not going to die that day.
Steve made it to the broken hovercraft and I jumped into the zodiac. He had risked his life to go out into the storm to find us.
A good man.
-Steve Mac
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I am so glad you shared this. The image of Steve piloting that Zode out of the blizzard imprinted on my brain from the day you told this story.
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I was on a plane headed for New Zealand when the RW was blown up. I learned from a custom agent that our ship was at the bottom of Auckland harbour. The Rainbow Warrior was a special ship for all of us, but to the people with whom I spent the next few weeks, it was as if someone had blown up their home and killed one of their friends.
In the middle of all the chaos, confusion and heartbreak was Steve, hiis steady hand still on the rudder. Not the type to cry on his birthday, he held us all together and kept us moving forward. It would be hard to describe how resolute and capable he was, and impossible to imagine what we would have done without him.
In unfamiliar territory in so many ways, Steve had our compass, pointed us North, and made us feel that we weren’t lost. But Steve was no heroic poser or power monger. He was a grinder, and he went about his business in ways that spoke volumes about his character.
At the time of the bombing Steve had a Kaypro “personal” computer. The Kapro was a 30 pound metal suitcase with a fold-down keyboard and built-in monochrome 9 inch display. It had slots for two 5 ¼ inch floppy disks, one for software, the other for data. After the sinking, Steve asked one of the police divers to retrieve his machine. He pulled the Kaypro apart, dried the parts off in an oven and in a day or two you could hear him back hammering on the keyboard. I swear it sounded like they had missed each other.
That was Steve. A curmudgeon, but cool. Loyal and dependable. He was tough, kind, and had a Beluga-sized brain. And he taught all of us that even in the best campaigns, sometimes you need to to pull a rabbit out of a hat.
I, we, the world, have lost a friend and a truly fine human being.
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It was 1995 and we were planning the Great Bear Rainforest campaign. I had just arrived in Amsterdam and was having a beer with Steve in the bar next to the office. Steve told me two things that have been guideposts for me: “you and the organization are never as important as you think you are. Take the time to see the whole landscape.” And “ if you are not spending the majority of your time facing outwards there is a problem.” For almost thirty years whenever we found ourselves in the same city we would sit down and start talking as though no time had passed and his wry sense of humour, his clear political insights and his deep love and pride for Kelly and the kids is what I will remember the most. The world is a better place because if Steve Sawyer and we will miss him. Tzeporah
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Just learned of the passing of Steve Sawyer. May he rest in peace.
Steve and I got to know each other well in 1979 / 1980 during the initial days of the Greenpeace struggle to create Greenpeace USA. He was the leader of the office in Boston and I was his counterpart in Los Angeles. Those were turbulent days as a rebellious organization worked hard to come together as one. Steve was the consummate voice of reason and the steadying presence of calm in what was often a stormy anarchic sea. After I was selected to become the first Executive Director of Greenpeace USA, it was Steve, more than any other regional director,that was willing and eager to make the new enterprise succeed. We spent some time together at the 1980 International Survival Gathering in South Dakota. I appreciated his perspectives and wisdom. I relied on his support. It was never about him. He was a servant of a bigger picture. An invaluable servant. Bravo Steve! Well done…
Dennis Delaney
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Dear Kelly,
It is with a heavy heart that I learned about Steve’s passing today. He has an amazing legacy with Greenpeace that many are recalling and commending today. But what I’ll always remember is your family’s friendship. Wishing you Layla and Sam all the best during this time.
Your friend,
Arlo
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Shocked to hear this news. Steve was an expert trouble-shooter as well as everything else. We had our differences but you had to give him credit for his energy and diplomacy. Sincere condolences to Kelly and family.
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Steve was a heroic and inspirational role model to me all through the carbon war, the very embodiment of a Rainbow Warrior. In my Greenpeace years, he was a General while I was a Lieutenant. I watched and learned from the wisdom, tenacity and wit of his leadership. Later, we were both leaders in the renewable energy industries. One memory springs to mind: a press conference at the Lima climate summit, December 2014. The Global Wind Energy Council and Solar Power Europe decided to do a double act. We were the representatives. You would have thought people might have been interested in what the global wind and solar industries had to say, with one year to go before the Paris climate summit. The UN thought so: they helped promote the event. But only a handful of folk turned up. Steve led off, speaking as though to the General Assembly. I did my best to take a lead from his exhibition of dogged professionalism. Then we went off and had a cuppa.
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I remember that 🙂
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Steve was an almost mythical figure to me in my early days as an activist. He seemed to know the answer to every question – whether technical or political – and spoke with such insight, clarity and conviction that I loved to listen to and learn from him. He was always inspiring and never intimidating to younger activists, and hugely generous with his time and energy. He got angry about all the right things and defused tension and anxiety with dry humour and sci-fi references (I have read many of his sci-fi recommendations as a consequence). Without Steve, I would not have persisted for as long in the NGO movement: he found a way for me to stay when I was crushed under student debt and barely coping. A personal and societal hero. A gentleman. Wonderfully warm and witty company. Missed. Loved. My sincerest condolences to Kelly and Steve’s family and friends…
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Dear Steve,
It is a privilege to have known you. Thank you for your indomitable and passionate support of the wind industry. You were always there to remind the whole wind industry that there is more at stake than just business. You have left us very big shoes to fill.
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When we were putting together the Induction Program ‘Set Sail’ I had the privilege to speak extensively with Steve a couple of times about what we stood for and what we had to get across to people who came ‘aboard’.
That made it possible for me to do my job as lead facilitator. Extremely inspiring without any bullshit.
Thanks man.
Frank Willem Hogervorst
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My heart is broken. My mentor, friend and guide Steve Sawyer passed away. It’s surreal to think of him in this manner. His vigor and extraordinary kindheartedness left an indelible imprint on so many of us. I am not sure how to go about reorganizing my worldview with him not in it.
I met him in 2005 in the cold and dark days of the Montréal COP. He was a star in the environmental movement. I was starting out as a young activist. Steve showed me nothing but open minded support and kindness from
day 1. That mutual friendship lasted almost 15 years and I worked for him for half of those.
So many of us around the world owe their professional growth and personal sanity to the unabated support for things big and small by Steve.
For those of us who worked with him loved to argue with him. That was so important for me. It showed over and over- that he trusted me to think for myself and trusted me to come to a good decision.
I will miss his sense of humour, love for his family and his genuine deep seated concern for what we were doing to our planet , will deeply be missed.
With unending love and deep gratitude Steve. You were an extraordinary gentleman.
My love to Kelly, Layla and Sam.
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I’m so sorry to hear this news. As a journalist I had interviewed Steve many times over the years, meeting with him at Wind Industry trade shows and inviting him to speak at various events so he could share his expertise with the world. On a personal level, Steve’s summer house is located in the town adjacent to mine and we had always said we would get together for a cup of coffee one day. I’m saddened that we never did that. All my love to his family, whom I have never met. What a great loss.
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We came to visit their home in New Hampshire about 6 summers ago. I was 15 at the time. That was when i first found out what an amazing guitarist he was! He played an amazing version of Clapton’s ‘Nobody knows you when you’re down and out’ and I was so impressed that he responded: “well it’s not that hard, let me show you” and he started teaching me the song. He sparked my passion for music and i tried learning to play the guitar all summer.
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Big brain – even bigger heart! So sad … so long Steve, fair winds.
I have many memories of Steve and his near infinite knowledge, his irascibility and energy. But there is a quiet moment that always comes to mind: dinner in Mexico City several years ago. Liam, who would have been about 7 at the time to an instant shine to Steve and where many might not dare insisted on a cuddle. Its a terrible picture … but kids know!
Kelly, so sorry for your loss!
Mike T
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You are so right Mike, my son loved Steve (and his beard) ever since he was just a baby.
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It seems that Steve was a friend of winds, both in the energy and environment field, as well as in sailing. I am certain that he has fair winds and following seas on this last journey. I feel very privileged for having the opportunity to meet Steve. Kelly, Layla and Sam, we have so many good memories of Steve, so many moments of joy and friendship to share and to keep Steve in our hearts forever. I love you all very much,
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Vaarwel Steve Sawyer.
We lost a true icon. An all-round warrior with a great mind and vision. Dedicated to the well-being of the world and the future.
Funny, fierce and focused. Sweet, scary and stubborn, Inspiring, intellectual and impressive. Glad to have known you.
Sterkte for Kelly and the children.
Sail on.
Hester
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I’m so,so, sorry to hear of Steve’s untimely death which is a loss for the environment as well a for his family and all of us. My thoughts are with Kelly, Layla and Sam.
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I am so sad to read of Steve’s passing. He was a bright and spirited contributor to the discussion back in Philosophy 101 at Haverford!
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Great loss. Steve was an special person. Condolences to Kelly and children.
Ruy de Goes
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I learned a lot from Steve, particular when we collaborated about the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002. When I am doing training on advocacy, often mentioned that I learned from Steve and Greenpeace International. I am happy that stayed in Steve’s house and met his family. Last time was at COP24 in December 2018 in Katowice having lunch meeting with Steve, where he told about the importance on getting policies in Asia for more windmills. Thanks for how you have inspired so many!
Best from Hans Peter Dejgaard (active in Danish 92 Group)
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It is a tribute to Steve that he packed so much into the life he had. Reading the messages from his friends and colleagues, I am getting a renewed glimpse into the richness of what he did and the depth of who he was. Steve’s sense of humour was sharp and unpredictable, his sense of irony was world-famous, and one could always count on his astuteness and honesty. He made an extraordinary contribution to the world of climate and energy, and we owe him a debt of gratitude for all he did. But the greatest tribute to Steve is that he will be remembered by so many in all corners of the world.
Rest in Peace, dear friend. The sound of your laughter and the generosity of your friendship is something that we who were lucky enough to know you will treasure throughout our lives.
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I deeply regret the loss of Steve Sawyer and joins with all of you in mourning the loss of a truly remarkable man. Steve was a great friend and an inspiration for all of us “the renewable community” .
Personally I esteemed his virtues very much.
my condoléances for his relatives …RIP
Marisa Olano (Spain)
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I had the privilege to work for Steve from the beginning at the Global Wind Energy Council, starting in 2007. I thank Steve both for the personal impact that he made on my life and the huge impact that he made on the global fight against climate change.
Steve was an incredible mentor to me early in my career. With his determination, clear vision and professionalism, he shaped my career more than any other person. Years later, in my current role as Vice President of Communications at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, I often find myself thinking ‘what would Steve say’ when thinking about a messaging strategy.
Steve’s legacy in fighting climate change cannot be matched. No other person was as dedicated to the cause, for so many years. Steve saw clearly what needed to be done before climate change was even a widely-acknowledged threat. I know that his legacy will live long in the many others that he mentored and inspired, such as my colleagues still at the Global Wind Energy Association and the Wind Europe.
My hearts go out to Kelly, Sam and Layla.
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I meet Steven for the first time in 1997, shortly after being hired by GP Canada and like so many of you, was struck by his fierce intellect, his wits, his dedication to our cause and obviously his sense of humour. In the following 2 decades, i have had the privileged of working closely with him and got to know him better, which only made me admire him more. I am a better person because of the time I have spent with Steve and the world is a better place from his time on our little blue planet. Rest in peace my friend. My sincere condolences to Kelly, Layla and Sam.
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In 1993 Greenpeace Canada was thick in the fight to save an area of ancient rainforest called Clayoquot Sound – the pre-cursor to the campaign on the Great Bear Rainforest. Steve was on the board, and I was brand new to the organisation and somehow the Chair.
In this campaign we faced legal injunctions that threatened to bankrupt the organisation. Actually, we were already technically bankrupt, but kept afloat with the good graces of staff who didn’t mind payday being late sometimes, some creative moving of money between accounts, and occasionally a bit of cash from Greenpeace International, or Greenpeace Germany.
Nevertheless, the campaign imperative to break these injunctions was an existential threat to Greenpeace Canada. Not only the organisational assets, but even the use of the name, and the personal assets of the Board members were at risk. On the other hand, the campaign had been dug in for some time, was incredibly controversial and had seen over 600 people arrested for acts of peaceful civil disobedience.
To Sawyer (at that time there were so many Steve’s around, none had the exclusive use of their first name), this was not a dilemma. He simply didn’t see the point of a Greenpeace that built a campaign and then walked away just to save it’s own corporate existence. He lobbied hard for this point of view, and won.
Only 3 of us remained on the Board – the minimum legal number – Sawyer, Olivier Deleuze and me. With Greenpeace International and Duncan Currie, we concocted a plan that had an element of legal fiction which might – just – have fooled the most imbecilic of judges, if it came to a legal fight. But it didn’t. We did the action, and together with many other groups and individuals and First Nations won the campaign, Greenpeace Canada eventually became solvent and risked it all again for the Great Bear Rainforest. And won again.
Of all the things I learned from Steve, this hard nosed prioritisation was the greatest lesson. The point of Greenpeace is to win campaigns to save the planet, and if you can’t do that – go home. And be clever about it.
Steve, I’ll miss your dedication, your dry sense of humour, your elliptical conversations and your ability to connect without pushing your ego. You’re stubborn and difficult and brilliant and I’ve never met anyone like you.
From almost the first moment I met you, I knew how amazingly lucky you felt to be Kelly’s partner and Layla’s dad – and then slightly later, to your delight, also the father of Sam. There’s nothing that can make your loss smaller, for your family, but I hope these recollections of the remarkable Steve Sawyer help Kelly, Layla and Sam.
With love. Jo
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