In Praise of Chuck Jorgensen, Professor of Sorts
October 10th, 2008Many of you who read these words and postings probably do not think much about how this site came to be. MMMFiles.com is the brainchild of Chuck Jorgensen, who foresaw the existence and impact of global climate change, long before it became fashionably green, or even the widespread use of the internet.
When I first started working for him, my job was to collect and file newspaper articles that addressed abnormal weather events around the world. It was his conjecture that enough of those, over a long span of time would provide evidence something was seriously amiss and abnormal with our global weather system — global climate change. When domains became available for public use, Chuck wasted no time establishing the Millennial Files. Initially, it dealt with political issues like no-nukes, and his own history. Shortly after I came on board, we added a Global Climate Change page where I synopsized these same types of articles from around the world. Not wanting to bombard people with doom and gloom, Chuck directed me to begin a page for Solutions, which addressed alternative fuels and technologies.Eventually, there was so much evidence and acceptance of the phenomenon, we created the blog which you are now reading.
I first met Chuck as a returning college student, after a 20-year break. Going after a BA in Poltical Science, I took a U.S. History class where he was adept at humanizing dates, numbers and figures in a way that will always make me remember how German emigres populated and influenced the East Coast in the mid-1800’s. With pipe in hand, and stroking his beard, he strolled the front of the room and said:
“Okay, so back in the mid 1800’s, there was a civil war in Germany … and these guys lost. Now, when you lose a civil war, you gotta get out of town, so all these Germans came to the East Coast and settled it. That’s why you see all this German architecture… There were a lot of union organizers (in this group), who were a major influence in the birth the the American Labor Movement…”
I’m still amazed that 10 years later, I still remember those facts.
More than that, Chuck was always interested in social justice and willing to walk the talk. As a community activist in the 60’s, he surreptitiously made his way onto the Lockheed plant in Burbank to find evidence of the company contaminating the water sewage system with toxins. He never really impersonated an officer, but his khaki shirt, pants, name badge and demeanor made the security guards think he was from the government and let him in. By the time they realized their mistake, he had already made it to a restroom, flushed some dye, walked out and thanked them for their cooperation. Evidence was verified by a cohort at another location. Many of his friends who knew him way before me can testify to demonstrations at Bank of America and establishing the Peace & Freedom Party in Santa Barbara, California somewhere between 1966-68.
Chuck, who is now losing a battle with lung cancer, lived life fully and on his terms. This may have been to some people’s dismay, but his sign that traveled with him from West LA to Boise, Idaho says it all:
“I Spent Most of My Money on Wine, Women and Song. The Rest I Wasted.”
He is a good Swede, mensch and above all, friend. I will miss him dearly. I already do.
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