Sunday, January 23, 2011

Our Own Lorax - Jim Otterstrom

"I speak for the trees!!" - the Lorax

"The Lorax is a children's book, written by Dr. Seuss and first published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the environment and the Lorax, who speaks for the trees against the greedy Once-ler. The book is commonly recognized as a fable concerning industrialized society, using literary element of personification to give life to industry as the Once-ler (whose face is never shown in any of the story's illustrations or in the television special) and to the environment as the Lorax. It has become a popular metaphor for those concerned about the environment." - Wikipedia


Our own Lorax past on to a more peaceful place yesterday.


A toast to the man who influenced lives,
changed the world he touched,

and took the time to teach all those he loved.





My heart hurts to know that the world has lost such a wonderful human. However, I am selfish in the joy that I had known him so well. He was an amazing man in so many ways. We shared many a bottle of wine and too many adventures to count. It was hard to find the right pictures or stories to tell. So speechless I am, yes me, the woman whose family swears I can't ever shut up.


As for now, I am like many others, dealing with the shock, the sorrow, the loss. My bags are packed, my dogs boarded, my car gassed up (sorry Jim it's just too far to ride a bicycle) and me and my family are leaving tomorrow before sunrise to be with Peggy, Jimmy, Jamie and Lois.


Jim Otterstrom - We miss you and will live on in the knowledge that you have imparted upon us. We love you dearly. Rest in knowing that you have changed our lives forever.



Life is too short to ever say -

"maybe someday."





2 comments:

Linda Navroth said...

I share your sorrow. Alas, I never got to meet Jim; only knew him via his blog. I had actaully screwed up enough courage to think about contacting him for a visit this spring, too. But as your final quote said, you can't wait until someday.
Can you please, please, PLEASE tell me what happened to him? None of the obits say. I am assuming it was a heart attack. And that is even harder still to believe! I hope you don't think it is too grim of me, but I would like some closure and knowing how he died will give me that.
Kind regards,
Linda
Westwood, CA

Cuntry Trash said...

I never met Jim - or knew him - and only was turned into hum posthumously, but he really seemed like an amazing guy. It's a shame how I was tuned into him - because his name was forever linked to the Charles Manson gang (they ripped he and Charles Melton off for $5,000 that Jim and Charles was going to use to take a world trip with) and was very surprised how inspiring this guy was to so many people.

After Googling him and researching Jim, his blog, and his words of wisdom, I have to say that I agree - the world lost an amazing human.

Godspeed