"The land we save is our legacy. It’s what we give to our children" ~Harriet BurgessFounder and President, American Land Conservancy
When Harriet recruited me to sit on her founding Board of Counselors, I replied that I did not have money to give so perhaps I was the wrong choice. She said she wanted my media advice, my passion and my pictures and that would be enough, so I said yes.
Then, without missing a beat, she said can you take some pictures of this place I might be able to rescue in Big Sur, called Limekiln Creek. At that moment an interesting circle in my life was completed. In my college years, I had what the hippies described as a "cosmic flash" while camping in Limekiln, and by my experience there determined to dedicate my photography to purposeful conservation issues. I spent many subsequent camping trips there teaching myself how to move from my experimental darkroom photography style to my new embrace of depicting the landscape. Limekiln was a difficult subject, but a great teacher. I told Harriet that I already had some old pictures if she wanted them. She did, and she had me print 6 of them immediately so that she could take them to a meeting with a possible funding source that would help with the purchase and protection of the Limekiln property.
I got them to her, she took them and showed. The fund source gave her some seed money on the condition that they could keep the prints. Then, some months later, the purchase was completed and ALC transferred Limekiln into the California State Park system. It is hard to move more quickly than that, and Harriet was a master of timing and finesse.
She always saw the "bigger" picture and knew how to put the players together to make things happen. I will miss you, my love! God, look at that GREAT smile!
To remember Harriet Burgess with your comments, click here
To read more about Harriet Burgess, click here
#rgk
Then, without missing a beat, she said can you take some pictures of this place I might be able to rescue in Big Sur, called Limekiln Creek. At that moment an interesting circle in my life was completed. In my college years, I had what the hippies described as a "cosmic flash" while camping in Limekiln, and by my experience there determined to dedicate my photography to purposeful conservation issues. I spent many subsequent camping trips there teaching myself how to move from my experimental darkroom photography style to my new embrace of depicting the landscape. Limekiln was a difficult subject, but a great teacher. I told Harriet that I already had some old pictures if she wanted them. She did, and she had me print 6 of them immediately so that she could take them to a meeting with a possible funding source that would help with the purchase and protection of the Limekiln property.
I got them to her, she took them and showed. The fund source gave her some seed money on the condition that they could keep the prints. Then, some months later, the purchase was completed and ALC transferred Limekiln into the California State Park system. It is hard to move more quickly than that, and Harriet was a master of timing and finesse.
She always saw the "bigger" picture and knew how to put the players together to make things happen. I will miss you, my love! God, look at that GREAT smile!
To remember Harriet Burgess with your comments, click here
To read more about Harriet Burgess, click here
#rgk
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