Saturday, July 27, 2024

Goodbye, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols

Earlier this week I was deeply saddened when I ran across the following on Dr. Wallace J. Nichol's social media feed (which I follow on both Instagram and Facebook). Nichols, who regularly went by J on his own website, wrote the book Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do. Published in summer of 2014, this marks the 10 year anniversary of his book. Blue Mind happens to be one of my top favorite books of all times, and I have read it at least 3 times....and written about it more than that, as you'll see in my list below.

Seeing this highlighted social media post this week was the first I'd heard of his passing, at the age of 56--far too young AND far too close to my age! News like this never seems realistic when the person passing is fairly young. For years I've been waiting for his next book because I literally "soak up" his writing and couldn't get enough. Now I see that other than his children's book Dear Wild Child: You Carry Your Home Inside of You that he wrote with and for his daughter after California wildfires took their home, that dream of mine will not come to be.

I am mourning this loss of J and how his "blue mind" message was so powerful to me. It probably doesn't help that the '80s girl in me (who has recently watched Brats by Andrew McCarthy and a lot of Brat Pack movies afterward for nostalgia sake) has seen the recent loss of other icons from my younger years: Richard Simmons, Bob Newhart, Shannon Doherty, Dr. Ruth, Martin Mull, and Donald Sutherland. These "younger" losses hit even harder. Especially when I don't feel my calendar/chronological age.

I've been comforted reading about the lost of this blue mind hero of mine with the following tribute articles written by some big name publications in the world of environmentalism, outdoor education, and sustainability.

Here is the post on his own website by his family announcing his passing:  "In Memory of Dr. Wallace J. Nichols" (6/21/2024).

In reading so many articles about Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, I even learned he wrote a post on his Patreon site right before his passing, showing all of the upcoming plans he had and how his work was not done. He had plans.

I also pay tribute to J here with my own list here of past posts I've written on the concept of Blue Mind:

To contribute toward the continuation of his work, you can visit The Dr Wallace J Nichols Memorial Fund GoFundMe Page. Here too, you can read his incredible biography of all he accomplished in his 56 years!

J, you will be missed, far and wide. My thoughts go out to your friends and family who feel their immediate holes in their heart and lives where you should still be. Thank you for your work in marine biology, your books, your environmentalism, your Blue Mind Movement, and for putting words in place that beautifully describe my relationship with water.

Wallace J. Nichols' photo quote created by me in Canva.com using words from the text of "Blue Mind" for my June 26, 2021 GTG post: https://www.greenteamgazette.com/2021/06/blue-mind-revisited.html; photo image with Dr. Wallace J. Nichols & blue marble from https://www.santacruzworks.org/news/celebrating-the-life-and-legacy-of-dr-wallace-j-nichols, Google Slide images created by me, with social media posts from July 23, 2024 https://www.facebook.com/wallacejnichols/posts/pfbid037zM699sknKzGKjupCefJ2PmZD4UKnbBgxxrMddQ87edasPKNhKGttPu8GqmBqhfdl, video from https://youtu.be/0dgNVSV1qow?si=lDOWcH6DFrg032jv

Posted by Vicki at 1:30 AM
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