Friday, May 13, 2011

For the Earth: David Orton (1934-2011)



 David’s death occurred on the morning of Thursday, May 12th, 2011 at his home in Watervale, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. David was born in Portsmouth, England on January 6th, 1934. He lived in Canada since 1957. 

David was an activist and deep green philosopher, who dedicated his life to developing the theory of Left Biocentrism within the Deep Ecology movement. He was uncompromising in his fight for the Earth and set a high standard for others to follow. David believed in living simply, where the richness of human life was defined not in material values, but within a deeper spiritual relationship with the Earth.

His body of work can be found on the Green Web site and on his Deep Green Web Blog.

A green burial will take place.

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Postscript (June 4th, 2011)


SOME LINKS WE’D LIKE TO SHARE

One of David’s friends, Mark Brennan, made a recording of the morning sounds at our place. I think it is a moving tribute to David and to our place, which David called a paradise. See “For the Earth, Morning Chorus at David's” at: http://soundcloud.com/wildearthvoices/morning-chorus-at-davids.

There is an article on David “Noted environmental activist, David Orton, dies at 77: Orton espoused deep ecology and left biocentrism” at http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2011/05/14/noted-environmental-activist-david-orton-dies-at-77

See also the tribute to David on the Friends of Redtail site at http://www.friendsofredtail.ca/

David’s green burial was on our land, on a hill in the woods, in a spot David loved. A friend took some photos at the burial, which show the lovely spot the gravesite is at. See
http://www.flickr.com/photos/camillelabchuk/sets/72157626615300481/with/5729429552/

See the Wikipedia entry on David at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Orton_%28deep_ecology%29

The obituary is now posted on the blog at http://deepgreenweb.blogspot.com/2011/05/for-earth-david-orton-1934-2011.html and on our web site at http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/David_Keith_Orton.pdf

An account of the burial ceremony "A deep green burial" is posted at http://home.ca.inter.net/~greenweb/A_deep_green_burial.pdf

Helga and Karen