Ramblings of a Monkeygirl I laughed, I cried, I fell down…

In memoriam. Luke Cole 1962-2009

Luke in Antarctica, Picture from the New York Times

Luke came to speak to the public interest law seminar I was attending at Santa Clara Law School during my second year, and he completely changed the course of my legal career. Before meeting him I had thought I'd go towards a policy job somewhere, maybe government. When Luke walked in the door, the first thing you noticed was his laughing eyes and enormous smile (and beard!). He began to speak about his work with the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment and social justice in general and every word filled the room with enthusiasm. To me, however, it was even more than just enthusiasm; it was like a whip crack to my heart and a flipped switch in my head – one of those rare epiphany moments you get in life.

I suddenly realized that I wanted to do more with my law degree than I’d ever really imagined before. I wanted to do important work like he did and fight for people and causes few others did. I had already landed an interview with the CRPE for a summer internship prior to meeting Luke, but now I made it my mission to get that position and my excitement must been obvious because I was lucky enough to be offered the internship.

I have hoped to live up to his example ever since that first meeting. I met Luke for lunch last August when I was feeling particularly bleak about the political landscape of my job. When I’m stuck waging a particularly disgusting political battle, I sometimes forget that every fight I gird up for really does matter. I had told him I was an advocate suffering from a crisis of faith, and I think he could sense that I needed a kind word or two to keep my spirits up. While it shouldn’t matter so much what one person thinks of me, I have to admit that when Luke praised my organization for the work it, and therefore I, do, he chipped away the black crust of despair I was starting to feel about my job. I credit Luke with changing my path in life, so when he essentially affirmed and supported the choice I’d made, it was very much like zapping my flagging heart with one of those portable defibrillators.

There are few people in this world I consider a mentor, and even fewer still I would call one of my heroes. Luke was both to me. The world is a worse place without him, but hopefully people will carry on his work to make it better.

Luke's Memorial Page

SF Gate article about Luke's life and the accident

NYTimes Obituary

Donations to The Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment to help provide legal assistance to the grassroots movement for environmental justice