Celebrating Frank
Frank Lindenfeld, co-founder of GEO, dear friend, husband and father, scholar, visionary advocate for democracy, and tireless worker for social and economic justice, passed away on June 8, 2008.
Frank's wisdom, kindness, dedication and gentle manner touched the lives of many people and his spirit will live on in the work that we do together to build a better world.
This forum is dedicated to celebrating Frank's life, work and his impact on his communities and on the world. Please share your thoughts, memories and inspirations.
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With love and solidarity,
The GEO Collective
A Hero I never Met
One of the very first books I read about worker ownership was:
When Workers Decide: Workplace Democracy Takes Root in North America
1992, New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, PA
Edited by Len Krimerman and Frank Lindenfield
This book is a series of essays about the emerging worker ownership movement in North America. Both Krimerman and Lindenfield are also involved in GEO.
I haven't re-read the book in years, but I remember the unbridled optimism of the authors. This book was instrumental in my early explorations of worker democracy. Frank Lindenfield will surely be missed.
William Cerf
Brooklyn, NY
for Frank, Brother-in-Life
Irreplaceable, Inseparable Brother-in-Life
Some give us light, others love,
For decades, without effort, you gave me both.
Some are the backbone, others the heart,
You were both, of all our fantasies,
Our insubordinate plots and reckless plans.
Today I started to phone you, yes, once more
As I may have done a thousand or ten thousand times.
To hear that always welcoming, always patient, voice.
To laugh together again, to share our crazy dreams,
To comfort each other when those dreams crash
To feel the wild joy of them spreading now like dandelions.
But no, I brokenly thought, you would no longer answer.
Where does one turn to replace the irreplaceable?
How does one twin survive the loss of another?
I will find a way, but not without you.
Drawing on what you gave, light and love
Laughter and comfort, wild brotherly joy
I will still hear your calming voice in my sorrows and defeats
Your hopes will guide and enrich my dreams, as they always have.
Death can no more separate us
Than a song can be erased by a censoring pen
Or a book by a burning fire.
I will see you in every place our agitation and enthusiasms reach,
Find you at my side whenever a gentle word is needed,
Or an authority?s presumption needs challenging.
We will walk, we will talk, suffer and delight, together
Though my eyes will not always be dry when we do.
A True Elder
As long as i live i'll always remember clearly Frank's kind, gentle voice encouraging, sharing, full of hope. A true Elder for our movements, our collective, and for me. I'm honored to have worked with him, to have learned from him, to have shared ideas and dreams with him, and I know that a part of him will always live on in the work that we dedicate our lives to.
An optimistic teacher of democracy
Like you all, I am very sad to hear that Frank has died. I first became interested in worker democracy after reading Frank's and Len's books. I not only learned a great deal about democratic work from Frank but was also inspired by his "way of being" in the world. Sometimes I feel discouraged because our goal of a democratic and just society seems so far from realization. However, interacting with Frank often energized me. Frank embodied kindness and a patient, persistent optimism that would renew my hope in our common dream. We will miss him.