John Stowe Memorial
March 18, 2009
A tree-planting ceremony in honor of John Stowe (1952-2009) will be
held in the Native Garden in Hurt Park on April 3, 2009, starting at
1:00 p.m. (rain or shine).
John Stowe, beloved friend, colleague and teacher, was a Lecturer in
the Department of Applied Linguistics and English as a Second Language
at Georgia State University and also a GSU graduate. John died
unexpectedly on February 3rd, 2009. John’s life was devoted to his work with
international students and his passion for nature and healing. His last writing assignment for his students, titled A Sense of Place, was designed to help students learn more about their Atlanta community. John keenly wanted his students to connect to and care for the local environment.
The ceremony will open and close with a Calling in the Directions by
David Michael of Gay Spirit Vision, a group John helped found. Monty
Schuth, John’s partner, will speak on John’s love of nature and his
environmental activism in Atlanta. Five trees will be planted,
including dogwoods and fringe trees.
The drought-resistant native garden, created by environmental artist
Pandra Williams, was designed to exemplify sustainable green space for
the 2008 project, Urban Intervention. The project was curated by Cathy
Byrd, who is the Director of the Ernest G. Welch School of Art & Design
Galleries at Georgia State University.
The Native Garden is located in Hurt Park between Gilmer Street,
Edgewood Avenue and Courtland Avenue, across from Alumni Hall.
John Stowe’s obituary in the AJC is available at
John Stowe’s obituary in the AJC is available at
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/obits/stories/2009/02/08/stowe_obit.html.
Information about the garden can be found at:
http://www.ecoaddendum.org/projects/hurt-park-native-garden/
Environmental artist Pandra Williams’s website:
http://www.pandrawilliams.com/
