I am deeply saddened by the loss of Uncle Arne on Monday, January 12, 2009. Uncle Arne was my stepfather’s uncle, but even more than that, he was the man who raised him. Uncle Arne passed away in his sleep on the 5 year anniversary of my stepfather's death. He was 96 years old and lived a truly impressive life with joy in his heart and a smile on his face (and joke always on his lips). I have wonderful memories of time spent with him that I will cherish forever.
After reading about Uncle Arne (Arne Dekke Eide Næss) on the Internet, I’m in awe of his intellect as well. He is widely regarded as the foremost Norwegian philosopher of his time. His work focused on Spinoza, Buddhism and Gandhi. He was also the youngest person to be appointed full professor at the University of Oslo.
He wrote numerous books and articles, but he was best known for launching the concept of "deep ecology,” which expresses a vision of the world in which we protect the environment as a part of ourselves. His ecological philosophy is still important to Greenpeace and he was the first chairman of Greenpeace in Norway.
Uncle Arne was also a mountaineer. He led the first expedition to conquer the 25,289 foot mountain Tirich Mir in Pakistan in 1954, then led a second Norwegian expedition up the mountain in 1964. He instilled a love of climbing and the mountains in my stepfather (who climbed the worlds 7 highest peeks, including in 1985 he lead the first Norwegian expedition to Mount Everest), which has also been passed down to my brother Ross.
Uncle Arne was filled with wonder at the richness of the natural world and our unique place in it. For him life was something to be enjoyed completely and I believe he did enjoy his life to the fullest. When I saw him last, just 5 years ago (He was 90 years old), he was joking, laughing and making fart noises with his hands.
My mother and brothers recently got to see him in Norway when my mother sang at the Nobel Peace Awards. He was sick, but made it to the show and my mother gave him a shout out from the stage dedicating “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” to him. The crowd went wild as he danced on stage. Uncle Arne is a true celebrity in Norway. He was an amazing man and he will, not only be missed by his family, but by all who had the good fortune to know him.
Uncle Arne was FABULOUS!
7 comments:
Hi Chudney,
What a lovely tribute to your uncle. Just wanted to say to you and your family, that you have my greatest sympathy. I have a little memory regarding your uncle. Back when your mother first married your stepfather, my friends and I were trying to find out all the dirt of who he was. Well we did not know there were a Arne Sr. and a Jr. All we kept digging up was volumes on Arne Sr. It left us all scratching our heads. One friend broke the silence and said, " well yes he's a little older and obviously he's a learned man from A-Z, and apparently the Art of Romanic sms was he speciality to land our Diana. Everyone was just crying with LOL! We found later it was to Arne Jr. Truth be told Arne Naess Jr. must have learned it from the former.
I hope you will hold your memories of him tight to comfort you in sad times such as this. Know that I am thinking of you and your family.
My sincere thoughts and prayers are with you.
Take care, Gene
Sorry for your loss. Very nice tribute.
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