While I was honored to be interviewed for the May 9 Gazette article, “Lifetime Achiever,” about Frances Crowe, I was slightly embarrassed that the only contribution of mine that made it into in the article was about my childhood observations of Frances walking through the streets of Northampton wearing a backpack instead of a purse.
Although she did offer an alternative fashion statement that thrilled my 9-year-old tomboy heart (what a relief to know there need be no purse carrying in my future!), my life has been influenced by Frances in far more significant ways. I have been influenced and inspired by Frances for over 60 years.
I have been influenced by her remarkable interest in people, not just social issues. She has maintained a lively, warm interest in the many people who cross her path, asking questions and remembering significant things about the people she meets. I think her commitment to both community and the individuals who create community, is a big part of her remarkable life.
I have been influenced by Frances’ moral integrity. I remember a few years ago when we were participating in one of many civil disobedience actions to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. It was a very long, very hot day. Although Frances, already in her 90s, was closer to becoming dehydrated than many of us younger folks, she politely refused to share water from any plastic water bottles. She was bearing witness, working to save the planet from single-use plastics while at the same time putting her body on the line to protest the impact of nuclear radiation and toxic waste.
Frances has kept a lively and well-informed interest in a broad range of concerns over the many years I’ve known her. Who else but Frances could bump into me at the grocery store and engage in an avid conversation about the complex underbelly of biological weapons production?
Frances stays with me in the ways certain people just pop up on your shoulder like Jiminy Cricket: “What would Frances do?” She also warms my heart.
Dusty J. Miller
Belchertown