Death sucks no matter what

Charles F. McGlashan (1961-2011)

“Don't fear your mortality, because it is this very mortality that gives meaning and depth and poignancy to all the days that will be granted to you.”

~ Paul Tsongas (1941-1997)

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) was a beloved actress, philanthropist and businessperson known around the world as one of the most beautiful and talented women ever to grace the silver screen.  Millions mourned her death last Wednesday.

Charles McGlashan (1961-2011) was president of the Marin County Board of Supervisors who promoted sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable power.  He was just 49 when he died yesterday of a heart attack.

Elizabeth Taylor earned three Academy Awards.

Charles McGlashan won an Environmental Leadership Award from the Environmental Education Council of Marin, a Youth Activist Award from Next Generation, and a Bicycle Leadership Award from the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.

Elizabeth Taylor helped raise more than $100 million for AIDS charities.

Charles McGlashan worked on affordable housing, public housing, water conservation, local non-car transportation systems, bicycle and pedestrian improvements, smart community design, zero waste, green building, environmental justice, public health and habitat protection issues, among others.

Elizabeth Taylor was a fashion icon who had a passion for jewelry and owned the 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond and the 69.42-carat, pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond.

Charles McGlashan had served on the Board of the Marin Municipal Water District and as an officer with the Marin Economic Commission, the Marin Conservation League and the Sierra Club Marin Group Executive Committee.  He was also associated with City CarShare, Sustainable Conservation, the North Bay Sustainability Center, the Peninsula Conservation Center Foundation, and the Environmental Education Council of Marin.

As Anita pointed out, some people have wide and splashy impacts on the world; others leave marks that are more contained but significant nonetheless.

Daulat Singh (1939-2007) was born in central India and came to the United States in the late 1960s to pursue a Ph.D. at Michigan State University.  A loving and devoted husband and father of three children, Singh worked as a senior chemist at the Michigan Department of Agriculture's Geagley Laboratory from 1970 until his death in 2007 from cancer of the bladder.

Brian Cavanaugh (1968-2011) graduated from Okemos High School with Anita back in 1986.  He went on to attend the University of Michigan and University of Denver College of Law and was a partner at the Butzel Long law firm.  He died of appendix cancer on March 24, leaving a wife and two young daughters.

These people were not world-famous but they mattered to those who loved them.  The end of their lives brought pain and sadness too.

Rest in peace, Elizabeth Taylor.  And rest in peace, Charles F. McGlashan and Daulat Singh and M. Brian Cavanaugh.  Thank you for the marks you left.