The passing of Janet Johnson-and Willard Munger-this summer should cause us to rededicate ourselves to finding new ways of thinking, new ways of doing things, new ways of living in community with each other. In her way of looking to the future, Janet was a visionary. She was a progressive in the best sense of the word.

Janet brought this perspective to all her environmental issues: to sustain the natural resources that we will leave to our children, to renew ourselves and our economies, we have to work together to find new paths, new ways, new rules. We need to keep alive her vision that environmentalism is a way of thinking, a way of doing things better and smarter, investing in the future and preserving the natural world that is the foundation of all work and all wealth. .

I know she would appreciate it if I ended by stating something obvious: Janet Johnson’s work is unfinished. We are all called by her life to emulate what was best in her: to work hard at building communities while we protect the natural world; to be gentle with each other; and to continue to find new ways to leave things better for the next generation. That’s what she would want. That’s what Janet Johnson would want us to do.
– Michael Noble
August 28,1999
North Branch, MN