Steve Graham remembrances

*Carleton College* *Class of '67*

    Steve's death was so sudden and such a surprise. He seemed healthy, full of life and interesting experiences. I had a hard time remembering he'd been through treatments for non-Hodgkins lymphoma years ago. (I shaved my head in solidarity when he temporarily lost his hair, but I was already so bald that Steve was about the only one who noticed.) Even the heart arrhythmia that Steve learned he had this year seemed like a mild inconvenience, not a real threat or reason to do less or change any plans.

    I knew Steve first, and thought of him always, as a political activist. He moved to Colorado to take a job working with me in the Denver office of the American Friends Service Committee. Our job was to end war, abolish capital punishment, end the apartheid system in South Africa, resist the military draft registration, and stop U.S. intervention in Central America. We failed miserably, but it was a great job to have. Ending apartheid was our one big success, and that was the area Steve worked the most on. He graciously shared the credit with Nelson Mandela.

    Steve was good at being a peace and justice organizer. There were lots of things about war and injustice that made him burn, but he was not an angry person. He was creative and fun-loving, and good at getting people involved and working together. During the 1980s when the Reagan administration was busy trying to stomp out every freedom movement in Central America, we had a Denver chapter of a group called the Pledge of Resistance. We were frustrated at the limited and biased coverage the wars of Central America were getting in the media. After considerable effort at letters to the editor and monitoring the failures of the press, we organized a guerilla force in Denver that went out in the wee hours one morning armed with quarters. We used those quarters to open hundreds of newspaper boxes, and wrapped the Rocky Mountain News with a new front page offering what we thought was a humorous and educational set of headlines and stories about people's struggles in El Salvador and Guatemala. Then we all met for breakfast, admiring our handiwork in the window of each blue Rocky box passed. The News was not amused. They threatened criminal prosecutions, but of course we hadn't broken into any boxes and hadn't stolen any papers.

    I always admired the effortless and natural way Steve shifted from anti-war activist to his work with non-profit organizations and the Community Resource Center. It wasn't really that different, still working for social change. He used a lot of the same skills, training groups in how to work together effectively, thinking strategically, listening to people and helping them make a plan to get something done. But the group of people he was talking to gradually changed. At some point it dawned on me how big an impact he was having, on non-profit organizations but also on the whole state. It seemed like wherever you went or whatever you were talking about he knew someone, had been involved in some meetings, had worked with a group or given a training. It wasn't so much that he knew important people, or wealthy people, or powerful leaders. It was more about how he connected with people, and especially with people who wanted to make a difference, wanted to make the world a better and fairer place, a kinder place.

    Steve had a lot of interests, and knew about a lot of things. Good music. Art. Baseball, and especially the Cubbies. How to set up a 501(c)(3). He was a good listener. He was someone people listened to. He was a devoted husband. He was very good friend.

With great sorrow, we share news of the loss of Steve Graham, our executive director for the past 10 years. Steve collapsed and died suddenly at his home on Wednesday, December 20. Plans for services in his memory are being made by his family. We will keep you informed about services, condolences and memorials through e-mail and CRC’s Web site, www.crcamerica.org.

Steve’s leadership and values have been a tremendous inspiration to all of us at CRC, and to many people across Colorado who work to make our state and our communities better places to live. Steve’s leadership was characterized by integrity, a commitment to social justice, and his collaborative style. He led in a way that spoke to the best in us all and brought people from all walks of life together to work for the common good. His passing is a tremendous loss that will be felt by all here and throughout the nonprofit sector of the State of Colorado.