In Honor of Alan Kuper
It was an evening event at the Shaker Nature Center in 1988. The speaker had raised an issue that I didn’t understand. I turned to the person seated next to me and asked him to clarify the issue for me. The man responded patiently and with a smile. What struck me was how inviting he was. That person was Alan Kuper, Ph.D., a volunteer activist and leader with the Northeast Ohio Sierra Club. That’s when I knew that Northeast Ohio Sierra Club was the place for me.
Alan was a backbone of the local Northeast Ohio Sierra Club group. He could be found sitting in the front row of the bimonthly Sierra Club meetings. He brought delicious treats to the membership potlucks. His visual displays on the issue of population and its relationship to a sustainable planet were a regular at Earthfest. For years, he could be heard as the “Voice of the Sierra Club” on WCLV-FM, offering timely pieces of information to the audience. Alan started Comprehensive U.S. Sustainable Population (CUSP), a watchdog organization that maintains environmental scorecards for federal legislators based on their voting records on population issues.
Alan’s ideas and counsel were invaluable to me, as I learned the ropes of being an eco-activist. Something that stands out is the importance of media. He taught me the significance of building bridges with the media—to educate—so that each person can make informed choices. Although I wasn’t a student in any of the electrical engineering and applied physics classes Alan taught at Case Western Reserve University, I was one of his students in the realm of environmental sustainability.
Alan died Dec. 13 at the age of 84, after a year-long challenge with stomach cancer. He sent his last email on the population issue the day before he died. Alan Kuper was a guiding light. He will be greatly missed