My condolences, as feelings of pain and bitterness, become unbearable. It is my desire to convey a comforting thought based on the Holy Scriptures
John 5:28 "Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear his voice and come out."
This passage speaks of the resurrection of our loved ones. It is not God's plan to see us suffer and die, so He extends the following invitation to us: "Come near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8)
Please go to the following link to obtain more information regarding the Hope expressed in this passage and again we are sorry for your loss.
http://www.jw.org
Thanks to having met Larry, I can now see just what we humans are capable of!
I'm devastated by Larry Duncan's death.
The lessons I learned from him opened my eyes.
The many gifts he shared with me are priceless.
Perhaps his finest hour was more than 15 years ago.
One night in All Saints' sanctuary hundreds of church
folks from Peninsula Interfaith Action gathered to
affirm the urgent need for services for the
unhoused members of our community.
As final speaker, Larry moved everyone with his
slow, steady, thoughtful words.
Then, Mayor Gary Fazzino and City Manager June Fleming
came forward and signed a statement affirming the
need for action.
Immediate result: creation of the Community Working Group with
Larry on its board.
Ultimate Result (10 years and $24 million later) opening of
The Opportunity Center.
Larry was a quiet, generous giant among us.
Larry Duncan was the sage of the streets of Palo Alto. He will leave a hole in the town that cannot be filled - not with asphalt nor with any other human being. May his memory last and his legacy of advocacy for justice long be emulated.
When I was the executive director of the Urban Ministry, Larry became more and more involved in community affairs on behalf of his fellow unhoused residents. He alternated between unyielding idealism and strategic compromise, always doggedly pursuing the cause. He was a spare, soft-spoken, thoughtful man who punctuated his pensamientos with long draws on his cigarette. He kept his head together with a handkerchief tied around it, giving him the look of a relic from bygone days of free speech, free love, and free veggie burritos at Dead concerts. But a conversation with him would disabuse anyone of assuming that he was just a hippie. He was a real intellectual. He valued the life of the mind for its own sake. That set him apart not only from most homeless people but also from most of the housed people walking up and down University Avenue with dotcom sugarplums dancing in their heads.
Larry intimated that homelessness was his chosen way of life. I admired his proud embrace of his condition even as I questioned the real range of choices that had been available to him. His demons always nipped at his boots, drawing blood and inflicting pain that could be read between the lines on his face.
Larry often exasperated the people who loved and respected him most. Was it all a test of fidelity in friendship. a test of solidarity with the suffering? Or was it his way of drawing us into his inner struggle, getting us to feel his pain? He was a guy who didn't take much for granted, and I always admired him for inspiring me to do the same. On many occasions in the process of organizing and building the Opportunity Center, Larry kept it real. He forced the people and the powers-that-be of Palo Alto to take seriously the actual lived experience of the poorest of the poor in our community. He was able to express it in a sophisticated manner that reached people who might otherwise not have heard the message.
Larry lived a lot longer than a lot of us thought he would. Was it the sheer tenaciousness that he exhibited all along? I pray that his commitments, his causes, his concerns will remain tenacious for years to come in Palo Alto and beyond. Rest well and easy, dear Larry ---
