Archive colleagues remember Frank and Jack
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ****** I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain. When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper." Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life." Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life." The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious. In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction. Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be. From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder
That’s a great tribute to Jack. Ed has grasped his true essence. Randy Sent from my iPhone
On Dec 1, 2023, at 8:48 PM, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
Deep Gratitude to Ed for this tribute to Jack. Deep respect. Isobel Isobel Bishop Mob. 0412 129 425
On 2 Dec 2023, at 12:49 pm, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
Amen to that Jim Wiegel “…the long work of turning their lives into a celebration is not easy. Come and let us talk“. The Sunflowers. Mary Oliver
On Dec 1, 2023, at 11:51 PM, Isobel and Jim via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Deep Gratitude to Ed for this tribute to Jack. Deep respect.
Isobel Isobel Bishop Mob. 0412 129 425
On 2 Dec 2023, at 12:49 pm, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
Beautiful. Thank you for that, Ed. Seth T. Longacre Ashland, OR Unapologetically committed to equality, diversity, compassion, love, and justice. ———-O0ooo— ———–(——)— ————)–-/—- ————(_/- —-ooo0O—- —-(——)—- —–\-–(– ——\_)-
On Dec 1, 2023, at 17:47, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
Thank you Ed for the memories! Blase and I visited Jack and Litibu colleagues in August. I pulled out the courage to Lead book which had the Other World charts in them. We had one more go at doing an other world journey. Jack and I both felt this understanding was was one additional gift we had to fully give to the world. Journey On Jack. Sent from my iPhone On Dec 2, 2023, at 12:53 PM, Seth Longacre via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Beautiful. Thank you for that, Ed. Seth T. Longacre Ashland, OR Unapologetically committed to equality, diversity, compassion, love, and justice. ———-O0ooo— ———–(——)— ————)–-/—- ————(_/- —-ooo0O—- —-(——)—- —–\-–(– ——\_)- On Dec 1, 2023, at 17:47, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote: Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ****** I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain. When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper." Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life." Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life." The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious. In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction. Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be. From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net _______________________________________________ Dialogue mailing list Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/dialogue-wedgeblade.net
Thanks everyone for sharing. John and my memories are of working with Jack in Byculla, and beyond. in India, profound and memorable indeed. We give thanks for Jack’s completed life. Robyn From: OE <oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net> On Behalf Of Karen Snyder via OE Sent: Saturday, December 2, 2023 12:48 PM To: ICA Dialogue <Dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net>; OE Community <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> Cc: Karen Snyder <karen.snyder10@gmail.com> Subject: [Oe List ...] Archive colleagues remember Frank and Jack Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ****** I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain. When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper." Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life." Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life." The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious. In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction. Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder
Karen, I so appreciated your gratitude comments about Frank Knutson!. They are well placed. I never worked with him in our earlier years, but I did encounter him on the GreenRise 6th floor during Archives events. As a Community, our ICA and Order work has always been very “word” based. We lived in a time before media and the digital world grew up to surround everyone, us included. Franks willingness to spend hours organizing and scanning photographs meant that we could link our “word based” documents and experience and wisdom with photographs that illuminated those words. He played an critical role in getting us pointed in the right direction. Blessings on his given life. Ruth
On Dec 1, 2023, at 7:47 PM, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
I, too, so deeply appreciated Frank’s work with the photos. I’m very visual as a default and most of my memories are visual far more than the content of what we were doing. Every day I would look forward to the daily photos and loved feeling the relatedness they reminded me of. Seth T. Longacre Ashland, OR Unapologetically committed to equality, diversity, compassion, love, and justice. ———-O0ooo— ———–(——)— ————)–-/—- ————(_/- —-ooo0O—- —-(——)—- —–\-–(– ——\_)-
On Dec 2, 2023, at 13:25, Ruth Gilbert via Dialogue <dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Karen, I so appreciated your gratitude comments about Frank Knutson!. They are well placed.
I never worked with him in our earlier years, but I did encounter him on the GreenRise 6th floor during Archives events.
As a Community, our ICA and Order work has always been very “word” based. We lived in a time before media and the digital world grew up to surround everyone, us included.
Franks willingness to spend hours organizing and scanning photographs meant that we could link our “word based” documents and experience and wisdom with photographs that illuminated those words. He played an critical role in getting us pointed in the right direction.
Blessings on his given life. Ruth
On Dec 1, 2023, at 7:47 PM, Karen Snyder via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:oe@lists.wedgeblade.net>> wrote:
Ed Feldmanis and I have been sharing our gratitude for the roles Frank Knutson and Jack Gilles played in making the Archives accessible over the years. Frank, among other things, organized 40,000 photos of the ICA’s global work, which is now available to all. Ed has known Jack for many years, including before Jack’s work with the Archives. After Ed wrote the following words about Jack, I suggested they should be shared on the list serve and he asked me to send them to you. ******
I first encountered Jack in 1971. Once I met Jack I found the encounter unforgettable. Several times he was a guest at our religious house dinners, every time my impression was the same. First, here was a guy whose life was turned upside down by the Gospel. Second, there was no question that when you met Jack you met intensity. Even in those early days there was something wild about him. Thirdly, it was easy to grasp, that this was a guy gifted with an impactful big brain.
When in later years, Jack found himself in the Cleveland Religious House, next to Case Western University, Jack discovered that Kenneth Boulding, the author of The Image paper which fundamentally changed how we all understood education, was lecturing. Afterwards, Jack approached him, introduced himself, and said, “Whatever you have planned for the rest of the evening, I have a better offer for you.” Many of Jack's Order colleagues have commented the Jack had brass balls. This is certainly an instance of that. Boulding agreed to come for refreshments with members of the House. According to Jack, Boulding was astonished by the concept of Imaginal Education; his response was, "But it only took me a couple of hours to put this on paper."
Jack once shared with me that his greatest satisfaction was his work in India. It was more than undertaking of the Human Development Projects in one of the toughest places in the world. What Jack understood was that the very mindset and operations of how businesses worked had to fundamentally change. So Jack promoted, recruited, and presented the LENS course with every opportunity. Jack's passion was in the belief that India could not move ahead without the transformation of business from its' heavy-handed top-down operations to one which was more egalitarian and human. Jack was fully on board with Peter Drucker's idea, "Work no longer can just make a living, it must make a life."
Whenever, over the years, students approached Jack for career advice, he would share with them an unusual perspective. "The first thing to do," he would say, "is to ask yourself if there is anything you would want to experience or undertake that if you missed the opportunity, you would regret it for the rest of your life."
The one thing that was true for Jack was that you could take the man out of the religious order, but you could not take the religious out of the man. Whether the Order went out of being or not Jack always understood himself to be the religious.
In Jack's later life his ambitions were twofold. One was to make a go of the Litibu Ecovillage which he helped found and second to share with the world our Institute colleagues' knowledge, experience and works. Jack helped formulate the framework of the archives collections and shared his vision about its values and direction.
Jack was entranced by water, and yearned to be around it. In this case the Pacific Ocean. When he died he was exactly where he wanted to be.
From Ed Feldmanis and Karen Snyder _______________________________________________ OE mailing list OE@lists.wedgeblade.net <mailto:OE@lists.wedgeblade.net> http://lists.wedgeblade.net/listinfo.cgi/oe-wedgeblade.net
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participants (8)
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Isobel and Jim -
James Wiegel -
Janet Sanders -
Karen Snyder -
Randy Williams -
rjhutchinson48＠gmail.com -
Ruth Gilbert -
Seth Longacre