It happened in November

JIM BRIGHTWOLF

Visual Artist, Playwright, Art Activist, Writer, longtime Theater Director, Human Rights Advocate, Visionary, World-Citizen

1936 - 2006



"The arts and the Internet are the last free forms of media left for public power to express itself," - Jim Brightwolf

James Peter Brightwolf passed away in the early hours of Sunday, November 12, 2006, at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, California. He was undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer and died of a sudden unexpected heart attack.

Jim spearheaded the theater of public controversy. His passion for reclaiming the arts, both for social justice and for uncensored artistic expression, inspired people around the globe. In Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Aachen, Germany, he protested the Viet Nam War through theater. In Johannesburg and Nairobi he worked against apartheid and assisted black South African actors to leave the country and join a world tour. He aided California Farm Workers and the Sanctuary movement, and put his Direct Action Theater techniques to the test in Sydney, Australia, with a commitment to free art from corporate and government control. Jim was always excited by the potential of San Francisco which he considered a world hub of freedom of expression.

"Jim, in his quiet but intense and dedicated way, was one of the most compassionate persons I ever knew and one who backed up his convictions with actions," - Ana Elsner

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[See also: Remember Abu Ghraib (with related links).]

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[Another tragic loss to the artistic community: poet, artist and musician Tony Vaughan]

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(Photo Credit: Marsha Bellavance)
(Special thanks to: Mia Stageberg)