Few people indeed have represented Humanism as did Lloyd Morain and his wife, Mary.
Let us remember with pleasure what Lloyd and Mary Morain were, and what they did. Let us honor them for what they contributed to human good through their leadership particularly in the organized Humanist movement.
The life of Lloyd and Mary Morain will be celebrated on Sunday August 22. It is hoped that the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego will take the lead in this, possibly with a meeting at 2 pm at the downtown public library.
All who have something to add to this commemoration of the life of Lloyd and Mary Morain are invited to contribute items to this blog. This will provide material to be quoted at this organized commemoration event.
Arguably the most useful of all books about the movement is "Humanism as the Next Step," by Lloyd and Mary Morain.
ReplyDelete"Humanism as the Next Step" isn't just about the philosophy that underlies Humanism. It is descriptive of the movement in practical detail.
That first edition is now obsolete. After Mary's death, Lloyd carried out the revision to produce the second edition. You can now download "Humanism as the Next Step" free at www.AmericanHumanist.org
Roy Speckhardt says:
ReplyDeleteI'm appending what I said to Lloyd when I presented him the Humanist Heritage Award in March of 2007. Lloyd and Mary were also Humanists of the Year in 1994.
-Roy
There’s a person here today who has contributed more to Humanism, in more ways, than any other, since our movement’s very beginnings.
Most significantly, he contributed his incredible talent for leadership.
Yes, he was one of our organization’s seventeen past presidents, but more than that, he was the only one called upon to return to the presidency after leaving office, in order to rescue the organization from a difficult time.
Yes, he was also editor of the Humanist magazine. But it was his editorial focus on implementing solutions to the problems of the world, that led the magazine to establish a continuing policy of reporting on Positive Humanistic Revolutions that change society for the better.
Yes, he’s been supportive of bringing Humanism to its logical global role. But it was his efforts, along with those of Mary Morain and the likes of Gilbert Murray and Julian Huxley, that founded the International Humanist and Ethical Union.
Without Lloyd Morain’s leadership, the American Humanist Association would not exist today, and the entire organized movement might have faded away, but when it comes to adding his voice to the chorus of bright literary lights of Humanism, Lloyd is no slouch either.
From winning an essay contest as a young man, to becoming an accomplished author, Lloyd has contributed his writing to Humanism.
He wrote for the Humanist magazine about issues as diverse as: general semantics, scientific Humanism, international cooperation, affordable housing, humanistic justice, developing countries, health care, Indian Humanism, African Humanism, and Humanism in the Far East. He also wrote a compelling book, called the Human Cougar, about working drifters and how their independent spirit makes America strong.
Now, during the past month, the AHA has added over 1,000 new names to the ranks of voting members. Each one of these members will receive a book that speaks to where they are coming from. This volume helps people grow and provides them with an evolutionary advancement in their thinking. I’m talking about Lloyd and Mary Morain’s Humanism as the Next Step.
When first released, Humanism as the Next Step, outsold every other book from the Unitarian publishing house, Beacon Press, and was so popular that the Unitarian leadership discontinued it, as they were a little afraid it was making too many Unitarians become Humanists.
Lloyd’s literary contributions continue to make an impact. But he knows that building a more Humanist society doesn’t happen over night, and doesn’t happen for free. He’s also generously putting his funds toward the cause he holds dear.
Over his many decades of support, Lloyd has contributed over a million dollars to the American Humanist Association to make things happen. To give a few examples, his support put the Humanist magazine in thousands of libraries across the country. His support launched the Humanist Essay Contest for Young Women and Men of North America. And his support made possible the Lloyd and Mary Morain Humanist Center. Without this impact, Humanism wouldn’t have the enormous potential it does today.
Now Lloyd’s modesty about his accomplishments shouldn’t hold me back too much from expressing my appreciation and conveying the appreciation of others for all that he’s done, is doing, and will do to make the world a more Humanistic place.
Movements like ours require thousands of people doing their part in order for organizations to remain standing and be successful in their missions, but some people hold such critical roles that without their presence the whole structure would come tumbling down.
For years, Lloyd, you’ve been such a person for Humanism.
Thank you.
-Roy Speckhardt
Bette Chambers writes on other lists:
ReplyDeleteThis is indeed sad news. Because some on these lists knew Lloyd, or knew of him, I'm sending it around. And for those who may not have known Lloyd, he was a primary benefactor of the AHA mostly all of his adult life. With his late wife, Mary, they were involved with the founding of the International Humanist and Ethical Union in 1952.
He was president of the AHA twice...his second term was just before mine until 1972. Lloyd was 93.
Some words of wisdom you might not read in his obituaries: "It's better to be doing nothing than to be busy doing nothing." And for the self-effacing: "He who no toot own horn no gets own horn tooted."
Both Lloyd and Mary were staunch supporters of the International Society for General Semantics; Mary serving as president for some time. The ISGS had an international scope, and its journal "etc." was once edited by my dear friend and AHA Treasurer, Russell Joyner. Based on the work of Count Korzybski, the idea is most simply stated "A road map in NOT the territory it describes." Applied to Humanism, this is vital to understanding what words mean to people; how words alone can lead to insanity when it is thought their referents are always concrete---in nature. Much political discourse falls into this category. "Beware of high-order abstractions!" Such as "faith, honor, patriotism, national interests, spirituality" and the like.
Lloyd and Mary co-wrote the still valuable book "Humanism as the Next Step." Then Lloyd wrote "The Human Cougar." Both are tributes to semantics.
Our DC office building is named the Mary and Lloyd Morain Humanist House. (or close to that title).
Bette Chambers
George Erickson writes:
ReplyDeleteAs some of you know, Lloyd was at the San Jose convention, and I was pleased to pull up a chair alongside his wheel chair for a short conversation with him. To my surprise, he remembered me from when we were working on the move from Amherst and the purchase of the building. As always, he was still pleasant and quite lucid, being remarkably sharp compared to many his age. Lloyd and Mary are on my list of secular "saints."
--- George Erickson
Bette Chambers writes on other lists:
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on a generally unknown project that Lloyd and Mary Morain undertook some years ago. They bought and moderately refurbished an old hotel in the town of Salinas, CA. Then, men, many homeless. some "working drifters" in the nearby artichoke fields, were invited to occupy rooms at very minimal cost.
None of the income came to Lloyd or Mary. They began the venture by appointing a man they considered to be a "cougar" to manage the place, stock the large kitchen, maintain the premises with mostly volunteer residents, and offer these men a "leg up" in life. Lloyd and Mary felt honored one year when the men invited them to share Thanksgiving dinner at the house.
I think this was a cooperative effort with the city of Salinas that had had difficulty finding accommodations for these men who otherwise lived on the streets. Many earned cash in the fields as pickers, some were itinerants going from crop to crop in the general region. Many drew Social Security, but never enough to have anything like a home.
All of this reflected Lloyd's interest in a type of individual he called "The Human Cougar," which he titled a book about "a specie of human who is self-directed, fiercely independent, and has little interest in the restrictions and legalisms of society," like credit cards, driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and other involvements of modern life.
These human cougars are NOT hippies. Hippies are in rebellion against such concepts as "the establishment," and simply opt-out of life, preferring to do nothing. The cougar just goes his own way. He supports himself. He pays cash. He works. And yes, there are women cougars. You find them working in the truck-stop restaurants along major US highways, or in small towns where they often take domestic jobs, or cook and waitress. Cougar men outnumber cougar women, however.
And so Lloyd began this venture with the Salinas house by putting a "cougar" in charge initially. The residents made and enforced their own rules. There were few. Democracy was the guide-word. The venture was successful, although I don't know its status today, I believe it still functions. It stands as a model for what cities can do with their declining "core" properties, to make housing for the homeless and the itinerant workers.
Edd mentioned Lloyd's and Bob Rick's silver mine, "Leadville, Inc." in Leadville, CO. In traveling to and from the mine, Lloyd would stop off in small towns, visit the local jails, and ask the Sherriffs "do you have any men in here who shouldn't be in jail?" After determining who might be bailed out, Lloyd would help them find a job, and otherwise give them a leg up.
It was this way that many years ago, Lloyd found "T. C. Hicks," whose initials stood for "Top Cougar." TC worked for Lloyd and Mary for many years. He proved to be an excellent cook, and one time I had a wonderful baked salmon dinner at their flat on Filbert St in San Francisco.
I recommend the book "The Human Cougar." They are, indeed, an endangered species. And above all, they're not stumble bums or vagrants.
Bette Chambers
PS I don't know if the AHA sells this book nowadays. Someone might ask.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Both "The Human Cougar" and "Humanism as the Next Step" are sold used for $1.99 each by Barnes and Noble, www.BN.com
Bette Chambers says:
ReplyDeleteI want to comment on a generally unknown project that Lloyd and Mary Morain undertook some years ago. They bought and moderately refurbished an old hotel in the town of Salinas, CA. Then, men, many homeless. some "working drifters" in the nearby artichoke fields, were invited to occupy rooms at very minimal cost. None of the income came to Lloyd or Mary.
They began the venture by appointing a man they considered to be a "cougar" to manage the place, stock the large kitchen, maintain the premises with mostly volunteer residents, and offer these men a "leg up" in life.
Lloyd and Mary felt honored one year when the men invited them to share Thanksgiving dinner at the house.
I think this was a cooperative effort with the city of Salinas that had had difficulty finding accommodations for these men who otherwise lived on the streets. Many earned cash in the fields as pickers, some were itinerants going from crop to crop in the general region. Many drew Social Security, but never enough to have anything like a home.
All of this reflected Lloyd's interest in a type of individual he called "The Human Cougar," which he titled a book about "a specie of human who is self-directed, fiercely independent, and has little interest in the restrictions and legalisms of society," like credit cards, driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and other involvements of modern life.
These human cougars are NOT hippies. Hippies are in rebellion against such concepts as "the establishment," and simply opt-out of life, preferring to do nothing. The cougar just goes his own way. He supports himself. He pays cash. He works. And yes, there are women cougars. You find them working in the truck-stop restaurants along major US highways, or in small towns where they often take domestic jobs, or cook and waitress. Cougar men outnumber cougar women, however.
And so Lloyd began this venture with the Salinas house by putting a "cougar" in charge initially. The residents made and enforced their own rules. There were few. Democracy was the guide-word. The venture was successful, although I don't know its status today, I believe it still functions. It stands as a model for what cities can do with their declining "core" properties, to make housing for the homeless and the itinerant workers.
Edd mentioned Lloyd's and Bob Rick's silver mine, "Leadville, Inc." in Leadville, CO. In traveling to and from the mine, Lloyd would stop off in small towns, visit the local jails, and ask the Sherrif's "do you have any men in here who shouldn't be in jail?" After determining who might be bailed out, Lloyd would help them find a job, and otherwise give them a leg up. It was this way that many years ago, Lloyd found "T. C. Hicks," whose initials stood for "Top Cougar." TC worked for Lloyd and Mary for many years. He proved to be an excellent cook, and one time I had a wonderful baked salmon dinner at their flat on Filbert St in San Francisco.
I recommend the book "The Human Cougar." They are, indeed, an endangered species. And above all, they're not stumble bums or vagrants.
Bette Chambers
PS I don't know if the AHA sells this book nowadays. Someone might ask.