to the editor: Those of us who work along the Los Angeles River are often told to be practical. To weigh flood control, obtain permits, follow schedules and keep expectations in check. It is responsible work and it is necessary.
But every once in a while someone reminds us that practicality can be a trap. Someone insists that the river requires more than patience, more than bureaucracy, more than progress reports. That person was Melanie Winter (“Melanie Winter, who fought to embrace nature along the Los Angeles River, dies” October 23).
Melanie never accepted “later.” She believed that the river should be healthy now, that the people living along it deserved access now, that nature and justice could not wait for expediency. She wanted us to move faster, be braver, and stop apologizing for wanting more for the river.
I had the privilege of meeting Melanie, sitting across from her as we debated the pace of change and the policies of restoration. When he said to me, “Don't be lazy, Candice,” he meant, “Don't compromise. Don't settle for partnerships that dilute your purpose or alliances that make you lose sight of the river.” I couldn't stand the little visions.
Melanie worked alongside Lewis MacAdams, the founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River. Together they defined modern river movement, believing it could be both wild and urban, ecological and human. Lewis said: “If it's not impossible, I'm not interested.” Melanie took that impossibility and made it urgent.
At FoLAR, our work sits at the intersection of grand vision and practicality. We bring people and government together, navigating the slow-moving world of policy while responding to pressing community needs. Melanie reminds us that collaboration cannot mean complacency.
This is our challenge now: to carry forward Lewis's poetry and Melanie's challenge with the pragmatism necessary to turn vision into access, passion into policy, and urgency into lasting change.
Candice Dickens-Russell, Los Angeles
This writer is president and CEO of Friends of the Los Angeles River.
