Ellen worked tirelessly for all of us and she will be missed. We send our thoughts and prayers to her family. She was a truly wonderful woman.

Mary Hudson

Ellen was an inspiration and a dear friend, and I miss her greatly already.

Mary D. Nichols
Professor of Law in Residence
Director, UCLA Institute of the Environment

I met Ellen was shortly after I arrived in Los Angeles in 1971, as a brand-new lawyer with the equally new Center for Law in the Public Interest. I first learned about her through the Los Angeles Times, when she was named a Woman of the Year.

She invited me to her house and lectured me over fabulous strawberries with sour cream, brown sugar and Cointreau; I wish I remember the content as well as the refreshments, but then I got so many lectures from Ellen over the years.

One of my lifetime highs was being presented an award by Ellen at a reception organized by the Sierra Club and others to celebrate the acquisition of the Playa Vista coastal lands by the State of California. She actually told me I'd done a pretty good job overall for the coast as Resources Secretary — at least on that project.

Virgil Shields
Angeles Chapter Chair
Sierra Club

I would like to give condolences to the family of Ellen Stern Harris from the Executive Committee of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club. Many of us unfortunately cannot attend the celebration of Ellen's life on Sunday, due to a Planning Retreat for the Chapter. We want you to know that we recognize and honor her for her much-valued work.

From the blog of Stephen Siciliano, "The Highway Scribe:"

The scribe met Ellen in 1987. He was writing an environmentally related article and she was a spokesperson for her "Fund for the Environment." That part of the scribe that was not bohemian hit it off great with Ellen, a rare entree into a more elevated world. She directed him towards a number of pressing local environmental issues and he reported them out. the scribe appeared as an "expert" on Ellen's cable access program, addressing the question, "Are Unions Relevant?"

We went our own ways until Ellen saw the scribe's byline in the "Los Angeles Business Journal" in 2000. Not long after, the scribe walked out of that particular hellhole and found himself in need of some help. Ellen was there, hiring him to organize her voluminous papers and writings which were to be archived at University of California, Los Angeles. The pay, the free lunch, and the engagement ring Ellen gave to the scribe to give to his future wife (since he was broke) all served to cement their friendship.

Over the past year the scribe took Ellen to her chemotherapy sessions a few times at Cedars-Sinai. The pretense was that she needed the ride, but the true requirement was that he sit with her and hash over the current events of the day about which she maintained an 18-year old's passion.

If we could multiply Ellens, provide every community with just one, we'd have something like the democracy our foreparents dreamed about.

Lyn Harris Hicks

Having been allied with Ellen since the late '60s or early '70s, it is difficult for me to believe that she has gone.

Leona Mattoni

I have been wrapped in sadness today as I reflected on the loss of this dear friend, because for all that I admired and respected her immensely for her sharp mind and activism, what I will miss most is her friendship. She truly understood what being a friend meant and her loyalty and thoughtfulness are irreplaceable.

Robert Zarnigan
Proberty International/Peninsula Hotel

I'm very saddened at the news of Ellen Stern Harris' passing. I'm currently in Israel and will not be able to attend her memorial. It has been a pleasure knowing Ellen and knowing all the care and interest she took in her community.

Marcia Hanscom
Executive Director
Wetlands Action Network

Most people know of Ellen's commitment to the California coast, and her co-authoring and championing of Proposition 20, the voter initiative which led to the California Coastal Act. Some in Los Angeles know of her dedication to our *Los Angeles* coastline.

The Ballona Wetlands lost a true and dedicated champion. For more than 30 years, after being educated on the topic by Dr. Rimmon Fay, with whom she had served on the first statewide Coastal Commission, Ellen kept the flame for Ballona going, hoping for more wetlands to be preserved than any of the landowners said was "reasonable."

Ellen gave our movement credibility and hope when we had few political friends and allies. It took a long time to get Ballona on the priority acquisition list for the State of California, but Ellen never gave up ~ especially when she met some of us who took up the cause in the mid-1990s.

Ellen was still going strong until the end. She was planning to meet soon with long-time Ballona Wetlands leaders, to talk about her ideas for stronger coastal protection measures and to be honored by those of us who recognized her contribution to the wetlands.

Sadly, her body was being ravaged by cancer that had long threatened her enthusiastic spirit. She made it into the New Year, but her strong, stormy, yet gracious style was extinguished. Her gifts of wisdom and mentoring to many of us will live on as we continue to strive for Mother Nature's voice on the California coast to be fortified and heeded.

Mark Dowie
Investigative Reporter and author of "Losing Ground"

Please extend my heartfelt condolences to Ellen's friends and family. What an amazing force.
I will sorely miss he wit and counsel. She was a great one.