Missing 

Editor:

Thank you for the descriptive profile of Denver Nelson, and for letting us know we've lost a beloved community member ("Remembering Denver Nelson: 1941 to 2021," March 11). I'm sure many people are feeling this loss deeply.

I'm glad Nelson had the opportunity to ride his jet boat up the Klamath to see the 2002 fish kill, and that it led him to work to protect the river. I appreciate the reporting on his friendship with Connie Stewart and his willingness to speak his opinion regardless of the impact. I'm grateful to be informed about people who've made a difference in our community.

However, after reading the two-page profile of Nelson in the opening pages of the Journal, I was stung to turn to the Calendar on page 20 and read a passing one-sentence mention of Jene McCovey's death, which I hadn't known about and which wasn't previously reported anywhere in the Journal. Jene was a disabled Yurok woman who dedicated her life to the local environmental movement, and had a meaningful impact on many, myself included. Though she spent most of her life confined to a wheelchair after a car accident in her youth, McCovey was very actively involved in a variety of local causes, from stopping pesticide spraying on Yurok land to Klamath dam removal and well beyond. She was at many of the local rallies and protests I've attended over the years, often leading the group in song and prayer.

McCovey died three weeks before Nelson. Where is the profile of her?

In the Feb. 11 Times-Standard (thank you, T-S, for covering McCovey's death), her friend Patty Clary is quoted as saying, "She wasn't an aggressive person in any way at all ... she was very peaceful in her actions." I wish the Journal would dedicate some pages to celebrating the life of this peaceful yet passionate activist who made meaningful and long-lasting contributions to our community.

Maggie McKnight, Arcata