I would like to introduce you to a man who has had far greater impact than most folks realize and much less credit than he deserves.

Dennis Weaver was born in Joplin, Missouri nearly 83 years ago. He lived and worked on a farm in northern Newton County where he learned just how important the land was to all of us. He grew up, fell in love, married his sweetheart Gerry, and eventually headed off to a career as an actor.

Dennis worked on Broadway and then made the transition to TV where he played Deputy Chester Good on the long-running show Gunsmoke. Dennis then worked on stage and screen for many years earning the respect and admiration of his peers. He worked with directors like Orson Wells, and even gave the okay to have a movie called Duel, directed by some unknown named Spielberg. Dennis also became the President of the Screen Actors Guild in the 70’s, and in a career that spanned well over 50 years, did everything from Shakespeare to The Simpsons.

What is not as well known is his dedication to the world we live in.

Dennis and his wife Gerry spent many years working to feed the hungry.

Dennis stood up for environmental causes years before it was popular.

And, perhaps most importantly, Dennis created a word and an idea called Ecolonomics. He took Ecology and Economics and pushed them together. Dennis understood that we could not have a strong, vibrant, healthy economy unless we had a strong, vibrant, healthy ecological resource base to draw from. Dennis knew that a healthy environment was just good business.

I met Dennis several years ago at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Missouri. I was a non-traditional student pursuing my Bachelors degree in Environmental Health. The Ecolonomics Certificate program had just been started by Dennis at MSSU and Dennis and Gerry were coming to town to meet with students in the program. We were to meet the Weaver’s at a restaurant in Joplin before class started. I met Dennis, shook his hand and introduced myself; little did I know that that evening was going to change my life drastically.

Dennis and Gerry came back to the University with us for our evening class. This class was the capstone course in the Ecolonomics certificate program at Southern. Needless to say Dennis and Gerry were both very excited about the program. Every time one of us referred to ourselves as Ecolonomists the grin on Dennis’s face got bigger. We discussed some of the class projects we were working on and describing the course work. Then Dennis took the podium. He leaned his lanky frame leaning forward as he began describing his dreams and goals about the Institute of Ecolonomics, the non profit he co-founded with his wife Gerry. The more he spoke the more excited he became and the more excited we all became. That night was the first time we really got the ideas of Ecolonomics and a glimpse at the passion that drove Dennis.

That passion for life and helping others was one of the most impressive things about Dennis. As I learned later on, Dennis had worked with Valerie Harper in California to create an organization that fed the homeless and hungry in their area even before he came up with the ideas of Ecolonomics and formed the Institute. Dennis led a life of service to not only his fellow actors but to all people, and he did so with a love that truly reflected the beauty of his soul. He wisely not only worked in service to those of us around him, but he worked hard to start people thinking and working toward a better life for future generations. Dennis and Gerry founded the IOE to ensure that the people of today and the generations of the future would be able to enjoy a quality of life as good as or better than what we in America enjoy today.

The ideas of Ecolonomics changed the course of my career and future studies. I changed my major to a degree in general studies so I could build it around the ideas of Ecolonomics. I pursued a Master’s degree, again designed around the ideas of Ecolonomics. And eventually I became the Executive Director of the IOE.

Dennis’s impact with many other actors has helped the environmental movement in Hollywood flourish. If not for early pioneers like Dennis much of the changes we see today toward a more sustainably minded future simply would not be. We all owe much to the passion and dedication of Dennis and Gerry Weaver.

Dennis was only a part of my life for about the last seven years but the impact he had on me been profound. His ideas about Ecolonomics and his infectious passion for doing what you know to be right have taken me to places I never imagined.

But more importantly than that was the passion, love, and generosity I got from Dennis and Gerry. As I got to know Dennis through working with him on various Ecolonomically-oriented projects, the more I came to love and respect that Dennis was. It is truly rare when you meet a person who so completely changes your life for the better. Dennis was one of those people, and he did it effortlessly. His attitude and ideas, his passion for life, the man he was, have made me want to be a better man myself. For all the wonderful ideas and goals for life that I got from Dennis, nothing was better than the shinning example of how Dennis lived.

Love, generosity, foresight, wisdom, and above all passion for a better world, for an Ecolonomic world; that is what Dennis gave to me, and for that I will always be grateful to my friend, Dennis Weaver.

Robert Wood

http://www.ecolonomics.org
http://www.dennisweaver.com