Although Terry worked very hard for others' justice, it is very hard to do him justice.
Terry always struck me as a kind of modern-day, secular monk. He took the idea of citizenship very seriously. He was driven to use his many talents to better the world, regardless of the personal cost to him. It was that very work that, even as it demanded so much of his time and energy, fulfilled him, that made him smile the most. I take great pride in being able to say I know someone like Terry, someone who has helped change history so many times.
Terry had many sides. I knew him first as an activist, although over the years we would also be co-workers, housemates, and friends. I can still vividly recall the day I met Terry. It was Canada Day, near Major's Hill Park in Ottawa, not too far from Parliament Hill. He was walking alone amidst the crowd of people, holding up a placard protesting Petro-Canada's presence in Burma. I was working on James Bay 2, also handing flyers, but I was with a group. That image of Terry working tirelessly, whether anyone was with him or not, to try to help right wrongs, is him in a nutshell. Even alone, battling incredible odds, he was smiling, his quick humor on ready display. He just never gave up. Never. And, more often than not, he would beat the incredible odds he would take on again and again without hesitation. Not that long afterwards, PetroCan _did_ leave Burma, in no small part due to Terry's efforts. His next Burma boycott targets, PepsiCo, Eddie Bauer, and Amoco, would also eventually leave, to most people's amazement. I am very honored to have been able to work so closely with him in support of Burma's democracy movement. Working with Terry, I was amazed at how people who disagree about so much can get so much done together, and still laugh together!
But Burma's freedom was just one of Terry's many causes. He was there at the founding of the East Timor Alert Network, where the fruits of his earlier labors are now paying off in that country's independence. I remember last autumn reading an article in some foreign affairs journal about the cause of the MAI's defeat; the author specifically credited Internet activism and included Terry's website -- Terry wins again, I thought. We'd be here all day if I listed all of Terry's accomplishments as a citizen.
Terry, however, was only human, and the same things that made him great could also be his weakness -- he just could not let go of a project once he started it, and they could often push aside his own personal needs. As someone who was not just Terry's collaborator, but also his friend, I was often worried by how he would let others' needs override his own basic wellbeing. But that was Terry: other people, be they friends, his community, or humanity in general, always came first. He could smile and dance to be sure -- I can still remember him shuffling away at my wedding in August, grinning ear to ear -- but he was always also very earnest. He lived as he preached: a rare quality. A dear friend is gone.