Shadowcliff Advisory Council member and former Co-Director, Bob Mann, remembers Shadowcliff Friend, Dennis Murphey.
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Our friend and colleague on the journey for a more peaceful and sustainable planet, Dennis Murphey died October 27 after contracting the coronavirus. Dennis came to Kansas City as the Chief Environmental Officer in 2006 and shortly thereafter joined us as faculty for several Shadowcliff Sustainability Workshops. Dennis brought the Kansas City Climate Action Planning Task force to Shadowcliff in 2008 as a key step on their road to creating Kansas City’s first Climate Action Plan and for 13 years led Kansas City’s dramatic progress as a highly regarded national sustainability model. Dennis understood and modeled the importance of collaboration and regional partnerships and was a central figure/mentor in creation of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN).
Beyond his passion for making our home planet habitable for the children of the future, Dennis was a warm and gentle man with a great smile. Dennis learned to tackle difficult questions and often difficult people, yet possessed that rare ability to “see between the lines”. He recognized and valued opinions different from his own yet never failed to follow his own guiding star.