I have an envelope for you in my bag here in Australia. It has 2 DVDs that I had meant to send to you from New York before I left. We were going to do an action at Parliament in May, but I cannot bear to do that without you.
So I’m leaving the DVDs in Sydney for my friend to tempt a TV producer with. We’ll see what happens.
Still, it’s hard to let go of the padded envelope because I cannot believe you are gone. I will visit Richard and Lucie and Robin and Pamela next month in Saffron Walden, and sit in your garden. You know Pam is there making things beautiful, and Richard has probably cooked up a delicious meal or two. But to go and not find you there will be very difficult.
I’m so glad we spoke together before I left last month. You were always so positive about our shared work and I love the way we laughed, really deep belly laughs. Your marriage of wit, intellect and heart inspired me hugely. And I’ll never forget the trees you evoked at 44th and 1st Avenue, and the way you loved Richard like a teenager, and how you and Pamela were soul sisters, expanding the ‘nuclear family’, and inviting me in to howl. And how proud you were of Lucie and Robin. Like a mother of course, but also like a friend.
You loved long and well.
Still, I’m shaking my fist at God, but I trust you are needed else where.
I love you Janet.
as ever, your beamlette
Message by Kathleen Sullivan — April 16, 2007
All of us at Christian CND are so very sorry to hear of the death of our member and very good friend, Janet. Her help and encouragement through the years will be sorely missed. May we be given the strength to carry on the work she has laid down . We send our deep sympathies to her family and many other friends
Message by barbara Sunderland — April 17, 2007
I worked with Janet for many years at Oxford Research Group. She was and will continue to be an inspiring person. Her total commitment to nuclear disarmament and her passionate belief in the possibilities for transforming the world in which we live were contagious. The Quaker ethos and the spirit of peace shone through her and she will be deeply, deeply missed.
Message by Nick Ritchie — April 18, 2007
Whenever I met Janet (usually at ORG meetings) I was immediately impressed by her energy and her cheerfulness. Both are admirable qualities in the peace movement and both are hard to sustain as effortlessly as she seemed able to. Janet left me feeling that I/we should attempt to do more, and be more positive about what we are doing. She was, and is, an example to us all.
Message by John Gittings — April 18, 2007
Messages for Janet from ORG
April 2007
Message from ORG
Photo of Janet taken by Rosie after ORG’s Away Day in June 2006 at Gabrielle Rifkind’s home in North London
We are all shocked and deeply sorrowful at the sudden and untimely death of our friend and colleague, Janet. Janet had worked with us at ORG for over ten years, supporting and developing our nuclear programme, and providing inspiration and guidance for all our work, and to so many of us on a personal level, from the basis of her creative vision of peace, and her sense of service drawn from her Quaker faith and practice. In mid-March Janet had played a core role as participant and facilitator at our Charney Manor consultation, where international diplomats, academics and British politicians came together to share their perspectives on the true causes of nuclear proliferation, and look for ways to mitigate them. Only the week before she died, on Tuesday 27th March, Janet was a vibrant contributor to our Networking and Briefing Meeting at Development House, where our new report was launched on the security dangers of a nuclear power renaissance.
Janet seemed to be at the height of her powers.
It was one of Janet’s moments of creative generosity which, about two years ago, led us down the intellectual path which resulted in perhaps our most important publication to date, “Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World”, published by Random House on 11th April, which has received unparalleled worldwide press coverage for any ORG publication. We know that Janet was immensely proud of this piece of work, and believed it could have a profound effect. Future editions will be dedicated to her memory.
As many people will be aware, Janet had been active in the movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons since 1981. From 1993 – 1996 she was Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the largest peace and disarmament organisation in Europe. She continued to serve as an honorary Vice-President of CND, and was also a member of the Peace Campaigning and Networking Group of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. Internationally, she consulted with the Geneva-based International Peace Bureau (of which she was Vice-President from 1994 – 1997), a Nobel Peace Prize winning network of non-aligned peace organisations in 44 countries, which nominated Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat for the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize. She has been involved with Abolition 2000, a global network of over 2000 citizen groups working for a nuclear free world, since its inception in 1995, and sat on its administrative council, as well as having been convenor of its Abolition Now! Campaign Working Group from 2004 – 2006. She was also a Fellow of the British American Project. She wrote and spoke widely on peace and disarmament issues both in the UK and abroad and was listed as an expert speaker by the UN.
At the time of her death, Janet was pushing forward with enormous energy and positivity on her multiple plans. With ORG she was about to co-edit a new edition of our Dialogue Handbook and was finalising plans with us to run a Dialogue Training Workshop in London in June. Most importantly, she was on a wave of exciting new projects with Atomic Mirror, the trans-Atlantic NGO she co-founded with her colleague Pamela Meidell, which uses the creative arts to raise awareness of nuclear dangers.
Janet’s deep knowledge and wisdom extended far beyond peace and security to art, literature, history and matters spiritual. She carried her wisdom unassumingly with humility and a sense of service. Above all, and however dire the circumstances, she always sought, and promoted, signs of hope.
Personal messages from ORG colleagues
Scilla Elworthy:
It is impossible to believe that Janet isn’t here any more. And yet of course, she is. Janet’s spirit is so powerfully alive that it is impossible to talk of her in the past tense; she brings energy and zest to all that we do, whether in the peace movement, in ORG or in women’s initiatives. If this had happened to a friend of hers, she might well have started a little conversation with them, with her huge heart so open to all the infinite realms of the universe. What a person to work with, to be with, to journey with – a fount of new ideas, plus the commitment to see them into action. She connected with others immediately – whether sharing an octopus silk scarf with a Japanese activist, holding up a banner on a march in Tahiti to protest the effects of French nuclear testing, or an evening meeting to engage a peace group in the skills of dialogue.
What Janet gave to Oxford Research Group is beyond measure. From the very early days she understood what we were trying to do, and generously applied her skills and experience to the task. Her arrival at a meeting was always a pleasure for me to look forward to – the huge smile, the wonderful warm hug, the glow she brought into the room. Whatever the agenda, she added the positive to everything – a new idea, support for someone who was struggling, offering wise counsel and practical help. I search my mind and cannot remember Janet ever once being negative, and I am amazed – how many people could one say that of? And when it came to celebration – Janet really knows how to have a party, and no ORG party would be complete without her.
What a force for good, what a powerful strength, what an engine for peace Janet Bloomfield continues to be.
Thank you Pamela for all the marvellous projects that your combined energy made possible.
Thank you Richard, Lucie and Robin for the sustained, superb support you have given her, to do all that she did.
Thank you Janet, for all the bounty you have given us.
Frank Boulton
Janet was a delight to know as a friend and colleague, as well as a Friend and Colleague. Her unique gifts included - (and I give these in a somewhat random order) an unerring optimism; a realism without cynicism; a radiance of love; and a benign wisdom combined with sharp analysis and search for truth. I enjoyed sharing with her our observations on the Quaker community - its quirky and constructive elements as well as its more focussed contributions, and above all her insight into the nature of the dialogue process which, sadly, we will never hear from her own mouth again. We have much to learn from her and I am sure her example will endure among all her friends and colleagues everywhere. I will never forget her. She will be sadly missed; my thoughts, prayers and love go out to all her family.
Nick Ritchie
I am at a loss for words. Charney only seems like yesterday when we saw Janet as vibrant as ever. It is very difficult to comprehend that she has gone. Janet was and will continue to be an inspiring person. Her total commitment to nuclear disarmament and her passionate belief in the possibilities for transforming the world in which we live were contagious. The Quaker ethos and the spirit of peace shone through her and she will be deeply, deeply missed.
Oliver Ramsbotham
Thank you for undertaking such a heart-breaking and difficult task in telling us all about the tragedy of Janet’s death. I did not know Janet well, and do not know her partner/family/dependents/atomic mirror colleagues, so can only respond to you and share in ORG’s distress at losing such a lovely friend and courageous, imaginative and inspirational champion of peace.
Rosie Houldsworth
I want to express my feelings about Janet by passing on two poems she “gifted” to me when helping me to plan ORG’s Charney Manor consultations. These meetings were organised for tired, overworked disarmament officials and academics, who had agreed to travel long distances to spend two to three days with people they didn’t normally meet, or particularly want to meet in some cases, because they knew these people would be critical of their views. They would be challenged. They would have to listen to other people’s perspectives, that they had perhaps long set their minds against.
Janet held as a priority that we to add into their packs of information, a simple sheet of poems and quotations which would support their weary spirits, and strengthen their resolve to look for ways through the difficult task in hand.
These two of countless wonderful poems, which I wouldn’t have come across but for her, and which represent more than I can express in my own words, what Janet meant to me -
Rainer Maria Rilke (Rilke’s Book of Hours:Love Poems to God, translated by Anita Barrows
and Joanna Macy)
lt will come again into its strength:
the fields undivided, the waters undammed,
the trees towering and the walls built low.
And in the valleys, people as strong and varied as the land.
And no churches where God
is imprisoned and lamented
like a trapped and wounded animal.
The houses welcoming all who knock
and a sense of boundless offering
in all relations, and in you and me.
No yearning for an afterlife, no looking beyond,
no belittling of death,
but only longing for what belongs to us
and serving earth, lest we remain unused.
Pablo Neruda
And now we will all count to twelve
and we will keep still.
For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
(life is what it is about,
I want no truck with death.)
If we were not so singleminded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves alive.
Now I’ll count to twelve,
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Gabrielle Rifkind
I’m thinking of you and I’m sure you’re very shocked by Janet Bloomfield’s death. I send you my warmest thoughts and support.. It highlights how transient life is and how every moment has to be savoured because there may not be a tomorrow. She did however die having made a very special contribution and being a very important, quiet, steady voice for the peace movement.
Charlotte Smith
Janet was always having a chuckle, could always lighten the mood of a meeting, always had contacts who could help you out, had such faith in the human spirit . I loved the way we expressed it to our supporters: “Her legacy to us is manifold, but more than anything else it is the inspiration to keep going in our work, in hope and faith that sanity, beauty and love will eventually prevail!”
From associates of ORG
Bevis Gillett, Trustee, the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation
Thanks so much for letting me know about Janet. It is indeed very shocking news. I believe she was an exceptionally courageous person. It was particularly poignant for me that poor Janet died in Hereford hospital, as it was the place that my son Joe and I last saw David, my brother. Please pass on my condolences to her family. You have worked with Janet very closely as a colleague over many years so it must have really knocked you back to receive the sad news last weekend.
With deep sympathy
Sue Walley, ORG Sustainer, funder of the ORG Dialogue 2007 Project
I am so sorry to hear this news. Janet was so full of life and energy - it must have been a huge shock to you all at ORG.
There is so much more I could say after the recent death in my husband’s family (and a week just spent with his daughters and grandchildren) but somehow nothing helps - it is a personal grief with so many personal memories.
From those who met Janet at ORG’s March Charney Manor consultation
Susanne Sklar, William Blake scholar, member of the Theoology Faculty, Northwestern University, Illinois:
I am shocked. This is terrible. I only talked with Janet briefly during the conference and was so looking forward to doing so again, to WORKING with her. How can it be that a person of such vision and capablity would be snatched away? Why are the good taken?
This makes no sense. Janet is NEEDED. She was very unusual, very rare; in her energy, her experience, her wisdom, her warmth. I send healing angels to uphold her family in their grief. I am so sorry to hear of this. The world is less bright.
Was it time for Janet to be an angel???
I’ve been reading Peace Pilgrim– like Blake, she thought death could be a happy transition. That may be true but it still HURTS HORRIBLY for those who are left behind. If Janet has been given a promotion maybe tears are like a bridge connecting those her love her to her new angelic office. Perhaps she will be busy in heaven. . . . May your grief connect heaven and earth.
Ambassador Ali Soltanieh, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna:
I was dismayed to hear about the demise of Janet Bloomfield whose profound knowledge and energetic activity at the Charney Manor consultation I vividly remember.
Her passing will not only leave a big hole in all of the organizations she worked with but due to her intense and broad wisdom also to the intellectual world at large.
I convey my sincere condolence to her colleagues and my deepest sympathy to her family for their loss. May she rest in peace.
Professor Nick Wheeler, Director, David Davies Memorial Institute, Department of International Politics, University of Wales Aberystwyth:
I was desperately sorry to hear about Janet. It is frightening to think she was full of life one minute and gone the next. I did not know her well but found her comments and contribution at Charney most insightful and uplifting. I was looking forward to working more with her in the future. I can imagine what a terrible shock it must have been for you and her other friends at ORG. As you say, it is important that her contribution and legacy to the cause of peace and justice lives on.
Dr. John Borrie, Senior Researcher and Project Manager, nited Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
I’m really sorry to hear this. So sudden! I didn’t know Janet well - I only met her at the Charnley Manor consultation - but I really liked her. She was obviously a great person. My thoughts are with you guys, and with her family.
Dr. Farhang Jahanpour, tutor on religion and politics in the Middle East, Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford; former Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Languages at the University of Isfahan:
I am truly shocked to learn of the untimely and unexpected death of Janet, whom I only had the pleasure of meeting at Charney Manor. As you say, she was so full of energy and was so dedicated that her passing is a great loss to all of us. This just shows how transient and unpredictable our lives are and that we should try to do our best while we are still alive and are capable of serving. I feel fortunate to have met her and have benefited from her contagious optimism.
I am truly sorry.
Dr. Jim Hoare, Consultant on East Asian affairs; first British Chargé d’Affaires in Pyongyang:
This was the first time that I had met Janet and I found here an interesting and stimulating contact. I am very sorry to hear of her death. Please pass on my condolences to her family/friends.
Charney Manor staff
We are so sorry to hear about Janet, who has done so much good work for ORG over the years. Sheila is away but I know she will also want to send condolences. From what you say there is much to celebrate in Janet’s life. All at Charney.
A visit with Janet and Richard is something I always look forward to when I go home. There is always a great choice of music, and a glass of wine to accompany our in depth, interesting, sometimes humorous, and informative chats. When Vib came along he engaged Richard (some railway talk included probably), while I chatted with Janet about developments in peace, justice and family issues. We are always made welcome.
Last December I was especially inspired by Janet’s conversation with me. Her vision and positivity gave me much food for thought.
Being with Janet and other pilgrims in 1996 is a time I will always remember too. She gently encouraged me to speak in a small way for the indigenous people of Australia - the little I knew about their issues at the time, not seen as a problem.We shared so much that was very special and close to both our hearts.
I am so sad I will not see Janet in this world again, and my next visit to Saffron Walden will remind me of her absence.
Here in Melbourne I will join the gatherings to remember her life, at least in spirit.My mother, Marion Long hopes to be at Janet’s funeral.
In Peace
Frances Long
Message by Frances Long — April 19, 2007
Janet will always inspire me because I won’t forget what she said and did, and also how she behaved. She was a cheerful chuckler in the face of the depressing information us plutonium head cases deal with, and the difficult loons our movement attracts. She had a get-on-with-it attitude and helped me to calm down and see the funny side, and even when she was joining in with some howling outrage conversation, she kept that grin in her voice, quick to laugh and tease me out of some serious session, quick to give the benefit of the doubt and dilute the negative.
Janet was very generous with encouragement, egging me on, not a demanding person, but a cheering person. Janet sent some great feedback to me recently on the ICAN campaign when she agreed to join the advisory group. I wrote back four words: I LOVE JANET BLOOMFIELD, and she wrote back four words: I LOVE FELICITY HILL and those were the last eight words we exchanged. Pretty good final note, although its pretty shocking that these were our last words. My delayed reaction to the initial news has worn off and I’m grappling with the loss of Janet, and of Mayor Ito, appreciating the abundance of hope and effort they generated, and still greedily wanting more. May 1000 sunflowers bloom in Janet’s honour. I’m going to plant a Janet sunflower garden.
Flick
Message by Felicity Hill — April 19, 2007
Janet Bloomfield was a formidable advocate for peace and disarmament.
The last time I saw Janet, I think, was at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver, where she was participating in the anti-Trident workshops. As always, she exuded energy and determination and good cheer - qualities that are needed in the peace movement as everywhere else.
The global movements for change are poorer for her passing.
Message by Milan Rai — April 19, 2007
May I offer Janet’s family and all her friends heartfelt condolences from the “other side of the nuclear argument”? Having recently spent time with her at the ORG conference in March, I was totally shocked by the news of her loss. Her patent warmth, sincerity and humanity will be greatly missed by those of every point of view, who took part in the debate to which she was so dedicated.
Message by Julian Lewis MP — April 19, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie and Robin,
I joined with all of you very early today in Tampa, FL, the candle that has been lit since the day that Janet flew into her new life, glowed throughout my prayer room. After I finished, I wrote an email to Pamela that I wish to pass on to all of you…….
Pamela,
I am sitting in meditation and prayer with you and Janet this am. As I lifted the Bible and asked for a passage,
Spirit guided me to open the book on the following reading. It is called the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus, spoken the night before he was crucified.
It is truly fitting for Janet a true High Priest and Bodhi Satva.
From the Book of John/Chapter 17
1
1 2 When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
2
3 just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him.
3
4 Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4
I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
5
Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
6
“I revealed your name 5 to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
8
because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
9
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours,
10
and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.
11
And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.
12
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13
But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.
14
I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
15
6 I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.
16
They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
17
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
18
As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
19
And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.
20
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21
so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
22
And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,
23
I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.
24
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am 7 they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
26
I made known to them your name and I will make it known, 8 that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
After the reading in my own Cherokee heritage, I sang to Janet a Prayer/Blessing/Chant that I learned long ago and only sing at very sacred times or places: May Janet Fly Like An Eagle, Fly So High, Circling The Universe, On Wings Of Pure Light………………..
I sent the following web address for a very short 3 minute movie called “You are the Light”, http://www.youarethelightmovie.com/
to Pamela as soon as I heard about Janet, and I send it to you in love because Janet exemplifies to me the LIGHT spread out everywhere. I laughed and laughed in her presence and partied loud and hard at times. Bruce Springstein concert I thought I lost my hearing, not from the crowds, but from Janet’s enthusiastic screams. She flew all the way to Tampa, FL, right after our 4 hurricanes to make sure Pamela and I went to his concert in Orlando. Those days were glorious times and I will relive them over and over to feel her light and radiant pure joy!
A dear friend and teacher,Auntie Mahealani, from the Big Island of Hawaii, wrote to me after I emailed her of my shock and sadness regarding Janet:
Aloha Jen,
Janet is not gone…she just “changed address.” So do her a huge and loving favor…don’t make her “GONE.” That’s her message as well as the message from the ancestors/ angels & guides. If there be tears and grieving, let it be based on the right reasons..and that would be because her “physical presence” will be missed, and the grief is not over her but upon all left behind. Janet will still continue her work towards peace, etc., as she “wrinkles” the veil between the dimensions to motivate & inspire others to make the needed changes. Nothing and no one is ever lost to us, unless we choose to “think” them gone. Such is the greatest “so-called-secret.” Blessings, Aunty
In Love to all of you, Jennifer, a sister in spirit
On our way to Saffron Walden today we played Springsteen’s ‘No Surrender’ very loudly in the car, because it was your song. You made our every meeting a joyous occasion.
David and Wendy 19 April 2007
Message by David and Wendy Rumsey — April 19, 2007
i only met Janet once, and i want to share with you my gratitude and joy.
My social training tells me to be sad, but i keep arriving back at my gratitude for her beautiful energy and work, and that i was able to meet her at the Think Outside The Bomb conference in Santa Barbara, California. I have joy at my memories of her broad smile and shining eyes. She and i exchanged questions-and-answers at the opening nuclear questionnaire activity at TOTB, and she was so open and kind…never was there the air of knowing vastly more than i do, which i appreciated as soon as i discovered (later) who she was and why she was there. For such brief contact, my life is enriched by her.
Janet’s spirit certainly lives on in all of us, including a large group of young people who are dedicated in various and creative ways to a world without nuclear weapons.
Message by evan austin — April 20, 2007
I got to know Janet over recent years through our joint involvement on British Quakers’ Peace Campaigning and Networking group, through her work with Northern Friends Peace Board in running workshops on dialogue skills, and at a number of events where she was a speaker. Kathleen Sullivan refers to Janet’s “marriage of wit, intellect and heart ” being such an inspiration, and I can only echo that. We were always aware in our little group of the breadth of Janet’s links in the UK and beyond, and of the depth and clarity of her understanding and insights. She was a calm and reassuring person to have with us, whilst at the same time exuding creativity and energy. These were her gifts to us, and I am very grateful for having had the chance to get to know her. Loving thoughts to all those family and friends who were closest to Janet.
Message by Philip Austin — April 20, 2007
Most sincerely condole Janet’s untimely and shocking departure.
Also salute her memory so very marked by her indomitable fighting spirit and unique contribution to the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament all across the globe.
Message by Sukla Sen, CNDP, India — April 30, 2007
I met Janet for the first time two days before she died, at the Greenham Reunion Day in Hereford, and was inspired by her vigour and warmth and insight in both personal and political ways. It was a terrible shock to hear of her death so soon afterwards. I send my prayers for her and for you in your loss, and I’m sure her strong spirit will be with you.
Message by Alison Leonard — May 2, 2007
I am so sad, I only realised the she had gond when reading Peace News and the Guardian Obituary. I had not had news of her, or been in touch for many years, but always remembered. My way had gone a different way , and had been involved with ll the activities with Brian Haw and the new Law, and with Mil and Maya etc. , and regular e.mails from USA, PINK.After visiting contries on PEACE journeys.,Now 83 years old, and mobility difficult, I remembered Janet as a friend in the old days, I think at the time of Molesworth etc, but am so sad that she left so suddenly, when I learn now of her extraordinary activities. How I wish I had kept in touch. My deepet sympathy to her family and many friends. Love and PEACE, Peggie Preston.
Message by Peggie Preston — May 2, 2007
I received these words at Janet’s Memorial Meeting
Don’t mourn because you can see me no more,
I’m not far away, just behind that locked door.
If you hear your name as the wind ruffles your hair,
It’s me letting you know that I’m there.
If you see a shadow out the corner of your eye,
It’s me watching over you as I stand close by.
If it seems to much to bear now we’re apart,
I’m always right with you, just look in your heart
When the sun smiles from behind a cloud up above,
It’s me smiling down on you with all of my love.
So don’t mourn because you can see me no more,
I’m never far away, just behind that locked door.
Message by Denise Vincent — May 2, 2007
Sorry I can’t be with you in body on Saturday.You know I will be with you in Spirit.
This is what I have written for ‘heddwch’ the magazine of CND Cymru.
Making Dreams Come True
Janet Bloomfield 1953 - 2007
We’ve lost Janet – still young, still so active and yet she’s gone. Perhaps a commemoration of someone shouldn’t mention the shock and sadness, but it’s so much in our hearts, and Richard, Lucie and Robin you are in our thoughts – that just comes before anything else at the moment.
First Janet was a woman, a human being who loved the world. Then she was a campaigner who did things her way, she never seemed to come from any politically ideological corner. She listened to her heart. As a Quaker she seemed determined to enjoy and celebrate the world she wanted to save, especially savouring the international aspects of meeting people and making things work in a different way.
When I first met Janet, she had recently returned from a peace delegation to Hungary during the break up of the Eastern bloc. Her family was on holiday in Wales and we went swimming in the Afon Pysgotwr together. Good peace activities.
Later, when Chair of British CND Janet came to speak at some CND Cymru meetings – I remember one in particular, where we held a blowy protest against THORP on Aberystwyth Prom, then drove back across the Cambrian Mountains to Llandovery. We were colleagues and comrades.
One summer day in 1996, she and Pamela Meidell brought the Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage to our home in Carmarthenshire. I was with them for only a few hours but it was to be one of those indelible moments of special magic. The twelve pilgrims were en route to St. Davids. They brought with them gifts of sand from Hiroshima, an origami stork and other items from a previous peace pilgrimage to nuclear sites. We burnt candles. A film crew travelling with them interviewed my then 10 year old daughter Emily about when she had taken 250,000 Welsh signatures against French nuclear testing to the French Embassy earlier that year.
Last Summer I met up with Janet and Pamela (her soul sister if ever there was one) at the Hay Festival. We were making plans.
Janet, we’ll keep trying to make your dreams come true.
Listen to Janet, I hear her say – ‘look we don’t know what’s coming, time is short, do it now, don’t wait.’
Jill Gough
Janet was the chair of British CND (1993-96), a member of the Global Council of Abolition 2000 since 1997, international campaign co-ordinator of Abolition Now!, and a key figure in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness Programme set up by Sir Joseph Rotblat.
To give and to read tributes to Janet, many paying much greater attention to Janet’s material achievements in the peace movement. See [http://janetbloomfield.com/main/]
Message by jill gough (previously stallard) — May 11, 2007
Dear Richard, Robin, Lucie, and Pamela -
I will be thinking of you tomorrow May 12 and of Janet. As I have said before, she was a good friend, caring and fun to be with. And I know she was very important to Jackie, both personally and in the work (as we said in the dedication for Nuclear Disorder and Cooperative Security). And of course to you Pamela. And to Xanthe. And to many, many others. She combined her practicality with a poetic and visionary dimension, and a deft touch in advocacy. I remember her telling me about the time she was asked to write “200 words” about Trident. So she compiled a list of appropriate words: appalling, horrific, etc.! I always read the yearly assessments she and Pamela prepared for Atomic Mirror on the state of abolition with admiration; they were highly creative and enjoyable to read. I remember too visiting you in Saffron Walden and walking the maze. And I remember being with Janet in Tahiti in January 2007; she was a trooper though the weather was not altogether agreeing with her. There are other memories too, and I’ll remember her tomorrow and think of you all. So love to you all - John
Message by John Burroughs — May 11, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie and Robin,
I am so sorry to learn of your loss. I had the opportunity to meet you about nine years ago when I spent the night at your home after the August bank holiday.
I knew Janet through my three years at the International Peace Bureau in Geneva in the mid- nineties. I always appreciated her hard work and attentiveness as a board member, which I knew came on top of many other duties. (I mailed her so often that I still remember your home address by heart!) I learned a lot from her. I also appreciated her kindness to me, always enjoying our chats after those long meetings.
I’m so glad I got to meet you, even briefly, and to spend time with Janet at the labyrinth and having tea in your lovely town. Those are the sweet little moments in life that matter the most.
I have always thought of Janet with fondness. As others have said, it’s hard to imagine such a vibrant woman leaving us so suddenly.
You’re a lovely family, and I wish you the very best.
Tracy Moavero
Washington, DC
Message by Tracy Moavero — May 11, 2007
Dear Janet,
I’m thinking of you today on the day of your memorial. Because you lived far away, to me it feels as if you are still on this earthly plane. Your voice strong and clear resonates in my mind, and I can see your wise and tender blue eyes still reflecting on your world, the things you cared about so deeply, and the ones you loved so strongly, your Robin, Lucie and Richard.
I will try to always keep your energy, passion, commitment and love of life always in my heart. I feel very lucky to have known you here in this incarnation. Til we meet again, much love from
your jati sister,
Message by carmen ramirez — May 12, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie, Robin and Pamela
I have been out of the country for six weeks and only returned on Monday to learn about the terrible news that Janet had died. It is shocking and very hard to take in. I am thinking of you all and holding you in the Light.
Although I hadn’t seen Janet for several years I always felt that it was possible to ‘pick up’ where we left off. She was always there working away. She was an amazing woman - with a wonderful smile, humanity and energy. Her tireless work was an inspiration to me. The messages I have just read say much of what I feel about Janet.
I would have been at her funeral and the Memorial Meeting and am so sorry that I was prevented. I am so sorry.
I just wanted to add to the many tributes to Janet, whom I haven’t seen since the early 1980s when we started the Leighton and Linslade Peace Group. But, although our paths went in different directions after I left Leighton Buzzard in 1981, I kept in touch with what Janet was doing through CND and the media, and felt proud to have made commmon cause with her in those early days. I hold in the Light all those who have been close to Janet since then - her family, her meeting, her friends and colleagues - and who feel her absence so acutely.
Message by Seren Wildwood — June 1, 2007
Today I sat at the table where Mum and I would sit and read together ‘Poem of the day’. Todays Poem was Absence by Elizabeth Jennings
Absence
I visited the place where we last met.
Nothing was changed, the gardens were well-tended,
The fountains sprayed their usual steady jet;
There was no sign that anything had ended
And nothing to instruct me to forget.
The thoughtless birds that shook out of the trees,
Singing an ecstasy I could not share,
Played cunning in my thoughts. Surely in these
Pleasures there could not be a pain to bear
Or any discord shake the level breeze.
It was because the place was just the same
That made your absence seem a savage force,
For under all the gentleness there came
An earthquake tremor: Fountain, birds and grass
Were shaken by my thinking of your name.
Message by Lucie (Janet's Daughter) — July 3, 2007
Dearest Janet
Physically you may have left us, but your message and the memory of your character and commitment will live on with us all.
Thank you for everything you have done for all whose lives you touched.
With love and sympathy to Richard and the children from Des O’Sullivan and Valli Yanni (Oxford)
Message by Desmond O'Sullivan — September 4, 2007
Dear family of Janet,
I am deeply shocked to know that Janet is no longer with us.
She was a great influence on me and I invited her to speak at a Green Party Conference and she joined it. She was very sensible and in a sea of chaos I always found her an important voice and I was in the process of consulting her again when I found out what had happened.
The movement has lost one of its most sensible and rational voices, and she is already deeply missed.
I hope she is continuing with her message from wherever she is and we will continue to put her points of view from ours!
Miriam Kennet
Director
The Green Economics Insitute
Dear Janet,
I have an envelope for you in my bag here in Australia. It has 2 DVDs that I had meant to send to you from New York before I left. We were going to do an action at Parliament in May, but I cannot bear to do that without you.
So I’m leaving the DVDs in Sydney for my friend to tempt a TV producer with. We’ll see what happens.
Still, it’s hard to let go of the padded envelope because I cannot believe you are gone. I will visit Richard and Lucie and Robin and Pamela next month in Saffron Walden, and sit in your garden. You know Pam is there making things beautiful, and Richard has probably cooked up a delicious meal or two. But to go and not find you there will be very difficult.
I’m so glad we spoke together before I left last month. You were always so positive about our shared work and I love the way we laughed, really deep belly laughs. Your marriage of wit, intellect and heart inspired me hugely. And I’ll never forget the trees you evoked at 44th and 1st Avenue, and the way you loved Richard like a teenager, and how you and Pamela were soul sisters, expanding the ‘nuclear family’, and inviting me in to howl. And how proud you were of Lucie and Robin. Like a mother of course, but also like a friend.
You loved long and well.
Still, I’m shaking my fist at God, but I trust you are needed else where.
I love you Janet.
as ever, your beamlette
Message by Kathleen Sullivan — April 16, 2007
All of us at Christian CND are so very sorry to hear of the death of our member and very good friend, Janet. Her help and encouragement through the years will be sorely missed. May we be given the strength to carry on the work she has laid down . We send our deep sympathies to her family and many other friends
Message by barbara Sunderland — April 17, 2007
I worked with Janet for many years at Oxford Research Group. She was and will continue to be an inspiring person. Her total commitment to nuclear disarmament and her passionate belief in the possibilities for transforming the world in which we live were contagious. The Quaker ethos and the spirit of peace shone through her and she will be deeply, deeply missed.
Message by Nick Ritchie — April 18, 2007
Whenever I met Janet (usually at ORG meetings) I was immediately impressed by her energy and her cheerfulness. Both are admirable qualities in the peace movement and both are hard to sustain as effortlessly as she seemed able to. Janet left me feeling that I/we should attempt to do more, and be more positive about what we are doing. She was, and is, an example to us all.
Message by John Gittings — April 18, 2007
Messages for Janet from ORG
April 2007
Message from ORG
Photo of Janet taken by Rosie after ORG’s Away Day in June 2006 at Gabrielle Rifkind’s home in North London
We are all shocked and deeply sorrowful at the sudden and untimely death of our friend and colleague, Janet. Janet had worked with us at ORG for over ten years, supporting and developing our nuclear programme, and providing inspiration and guidance for all our work, and to so many of us on a personal level, from the basis of her creative vision of peace, and her sense of service drawn from her Quaker faith and practice. In mid-March Janet had played a core role as participant and facilitator at our Charney Manor consultation, where international diplomats, academics and British politicians came together to share their perspectives on the true causes of nuclear proliferation, and look for ways to mitigate them. Only the week before she died, on Tuesday 27th March, Janet was a vibrant contributor to our Networking and Briefing Meeting at Development House, where our new report was launched on the security dangers of a nuclear power renaissance.
Janet seemed to be at the height of her powers.
It was one of Janet’s moments of creative generosity which, about two years ago, led us down the intellectual path which resulted in perhaps our most important publication to date, “Beyond Terror: The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World”, published by Random House on 11th April, which has received unparalleled worldwide press coverage for any ORG publication. We know that Janet was immensely proud of this piece of work, and believed it could have a profound effect. Future editions will be dedicated to her memory.
As many people will be aware, Janet had been active in the movement to rid the world of nuclear weapons since 1981. From 1993 – 1996 she was Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), the largest peace and disarmament organisation in Europe. She continued to serve as an honorary Vice-President of CND, and was also a member of the Peace Campaigning and Networking Group of Quaker Peace and Social Witness. Internationally, she consulted with the Geneva-based International Peace Bureau (of which she was Vice-President from 1994 – 1997), a Nobel Peace Prize winning network of non-aligned peace organisations in 44 countries, which nominated Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat for the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize. She has been involved with Abolition 2000, a global network of over 2000 citizen groups working for a nuclear free world, since its inception in 1995, and sat on its administrative council, as well as having been convenor of its Abolition Now! Campaign Working Group from 2004 – 2006. She was also a Fellow of the British American Project. She wrote and spoke widely on peace and disarmament issues both in the UK and abroad and was listed as an expert speaker by the UN.
At the time of her death, Janet was pushing forward with enormous energy and positivity on her multiple plans. With ORG she was about to co-edit a new edition of our Dialogue Handbook and was finalising plans with us to run a Dialogue Training Workshop in London in June. Most importantly, she was on a wave of exciting new projects with Atomic Mirror, the trans-Atlantic NGO she co-founded with her colleague Pamela Meidell, which uses the creative arts to raise awareness of nuclear dangers.
Janet’s deep knowledge and wisdom extended far beyond peace and security to art, literature, history and matters spiritual. She carried her wisdom unassumingly with humility and a sense of service. Above all, and however dire the circumstances, she always sought, and promoted, signs of hope.
Personal messages from ORG colleagues
Scilla Elworthy:
It is impossible to believe that Janet isn’t here any more. And yet of course, she is. Janet’s spirit is so powerfully alive that it is impossible to talk of her in the past tense; she brings energy and zest to all that we do, whether in the peace movement, in ORG or in women’s initiatives. If this had happened to a friend of hers, she might well have started a little conversation with them, with her huge heart so open to all the infinite realms of the universe. What a person to work with, to be with, to journey with – a fount of new ideas, plus the commitment to see them into action. She connected with others immediately – whether sharing an octopus silk scarf with a Japanese activist, holding up a banner on a march in Tahiti to protest the effects of French nuclear testing, or an evening meeting to engage a peace group in the skills of dialogue.
What Janet gave to Oxford Research Group is beyond measure. From the very early days she understood what we were trying to do, and generously applied her skills and experience to the task. Her arrival at a meeting was always a pleasure for me to look forward to – the huge smile, the wonderful warm hug, the glow she brought into the room. Whatever the agenda, she added the positive to everything – a new idea, support for someone who was struggling, offering wise counsel and practical help. I search my mind and cannot remember Janet ever once being negative, and I am amazed – how many people could one say that of? And when it came to celebration – Janet really knows how to have a party, and no ORG party would be complete without her.
What a force for good, what a powerful strength, what an engine for peace Janet Bloomfield continues to be.
Thank you Pamela for all the marvellous projects that your combined energy made possible.
Thank you Richard, Lucie and Robin for the sustained, superb support you have given her, to do all that she did.
Thank you Janet, for all the bounty you have given us.
Frank Boulton
Janet was a delight to know as a friend and colleague, as well as a Friend and Colleague. Her unique gifts included - (and I give these in a somewhat random order) an unerring optimism; a realism without cynicism; a radiance of love; and a benign wisdom combined with sharp analysis and search for truth. I enjoyed sharing with her our observations on the Quaker community - its quirky and constructive elements as well as its more focussed contributions, and above all her insight into the nature of the dialogue process which, sadly, we will never hear from her own mouth again. We have much to learn from her and I am sure her example will endure among all her friends and colleagues everywhere. I will never forget her. She will be sadly missed; my thoughts, prayers and love go out to all her family.
Nick Ritchie
I am at a loss for words. Charney only seems like yesterday when we saw Janet as vibrant as ever. It is very difficult to comprehend that she has gone. Janet was and will continue to be an inspiring person. Her total commitment to nuclear disarmament and her passionate belief in the possibilities for transforming the world in which we live were contagious. The Quaker ethos and the spirit of peace shone through her and she will be deeply, deeply missed.
Oliver Ramsbotham
Thank you for undertaking such a heart-breaking and difficult task in telling us all about the tragedy of Janet’s death. I did not know Janet well, and do not know her partner/family/dependents/atomic mirror colleagues, so can only respond to you and share in ORG’s distress at losing such a lovely friend and courageous, imaginative and inspirational champion of peace.
Rosie Houldsworth
I want to express my feelings about Janet by passing on two poems she “gifted” to me when helping me to plan ORG’s Charney Manor consultations. These meetings were organised for tired, overworked disarmament officials and academics, who had agreed to travel long distances to spend two to three days with people they didn’t normally meet, or particularly want to meet in some cases, because they knew these people would be critical of their views. They would be challenged. They would have to listen to other people’s perspectives, that they had perhaps long set their minds against.
Janet held as a priority that we to add into their packs of information, a simple sheet of poems and quotations which would support their weary spirits, and strengthen their resolve to look for ways through the difficult task in hand.
These two of countless wonderful poems, which I wouldn’t have come across but for her, and which represent more than I can express in my own words, what Janet meant to me -
Rainer Maria Rilke
(Rilke’s Book of Hours:Love Poems to God, translated by Anita Barrows
and Joanna Macy)
lt will come again into its strength:
the fields undivided, the waters undammed,
the trees towering and the walls built low.
And in the valleys, people as strong and varied as the land.
And no churches where God
is imprisoned and lamented
like a trapped and wounded animal.
The houses welcoming all who knock
and a sense of boundless offering
in all relations, and in you and me.
No yearning for an afterlife, no looking beyond,
no belittling of death,
but only longing for what belongs to us
and serving earth, lest we remain unused.
Pablo Neruda
And now we will all count to twelve
and we will keep still.
For once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.
It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.
Fishermen in cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victory with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.
What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
(life is what it is about,
I want no truck with death.)
If we were not so singleminded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.
Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves alive.
Now I’ll count to twelve,
and you keep quiet and I will go.
Gabrielle Rifkind
I’m thinking of you and I’m sure you’re very shocked by Janet Bloomfield’s death. I send you my warmest thoughts and support.. It highlights how transient life is and how every moment has to be savoured because there may not be a tomorrow. She did however die having made a very special contribution and being a very important, quiet, steady voice for the peace movement.
Charlotte Smith
Janet was always having a chuckle, could always lighten the mood of a meeting, always had contacts who could help you out, had such faith in the human spirit . I loved the way we expressed it to our supporters: “Her legacy to us is manifold, but more than anything else it is the inspiration to keep going in our work, in hope and faith that sanity, beauty and love will eventually prevail!”
From associates of ORG
Bevis Gillett, Trustee, the Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation
Thanks so much for letting me know about Janet. It is indeed very shocking news. I believe she was an exceptionally courageous person. It was particularly poignant for me that poor Janet died in Hereford hospital, as it was the place that my son Joe and I last saw David, my brother. Please pass on my condolences to her family. You have worked with Janet very closely as a colleague over many years so it must have really knocked you back to receive the sad news last weekend.
With deep sympathy
Sue Walley, ORG Sustainer, funder of the ORG Dialogue 2007 Project
I am so sorry to hear this news. Janet was so full of life and energy - it must have been a huge shock to you all at ORG.
There is so much more I could say after the recent death in my husband’s family (and a week just spent with his daughters and grandchildren) but somehow nothing helps - it is a personal grief with so many personal memories.
From those who met Janet at ORG’s March Charney Manor consultation
Susanne Sklar, William Blake scholar, member of the Theoology Faculty, Northwestern University, Illinois:
I am shocked. This is terrible. I only talked with Janet briefly during the conference and was so looking forward to doing so again, to WORKING with her. How can it be that a person of such vision and capablity would be snatched away? Why are the good taken?
This makes no sense. Janet is NEEDED. She was very unusual, very rare; in her energy, her experience, her wisdom, her warmth. I send healing angels to uphold her family in their grief. I am so sorry to hear of this. The world is less bright.
Was it time for Janet to be an angel???
I’ve been reading Peace Pilgrim– like Blake, she thought death could be a happy transition. That may be true but it still HURTS HORRIBLY for those who are left behind. If Janet has been given a promotion maybe tears are like a bridge connecting those her love her to her new angelic office. Perhaps she will be busy in heaven. . . . May your grief connect heaven and earth.
Ambassador Ali Soltanieh, Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Vienna:
I was dismayed to hear about the demise of Janet Bloomfield whose profound knowledge and energetic activity at the Charney Manor consultation I vividly remember.
Her passing will not only leave a big hole in all of the organizations she worked with but due to her intense and broad wisdom also to the intellectual world at large.
I convey my sincere condolence to her colleagues and my deepest sympathy to her family for their loss. May she rest in peace.
Professor Nick Wheeler, Director, David Davies Memorial Institute, Department of International Politics, University of Wales Aberystwyth:
I was desperately sorry to hear about Janet. It is frightening to think she was full of life one minute and gone the next. I did not know her well but found her comments and contribution at Charney most insightful and uplifting. I was looking forward to working more with her in the future. I can imagine what a terrible shock it must have been for you and her other friends at ORG. As you say, it is important that her contribution and legacy to the cause of peace and justice lives on.
Dr. John Borrie, Senior Researcher and Project Manager, nited Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
I’m really sorry to hear this. So sudden! I didn’t know Janet well - I only met her at the Charnley Manor consultation - but I really liked her. She was obviously a great person. My thoughts are with you guys, and with her family.
Dr. Farhang Jahanpour, tutor on religion and politics in the Middle East, Department of Continuing Education at the University of Oxford; former Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Languages at the University of Isfahan:
I am truly shocked to learn of the untimely and unexpected death of Janet, whom I only had the pleasure of meeting at Charney Manor. As you say, she was so full of energy and was so dedicated that her passing is a great loss to all of us. This just shows how transient and unpredictable our lives are and that we should try to do our best while we are still alive and are capable of serving. I feel fortunate to have met her and have benefited from her contagious optimism.
I am truly sorry.
Dr. Jim Hoare, Consultant on East Asian affairs; first British Chargé d’Affaires in Pyongyang:
This was the first time that I had met Janet and I found here an interesting and stimulating contact. I am very sorry to hear of her death. Please pass on my condolences to her family/friends.
Charney Manor staff
We are so sorry to hear about Janet, who has done so much good work for ORG over the years. Sheila is away but I know she will also want to send condolences. From what you say there is much to celebrate in Janet’s life. All at Charney.
Message by Oxford Research Group — April 18, 2007
A visit with Janet and Richard is something I always look forward to when I go home. There is always a great choice of music, and a glass of wine to accompany our in depth, interesting, sometimes humorous, and informative chats. When Vib came along he engaged Richard (some railway talk included probably), while I chatted with Janet about developments in peace, justice and family issues. We are always made welcome.
Last December I was especially inspired by Janet’s conversation with me. Her vision and positivity gave me much food for thought.
Being with Janet and other pilgrims in 1996 is a time I will always remember too. She gently encouraged me to speak in a small way for the indigenous people of Australia - the little I knew about their issues at the time, not seen as a problem.We shared so much that was very special and close to both our hearts.
I am so sad I will not see Janet in this world again, and my next visit to Saffron Walden will remind me of her absence.
Here in Melbourne I will join the gatherings to remember her life, at least in spirit.My mother, Marion Long hopes to be at Janet’s funeral.
In Peace
Frances Long
Message by Frances Long — April 19, 2007
Janet will always inspire me because I won’t forget what she said and did, and also how she behaved. She was a cheerful chuckler in the face of the depressing information us plutonium head cases deal with, and the difficult loons our movement attracts. She had a get-on-with-it attitude and helped me to calm down and see the funny side, and even when she was joining in with some howling outrage conversation, she kept that grin in her voice, quick to laugh and tease me out of some serious session, quick to give the benefit of the doubt and dilute the negative.
Janet was very generous with encouragement, egging me on, not a demanding person, but a cheering person. Janet sent some great feedback to me recently on the ICAN campaign when she agreed to join the advisory group. I wrote back four words: I LOVE JANET BLOOMFIELD, and she wrote back four words: I LOVE FELICITY HILL and those were the last eight words we exchanged. Pretty good final note, although its pretty shocking that these were our last words. My delayed reaction to the initial news has worn off and I’m grappling with the loss of Janet, and of Mayor Ito, appreciating the abundance of hope and effort they generated, and still greedily wanting more. May 1000 sunflowers bloom in Janet’s honour. I’m going to plant a Janet sunflower garden.
Flick
Message by Felicity Hill — April 19, 2007
Janet Bloomfield was a formidable advocate for peace and disarmament.
The last time I saw Janet, I think, was at the World Peace Forum in Vancouver, where she was participating in the anti-Trident workshops. As always, she exuded energy and determination and good cheer - qualities that are needed in the peace movement as everywhere else.
The global movements for change are poorer for her passing.
Message by Milan Rai — April 19, 2007
May I offer Janet’s family and all her friends heartfelt condolences from the “other side of the nuclear argument”? Having recently spent time with her at the ORG conference in March, I was totally shocked by the news of her loss. Her patent warmth, sincerity and humanity will be greatly missed by those of every point of view, who took part in the debate to which she was so dedicated.
Message by Julian Lewis MP — April 19, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie and Robin,
I joined with all of you very early today in Tampa, FL, the candle that has been lit since the day that Janet flew into her new life, glowed throughout my prayer room. After I finished, I wrote an email to Pamela that I wish to pass on to all of you…….
Pamela,
I am sitting in meditation and prayer with you and Janet this am. As I lifted the Bible and asked for a passage,
Spirit guided me to open the book on the following reading. It is called the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus, spoken the night before he was crucified.
It is truly fitting for Janet a true High Priest and Bodhi Satva.
From the Book of John/Chapter 17
1
1 2 When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
2
3 just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him.
3
4 Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
4
I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
5
Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
6
“I revealed your name 5 to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
7
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
8
because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me.
9
I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours,
10
and everything of mine is yours and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them.
11
And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.
12
When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.
13
But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely.
14
I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
15
6 I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one.
16
They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
17
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.
18
As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.
19
And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.
20
“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21
so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.
22
And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one,
23
I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.
24
Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am 7 they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25
Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.
26
I made known to them your name and I will make it known, 8 that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”
After the reading in my own Cherokee heritage, I sang to Janet a Prayer/Blessing/Chant that I learned long ago and only sing at very sacred times or places: May Janet Fly Like An Eagle, Fly So High, Circling The Universe, On Wings Of Pure Light………………..
I sent the following web address for a very short 3 minute movie called “You are the Light”, http://www.youarethelightmovie.com/
to Pamela as soon as I heard about Janet, and I send it to you in love because Janet exemplifies to me the LIGHT spread out everywhere. I laughed and laughed in her presence and partied loud and hard at times. Bruce Springstein concert I thought I lost my hearing, not from the crowds, but from Janet’s enthusiastic screams. She flew all the way to Tampa, FL, right after our 4 hurricanes to make sure Pamela and I went to his concert in Orlando. Those days were glorious times and I will relive them over and over to feel her light and radiant pure joy!
A dear friend and teacher,Auntie Mahealani, from the Big Island of Hawaii, wrote to me after I emailed her of my shock and sadness regarding Janet:
Aloha Jen,
Janet is not gone…she just “changed address.” So do her a huge and loving favor…don’t make her “GONE.” That’s her message as well as the message from the ancestors/ angels & guides. If there be tears and grieving, let it be based on the right reasons..and that would be because her “physical presence” will be missed, and the grief is not over her but upon all left behind. Janet will still continue her work towards peace, etc., as she “wrinkles” the veil between the dimensions to motivate & inspire others to make the needed changes. Nothing and no one is ever lost to us, unless we choose to “think” them gone. Such is the greatest “so-called-secret.” Blessings, Aunty
In Love to all of you, Jennifer, a sister in spirit
Message by Jennifer Allen — April 19, 2007
On our way to Saffron Walden today we played Springsteen’s ‘No Surrender’ very loudly in the car, because it was your song. You made our every meeting a joyous occasion.
David and Wendy 19 April 2007
Message by David and Wendy Rumsey — April 19, 2007
i only met Janet once, and i want to share with you my gratitude and joy.
My social training tells me to be sad, but i keep arriving back at my gratitude for her beautiful energy and work, and that i was able to meet her at the Think Outside The Bomb conference in Santa Barbara, California. I have joy at my memories of her broad smile and shining eyes. She and i exchanged questions-and-answers at the opening nuclear questionnaire activity at TOTB, and she was so open and kind…never was there the air of knowing vastly more than i do, which i appreciated as soon as i discovered (later) who she was and why she was there. For such brief contact, my life is enriched by her.
Janet’s spirit certainly lives on in all of us, including a large group of young people who are dedicated in various and creative ways to a world without nuclear weapons.
Message by evan austin — April 20, 2007
I got to know Janet over recent years through our joint involvement on British Quakers’ Peace Campaigning and Networking group, through her work with Northern Friends Peace Board in running workshops on dialogue skills, and at a number of events where she was a speaker. Kathleen Sullivan refers to Janet’s “marriage of wit, intellect and heart ” being such an inspiration, and I can only echo that. We were always aware in our little group of the breadth of Janet’s links in the UK and beyond, and of the depth and clarity of her understanding and insights. She was a calm and reassuring person to have with us, whilst at the same time exuding creativity and energy. These were her gifts to us, and I am very grateful for having had the chance to get to know her. Loving thoughts to all those family and friends who were closest to Janet.
Message by Philip Austin — April 20, 2007
Most sincerely condole Janet’s untimely and shocking departure.
Also salute her memory so very marked by her indomitable fighting spirit and unique contribution to the cause of peace and nuclear disarmament all across the globe.
Message by Sukla Sen, CNDP, India — April 30, 2007
I met Janet for the first time two days before she died, at the Greenham Reunion Day in Hereford, and was inspired by her vigour and warmth and insight in both personal and political ways. It was a terrible shock to hear of her death so soon afterwards. I send my prayers for her and for you in your loss, and I’m sure her strong spirit will be with you.
Message by Alison Leonard — May 2, 2007
I am so sad, I only realised the she had gond when reading Peace News and the Guardian Obituary. I had not had news of her, or been in touch for many years, but always remembered. My way had gone a different way , and had been involved with ll the activities with Brian Haw and the new Law, and with Mil and Maya etc. , and regular e.mails from USA, PINK.After visiting contries on PEACE journeys.,Now 83 years old, and mobility difficult, I remembered Janet as a friend in the old days, I think at the time of Molesworth etc, but am so sad that she left so suddenly, when I learn now of her extraordinary activities. How I wish I had kept in touch. My deepet sympathy to her family and many friends. Love and PEACE, Peggie Preston.
Message by Peggie Preston — May 2, 2007
I received these words at Janet’s Memorial Meeting
Don’t mourn because you can see me no more,
I’m not far away, just behind that locked door.
If you hear your name as the wind ruffles your hair,
It’s me letting you know that I’m there.
If you see a shadow out the corner of your eye,
It’s me watching over you as I stand close by.
If it seems to much to bear now we’re apart,
I’m always right with you, just look in your heart
When the sun smiles from behind a cloud up above,
It’s me smiling down on you with all of my love.
So don’t mourn because you can see me no more,
I’m never far away, just behind that locked door.
Message by Denise Vincent — May 2, 2007
Sorry I can’t be with you in body on Saturday.You know I will be with you in Spirit.
This is what I have written for ‘heddwch’ the magazine of CND Cymru.
Making Dreams Come True
Janet Bloomfield 1953 - 2007
We’ve lost Janet – still young, still so active and yet she’s gone. Perhaps a commemoration of someone shouldn’t mention the shock and sadness, but it’s so much in our hearts, and Richard, Lucie and Robin you are in our thoughts – that just comes before anything else at the moment.
First Janet was a woman, a human being who loved the world. Then she was a campaigner who did things her way, she never seemed to come from any politically ideological corner. She listened to her heart. As a Quaker she seemed determined to enjoy and celebrate the world she wanted to save, especially savouring the international aspects of meeting people and making things work in a different way.
When I first met Janet, she had recently returned from a peace delegation to Hungary during the break up of the Eastern bloc. Her family was on holiday in Wales and we went swimming in the Afon Pysgotwr together. Good peace activities.
Later, when Chair of British CND Janet came to speak at some CND Cymru meetings – I remember one in particular, where we held a blowy protest against THORP on Aberystwyth Prom, then drove back across the Cambrian Mountains to Llandovery. We were colleagues and comrades.
One summer day in 1996, she and Pamela Meidell brought the Atomic Mirror Pilgrimage to our home in Carmarthenshire. I was with them for only a few hours but it was to be one of those indelible moments of special magic. The twelve pilgrims were en route to St. Davids. They brought with them gifts of sand from Hiroshima, an origami stork and other items from a previous peace pilgrimage to nuclear sites. We burnt candles. A film crew travelling with them interviewed my then 10 year old daughter Emily about when she had taken 250,000 Welsh signatures against French nuclear testing to the French Embassy earlier that year.
Last Summer I met up with Janet and Pamela (her soul sister if ever there was one) at the Hay Festival. We were making plans.
Janet, we’ll keep trying to make your dreams come true.
Listen to Janet, I hear her say – ‘look we don’t know what’s coming, time is short, do it now, don’t wait.’
Jill Gough
Janet was the chair of British CND (1993-96), a member of the Global Council of Abolition 2000 since 1997, international campaign co-ordinator of Abolition Now!, and a key figure in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Awareness Programme set up by Sir Joseph Rotblat.
To give and to read tributes to Janet, many paying much greater attention to Janet’s material achievements in the peace movement. See [http://janetbloomfield.com/main/]
Message by jill gough (previously stallard) — May 11, 2007
Dear Richard, Robin, Lucie, and Pamela -
I will be thinking of you tomorrow May 12 and of Janet. As I have said before, she was a good friend, caring and fun to be with. And I know she was very important to Jackie, both personally and in the work (as we said in the dedication for Nuclear Disorder and Cooperative Security). And of course to you Pamela. And to Xanthe. And to many, many others. She combined her practicality with a poetic and visionary dimension, and a deft touch in advocacy. I remember her telling me about the time she was asked to write “200 words” about Trident. So she compiled a list of appropriate words: appalling, horrific, etc.! I always read the yearly assessments she and Pamela prepared for Atomic Mirror on the state of abolition with admiration; they were highly creative and enjoyable to read. I remember too visiting you in Saffron Walden and walking the maze. And I remember being with Janet in Tahiti in January 2007; she was a trooper though the weather was not altogether agreeing with her. There are other memories too, and I’ll remember her tomorrow and think of you all. So love to you all - John
Message by John Burroughs — May 11, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie and Robin,
I am so sorry to learn of your loss. I had the opportunity to meet you about nine years ago when I spent the night at your home after the August bank holiday.
I knew Janet through my three years at the International Peace Bureau in Geneva in the mid- nineties. I always appreciated her hard work and attentiveness as a board member, which I knew came on top of many other duties. (I mailed her so often that I still remember your home address by heart!) I learned a lot from her. I also appreciated her kindness to me, always enjoying our chats after those long meetings.
I’m so glad I got to meet you, even briefly, and to spend time with Janet at the labyrinth and having tea in your lovely town. Those are the sweet little moments in life that matter the most.
I have always thought of Janet with fondness. As others have said, it’s hard to imagine such a vibrant woman leaving us so suddenly.
You’re a lovely family, and I wish you the very best.
Tracy Moavero
Washington, DC
Message by Tracy Moavero — May 11, 2007
Dear Janet,
I’m thinking of you today on the day of your memorial. Because you lived far away, to me it feels as if you are still on this earthly plane. Your voice strong and clear resonates in my mind, and I can see your wise and tender blue eyes still reflecting on your world, the things you cared about so deeply, and the ones you loved so strongly, your Robin, Lucie and Richard.
I will try to always keep your energy, passion, commitment and love of life always in my heart. I feel very lucky to have known you here in this incarnation. Til we meet again, much love from
your jati sister,
Message by carmen ramirez — May 12, 2007
Dear Richard, Lucie, Robin and Pamela
I have been out of the country for six weeks and only returned on Monday to learn about the terrible news that Janet had died. It is shocking and very hard to take in. I am thinking of you all and holding you in the Light.
Although I hadn’t seen Janet for several years I always felt that it was possible to ‘pick up’ where we left off. She was always there working away. She was an amazing woman - with a wonderful smile, humanity and energy. Her tireless work was an inspiration to me. The messages I have just read say much of what I feel about Janet.
I would have been at her funeral and the Memorial Meeting and am so sorry that I was prevented. I am so sorry.
With love and prayers
Lindis Percy
Message by Lindis Percy — May 16, 2007
I just wanted to add to the many tributes to Janet, whom I haven’t seen since the early 1980s when we started the Leighton and Linslade Peace Group. But, although our paths went in different directions after I left Leighton Buzzard in 1981, I kept in touch with what Janet was doing through CND and the media, and felt proud to have made commmon cause with her in those early days. I hold in the Light all those who have been close to Janet since then - her family, her meeting, her friends and colleagues - and who feel her absence so acutely.
Message by Seren Wildwood — June 1, 2007
Today I sat at the table where Mum and I would sit and read together ‘Poem of the day’. Todays Poem was Absence by Elizabeth Jennings
Absence
I visited the place where we last met.
Nothing was changed, the gardens were well-tended,
The fountains sprayed their usual steady jet;
There was no sign that anything had ended
And nothing to instruct me to forget.
The thoughtless birds that shook out of the trees,
Singing an ecstasy I could not share,
Played cunning in my thoughts. Surely in these
Pleasures there could not be a pain to bear
Or any discord shake the level breeze.
It was because the place was just the same
That made your absence seem a savage force,
For under all the gentleness there came
An earthquake tremor: Fountain, birds and grass
Were shaken by my thinking of your name.
Message by Lucie (Janet's Daughter) — July 3, 2007
Dearest Janet
Physically you may have left us, but your message and the memory of your character and commitment will live on with us all.
Thank you for everything you have done for all whose lives you touched.
With love and sympathy to Richard and the children from Des O’Sullivan and Valli Yanni (Oxford)
Message by Desmond O'Sullivan — September 4, 2007
Dear family of Janet,
I am deeply shocked to know that Janet is no longer with us.
She was a great influence on me and I invited her to speak at a Green Party Conference and she joined it. She was very sensible and in a sea of chaos I always found her an important voice and I was in the process of consulting her again when I found out what had happened.
The movement has lost one of its most sensible and rational voices, and she is already deeply missed.
I hope she is continuing with her message from wherever she is and we will continue to put her points of view from ours!
Miriam Kennet
Director
The Green Economics Insitute
Message by Miriam Kennet — December 20, 2007