J. Garfield Demarco; Over and Out

RednekF350

Piney
Feb 20, 2004
4,944
3,080
Pestletown, N.J.
I"m trying to unsee that.

I hear you Al. For a minute I thought I was looking at Mr. Freeze from the Batman TV series from my youth. :)

Freeze.JPG
Taken from: https://batman.fandom.com/wiki/Mr._Freeze_(Dozierverse)
 
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bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,153
4,257
Pines; Bamber area
Garfield DeMarco, as Ted Gorden relates in this post from awhile ago, was a complex, often generous man, who actually did love the land.

"Bob, I already had the above articles in my files but am pleased that you posted them here. I met Garfield De Marco in the early 1970s and became acquainted with him when he was head of the Pinelands Environmental Council. During those years our paths crossed many times because of our involvement in Pinelands issues and my deep interest in the history of the cranberry industry. I found Garfield to be a complex personality, a scholar of history with a brilliant mind. We both enjoyed talking about local history, and I would soon learn that, despite public or political opinion to the contrary, he was not an uncompromising adversary of protection of natural communities. When, I reported to him a mining operation that was destroying a large population of an endangered shrub, Broom Crowberry, in the East Plains, he immediately saw to it that the illegal operation was stopped. On another occasion, when I informed him that beavers were flooding out the endangered Bog Asphodel at Burnt Bridge near Chatsworth, he immediately arranged for the Fish & Wildlife service to remove the beavers off site. This tinge of sensitivity lurked behind a gruff exterior and was detected by only a few. Ask Michele Byers, executive director of the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, who too--in my opinion--was aware of it. This should put in perspective De Marco's comments in the NY Times article, "I love the area. I love the land. I don't believe in cutting trees. ...."

The articles I posted:

https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2003-05-25-0305250144-story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/17/nyregion/leaving-a-legacy-after-a-lifetime-in-the-bogs.html

So on balance, I think he leaves a good legacy behind.
 

Teegate

Administrator
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Sep 17, 2002
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Ted just visited him a few weeks back and talked with him for hours.
 

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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The rumors were that he had spent or lost all of his money and was barely getting by.
 

Teegate

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Sep 17, 2002
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The funeral home is asking for donations. He must have been completely destitute.
 
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