This is to remember a fellow Green who passed away in August of 2006. Robert Ball was a local Hillsdale area resident who was a highly respected and dedicated activist for peace and social justice. Shortly after his passing, we held a memorial service for the Bob at the Annex in Hillsdale (which is where I had the privelege of first meeting him). Though Bob officially left the Green Party a few years ago (over a disagreement regarding the meeting and voting rules), he remained a Green at heart, firmly committed to the causes embraced by the movement and always supporting and voting for Green candidates. So I think it's appropriate to honor him here.

I only got to know Bob near the end of his life, and I enjoyed listening to his tales of working with Cesar Chavez both here in the midwest and out west in support of the rights of migrant workers. More recently, Bob and his partner Carol were steadfast opponents of the Iraq War. Even at the very beginning of the war, when most people (especially here in conservative Hillsdale County) were gung-ho about it, Bob and Carol courageously stood up for what they believed in, holding a vigil every Saturday in front of the local county courthouse.

From the moment the war began, right up until he suffered the massive stroke that ended his life, he and Carol manned the courthouse lawn, missing only three Saturdays in more than three years. Just days before he passed from among us, the local Coalition for Peace and Justice honored Bob and Carol with a Peace Award -- a very timely event, to be sure.

I can't say that I knew Bob well, but I've learned enough about him from friends and family, as well as from his demonstrated committment to his principles, to know that if the world had a lot more Robert Balls, this war would be over in a heartbeat.

To quote a popular Eagles song, "there's a hole in the world tonight" -- one that won't easily be filled. Robert, you will be missed.

By D. L. Baker

~~HCG~~