Sunday, January 15, 2006
A friend walked on...
A couple of weeks ago, I lost a good friend. I’ve lost a lot of good friends in the last few years: Jim Squires, an old pal, my son Jasper, another good friend, Michael Two Horses, one of my oldest and closest friends, Tony Berrocoso, and now JV. Well, we’ll eventually all see each other again. I hope. No proof, just hope.
Thanks to Deb for this obit.
James Vance Henry 1941-2005
By Deborah Moran
James Vance Henry, Esq. passed away on December 23, 2005 in
Grass Valley, California. He led an eventful life.
JV was born in Asheville, North Carolina on October 12, 1941. He
once
said that his mother told him she believed his involvement in the Civil
Rights Movement stemmed from an incident that happened when he was three.
They were standing in line to use a drinking fountain, and JV wanted to know
why he couldn't use the drinking fountain that no one was using. His mother
tried to explain that the unused drinking fountain was for "Colored" people,
and he could not understand that. His sister, Elizabeth Henry Laisy, said
that to JV, equal meant equal.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where JV
earned a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, he became involved in the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as a Field Organizer. He
became active in the Chapel Hill Freedom Movement. He went to jail more than
once for his beliefs, on one occasion landing on the chain gang in
Greensboro, NC.
His friend Hunter Gray, than known as John Salter, enlisted two of
his
friends, attorneys William Kuntsler and Arthur Kinoy, to get JV out.
JV continued in his civil rights field work, repeatedly facing
life-threatening situations, fairly common for those times. But he kept on
because he knew he was doing the right things for the right
reasons. JV later said that Hunter Gray was a major reason he received a
scholarship to Howard University Law School, in Washington,DC.
Because Howard is a known as a Black college, his father opposed JV
going there. His father went so far as to say that if JV accepted the
scholarship, he would be disowned. JV went to Howard. He became the editor
of the Howard Law Journal.
After graduation, JV went to Fresno, California, where he set up a
law
practice in 1968. He worked with migrant workers, unions and peace
activists, once winning a landmark ruling involving the right of anti-war
activists to put up a placard on a public bus. He defended two Chukchansi
men who had gotten into trouble for fighting with some members of the KKK.
"We were guilty of the charge of fighting," recalled Harold Hammond, one of
the two defendants, "but because of the entire situation and the way JV
presented it as it should be presented, we went free. I've never forgotten
JV Henry."
He was active in the National Lawyers Guild, forming a chapter in
Fresno, with Howard Watkins. He set up seminars for low income people on
landlord-tenant issues. He taught courses at San Joaquin College, where he
was once voted Best Teacher of the Year for his class on Conflict of Laws.
One of his friends said that he was by far the most intellectually
invigorating teacher there.
In 1976, he told me, he was on top of the world. He had a home, a
wife, a law practice. He was a judge pro-tem and there was talk of him
running for judge. In 1977 it was all gone. He walked away from his law
practice, as he could no longer work in a system he viewed as corrupt and
full of liars. He was unwilling to play the political games any longer.
After leaving his law practice, he became involved with Earth First.
He did "monkeywrenching". There are many people who believe that he was a
major force in stopping a hydroelectric project near Fresno. He did
community organizing, working with migrant workers in the Yakima Valley. He
worked on Indian rights issues in California, and fought with the
Sandinistas in Mexico. He also became a heavy user of drugs and alcohol.
April 23, 1995, JV walked into his first meeting of Alcoholics
Anonymous. He was so shaky that they would not let him have a full cup of
coffee, nor let him pour coffee. He stayed. At his death, he was still
drug and alcohol free. Becoming sober, he discovered a new kind of activism.
He became an internet activist.
When the Makah Nation decided to exercise their treaty rights to
hunt whales, many people went after the Makah people, using racism and other
ugly tactics. JV went all out, exposing their lies, their racism and their
hypocrisy. He gained enemies as well as friends. But again, he was doing
what he perceived as right.
In 2004, one of the enemies of the Makah campaigned to become
Executive Director of the national Sierra Club. Running with
neoconservative republicans, rightwing Christians, anti-immigration plebes,
and other elements of the right, "Captain" Paul Watson set out to take over
the Sierra Club in order to kill the most powerful voice for environmental
protection in America. JV went to war. He became a Sierra Club member, and
conveyed his entire dossier of Watson's lies, racism, demagoguery, civil and
criminal acts, and naked self-aggrandizement to national Sierra Club
leaders. Armed with JV's information, Club leaders let the voting
membership know what Watson really was. Watson was defeated; so was the
anti-immigration ballot measure with which he ran. In April 2004, after
the Board meeting, a Sierra Club Board member wrote "Thank you, JV, for all
your solid assistance. Early signs are that the Captain is apopleptic."
In 2005, JV researched peak oil and the intriguing question of
where half a million barrels of oil in the global oil market were coming
from. He concluded they must be coming from inner Asia - the `stans, as
they are called - by way of Iran. He figured that Halliburton was somehow
circumventing law and regulation, and getting oil out of Iran. He was
frustrated by his inability to prove it or investigate the case past a
fascinating captivity with statistical anomalies.
JV is survived by his sister, Beth, her two daughters, and his
cousin,
Becky, of North Carolina, his adopted Chukchansi family, the Hammonds, and
many, many friends.
Besides his activism, JV enjoyed hunting, camping, hiking, and
making his own moccasins He played chess. He enjoyed the company of friends.
He loved South Park. But most of all, he loved to read. So it seems
particularly fitting that he walked away from this life at the public
library in Grass Valley, California.
Thanks to Deb for this obit.
James Vance Henry 1941-2005
By Deborah Moran
James Vance Henry, Esq. passed away on December 23, 2005 in
Grass Valley, California. He led an eventful life.
JV was born in Asheville, North Carolina on October 12, 1941. He
once
said that his mother told him she believed his involvement in the Civil
Rights Movement stemmed from an incident that happened when he was three.
They were standing in line to use a drinking fountain, and JV wanted to know
why he couldn't use the drinking fountain that no one was using. His mother
tried to explain that the unused drinking fountain was for "Colored" people,
and he could not understand that. His sister, Elizabeth Henry Laisy, said
that to JV, equal meant equal.
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where JV
earned a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, he became involved in the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as a Field Organizer. He
became active in the Chapel Hill Freedom Movement. He went to jail more than
once for his beliefs, on one occasion landing on the chain gang in
Greensboro, NC.
His friend Hunter Gray, than known as John Salter, enlisted two of
his
friends, attorneys William Kuntsler and Arthur Kinoy, to get JV out.
JV continued in his civil rights field work, repeatedly facing
life-threatening situations, fairly common for those times. But he kept on
because he knew he was doing the right things for the right
reasons. JV later said that Hunter Gray was a major reason he received a
scholarship to Howard University Law School, in Washington,DC.
Because Howard is a known as a Black college, his father opposed JV
going there. His father went so far as to say that if JV accepted the
scholarship, he would be disowned. JV went to Howard. He became the editor
of the Howard Law Journal.
After graduation, JV went to Fresno, California, where he set up a
law
practice in 1968. He worked with migrant workers, unions and peace
activists, once winning a landmark ruling involving the right of anti-war
activists to put up a placard on a public bus. He defended two Chukchansi
men who had gotten into trouble for fighting with some members of the KKK.
"We were guilty of the charge of fighting," recalled Harold Hammond, one of
the two defendants, "but because of the entire situation and the way JV
presented it as it should be presented, we went free. I've never forgotten
JV Henry."
He was active in the National Lawyers Guild, forming a chapter in
Fresno, with Howard Watkins. He set up seminars for low income people on
landlord-tenant issues. He taught courses at San Joaquin College, where he
was once voted Best Teacher of the Year for his class on Conflict of Laws.
One of his friends said that he was by far the most intellectually
invigorating teacher there.
In 1976, he told me, he was on top of the world. He had a home, a
wife, a law practice. He was a judge pro-tem and there was talk of him
running for judge. In 1977 it was all gone. He walked away from his law
practice, as he could no longer work in a system he viewed as corrupt and
full of liars. He was unwilling to play the political games any longer.
After leaving his law practice, he became involved with Earth First.
He did "monkeywrenching". There are many people who believe that he was a
major force in stopping a hydroelectric project near Fresno. He did
community organizing, working with migrant workers in the Yakima Valley. He
worked on Indian rights issues in California, and fought with the
Sandinistas in Mexico. He also became a heavy user of drugs and alcohol.
April 23, 1995, JV walked into his first meeting of Alcoholics
Anonymous. He was so shaky that they would not let him have a full cup of
coffee, nor let him pour coffee. He stayed. At his death, he was still
drug and alcohol free. Becoming sober, he discovered a new kind of activism.
He became an internet activist.
When the Makah Nation decided to exercise their treaty rights to
hunt whales, many people went after the Makah people, using racism and other
ugly tactics. JV went all out, exposing their lies, their racism and their
hypocrisy. He gained enemies as well as friends. But again, he was doing
what he perceived as right.
In 2004, one of the enemies of the Makah campaigned to become
Executive Director of the national Sierra Club. Running with
neoconservative republicans, rightwing Christians, anti-immigration plebes,
and other elements of the right, "Captain" Paul Watson set out to take over
the Sierra Club in order to kill the most powerful voice for environmental
protection in America. JV went to war. He became a Sierra Club member, and
conveyed his entire dossier of Watson's lies, racism, demagoguery, civil and
criminal acts, and naked self-aggrandizement to national Sierra Club
leaders. Armed with JV's information, Club leaders let the voting
membership know what Watson really was. Watson was defeated; so was the
anti-immigration ballot measure with which he ran. In April 2004, after
the Board meeting, a Sierra Club Board member wrote "Thank you, JV, for all
your solid assistance. Early signs are that the Captain is apopleptic."
In 2005, JV researched peak oil and the intriguing question of
where half a million barrels of oil in the global oil market were coming
from. He concluded they must be coming from inner Asia - the `stans, as
they are called - by way of Iran. He figured that Halliburton was somehow
circumventing law and regulation, and getting oil out of Iran. He was
frustrated by his inability to prove it or investigate the case past a
fascinating captivity with statistical anomalies.
JV is survived by his sister, Beth, her two daughters, and his
cousin,
Becky, of North Carolina, his adopted Chukchansi family, the Hammonds, and
many, many friends.
Besides his activism, JV enjoyed hunting, camping, hiking, and
making his own moccasins He played chess. He enjoyed the company of friends.
He loved South Park. But most of all, he loved to read. So it seems
particularly fitting that he walked away from this life at the public
library in Grass Valley, California.
