John Rensenbrink, whose thinking and vision and activism helped birth and steward the Green Party in the U.S., became an ancestor on July 30, 2022, one month before his 94th birthday. His invaluable account of the early history of the party can be read here. Sadly, Elie Yarden, who passed away just five weeks later, was passionate about Rensenbrink’s Green Horizon Foundation distributing this early history as an informative and provocative pamphlet for popular education.

As an essential voice for a new kind of politics, Rensenbrink left a lasting legacy through his written words, both through Green Horizon Magazine and a number of important books including The Greens and the Politics of Transformation, Against All Odds: The Green Transformation of American Politics, and his final work, Ecological Politics: For Survival and Democracy. John graciously spoke at the 2014 Green-Rainbow Party convention, and we were able to publish his address, The Big Tent: Rainbow as Model, here at Green Mass Group.

From Steve Welzer, John’s co-editor of Green Horizon Magazine: “It was John Rensenbrink who could envision the vital ecological, democratic, communitarian, and peaceful green horizon. He inspired many of us with that vision, and then he provided us with guidelines toward its realization.

Theorist, activist, educator, organizer, candidate … father-figure, friend. Over a period of seven decades (!) John’s insights and erudition touched the lives and influenced the thinking of one individual after another. He was among the first to recognize that only by rooting our political ideology in ecological wisdom would we be able to address the multiple and interconnected crises our civilization is facing.

John’s steadfast belief in the potential of the Green politics movement to transform the world never wavered.”

From the Green Party of the United States:

The Green Party of the United States mourns the passing of one of its esteemed founding members and leaders, John Rensenbrink. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his family in hospice on July 30, 2022. He was 93 and transitioned one month before his 94th birthday.

Greens are remembering John for his role as motivator and leader of an independent political party dedicated to ecology, social and economic justice, democracy, and nonviolence—and for the intellectual weight he gave the Green Party movement as a global imperative, as awareness of the climate crisis emerged.

Rensenbrink was a highly respected political scientist, philosopher, author, journalist, and conservationist by trade. In 1965 he began teaching political philosophy and history at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. After semi-retirement in 1989, he continued teaching at Bowdoin for several years, creating an interdisciplinary seminar for majors in Black, Women’s, and Environmental Studies.

He was also the founder of the Maine Green Party (now known as the Maine Green Independent Party: mainegreens.org) in 1984 and the Cathance River Education Alliance (CREAmaine.org) in 2000. The latter is an ecological education project for local schools, young children, and high school students in mid-coast Maine. As a political scientist and scholar, John believed that theory and practice were inextricably linked. With his faith in humanity’s capacity for self-governance, he encouraged the education of individuals so that all might participate in a healthy democracy. He referred to this praxis frequently in his work and writings.

“Throughout the years when the Green Party needed someone to move it forward, whether as a convener, candidate, or leader, John was the one who seemed to find a way,” said Greg Gerritt, former Maine Green and current member of the Green Party of Rhode Island. “With his passing, I am turning to his 1996 US Senate campaign slogan ‘Think Rensenbrink’ as the embodiment of his approach to politics as both personal and thoughtful policy. John leaves
behind a political movement that embraces the maxim: Don’t Mourn—Organize.”

Rest in peace, John Rensenbrink. 1928-2022.