[GreenYes] Fwd: Rick Best Obituary

[Gary Liss <gary@garyliss.com>]

From Sacramento Bee today:
http://sacbee.com/content/news/obituaries/story/5610737p-6587287c.html

Obituary: Rejoicing in life or recycling, Rick Best did it with vigor
By Ted Bell -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Monday, December 16, 2002

Rick Best, a force in legislative campaigns to support recycling and other 
environmental issues, and the axle of one of the Capitol's more eclectic 
social circles, has died at the age of 32.

Mr. Best had pneumonia, one of the complications he suffered following a 
July traffic accident. He died Wednesday at Sutter General Hospital.

A paraplegic since birth, Mr. Best led a fast-paced life, fast enough to 
leave many others panting to keep up, friends and family members said Friday.

He had been policy director of Californians Against Waste, an organizer and 
president of the national Grass Roots Recycling Network and legislative 
adviser to Fred Keeley when Keeley was speaker pro tem of the state Assembly.

Mr. Best was also an avid skier, wheelchair racer and community activist. 
He was a frequent competitor in the Eppie's Great Race and headed the board 
of directors of the Chalk It Up to Sacramento festival, the chalk art 
festival held every Labor Day in Sacramento's Fremont Park.

He was a gleeful and unapologetic baseball fanatic who would speed off on 
cross-country trips, stopping at every city with a major league team.

The combination of his diverse interests and what friends say was a 
remarkable talent for organizing and leadership helped establish a vibrant 
circle of friends.

"He had an incredible network of friends," said Mark Murray, executive 
director of Californians Against Waste. "He was a master organizer of 
anything from the annual waffle festival held in his home to national 
recycling alliances."

"He was very outgoing, but had an inner peace that was remarkable," said 
his brother Chris. "Growing up, the world didn't seem quite ready for him, 
but when his peers matured, he really blossomed."

Mr. Best was born in Thousand Oaks, the son of an aerospace engineer and a 
homemaker. His father, Skip Best, said his son attended mainstream schools 
all his life, often the first seriously disabled person to attend them.

"He did everything his brothers did, pretty much," his father said. "He 
didn't do it the same way, but he did it."

Mr. Best earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from 
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. His interest in 
waste reduction and recycling issues began when he chaired the campus 
recycling coalition.

"Initially, he was going to design different things for the handicapped, 
but then he decided that was too narrow. ... He wanted to tackle the whole 
environment," Skip Best said.

Mr. Best came to Sacramento as an intern for Californians Against Waste, 
and within a decade developed a reputation as one of the state's leading 
experts and lobbyists for recycling projects and legislation.

"He was wonderfully talented," said Keeley, for whom Mr. Best went to work 
as environmental director in 2001. "He knew the subject very, very well. He 
had a voracious appetite for details. People knew immediately that when he 
spoke to them about something, he really knew what he was talking about."

In 2000, Mr. Best was named Recycler of the Year by the California Resource 
Recovery Association.

He is survived by his parents, Skip and Barb Best of Thousand Oaks, and his 
brothers, Phil of England, Tim of Santa Cruz, Dave, of Arcata, and Chris of 
Leucadia.

A celebration of Mr. Best's life will be held at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the 
Central Library Galleria, 828 I St [Sacramento].
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The Bee's Ted Bell can be reached at (916) 321-1071 or tbell@sacbee.com.
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Copyright © The Sacramento Bee / ver. 4

Gary Liss
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485

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