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Contact: Don Rittner, 518 374 1088 or drittner@aol.com


Earth Day Founder to Speak at Preservation Conference


TROY, NY: John McConnell, the 85 year old son of an Evangelical minister,
who went on to create Earth Day in 1970 will open up the first annual
Capital District Preservation Conference on September 22, 2000, being held
in Troy, New York.

McConnell will talk briefly about the role of Earth Day in celebrating all
forms of preservation and will participate on the environmental panel, one
of five panels that will look at preservation issues that deal with
environment, archeology, historic preservation, legal, and planning in the
Capital District.

McConnell recently got back from a meeting with Michail Gorbachev who signed
McConnell's Earth Day Proclamation on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2000.

In the global Earth Day Proclamation the name of Gorbachev is joined by
United Nations Secretary General U Thant,  Anthropologist Margart Mead,
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Yasir Arafat and Yehudi Menuhin, among other notable
figures.

This is the highlight of a thirty year effort by Mr. McConnell for a
worldview that will promote "peace, justice and the care of Earth.

The Capital District Preservation Conference is being sponsored by the
Capital District Preservation Task Force and will be held at the
Northeastern Science Foundation at 15 Third Street, Troy.


BACKGROUNDER

Earth Day Questions answered by John McConnell

Question 1-- You are the one who first came up with the idea and name for
Earth Day. Could you tell us what inspired you, and what that first Earth
Day (March 20, 1970) in San Francisco was like?

Answer  I have had a sense of mission since my early youth.  The way I
thought and the experiences I had all led, step by step, to my vision of
Earth Day  a global holiday for the whole planet.

My father, who was an evangelist, made me think about why we are here and
where are we going?  It seems to me my whole life has been a search to learn
what life is all about.  I sought help from scientists and scholars and read
great books to find answers.

In 1939 a chemist and I formed a research laboratory in Los Angeles.  His
name was Albert Nobell.  George Pepperdine funded our effort.  Our work
there brought me in touch with scientists at Cal Tech and resulted in
dialogue with them about Space exploration and the search for peaceful uses
of atomic energy.  In 1958 I attended the Atoms for Peace Conference in
Geneva where my proposal for a visible Star of  Hope Satellite attracted
attention and support.

We ended the 30 day period of mourning for President Kennedy on December 22,
1963 with a global "Minute for Peace."  My proposal for this resulted in
global front page publicity and broadcast of the minute I produced and was
carried by radio and TV networks.  In 1965 United Nations Secretary-General
U Thant provided a global Minute for Peace which was followed by a Minute
for Peace series I produced.

It was while working on Minute for Peace that I came up with the idea of
Earth Day.  Holidays around the world brought people together for partisan
purposes.  Why not a great global holiday in support of our common desire
for "peace, justice and the care of Earth"?

San Francisco

In 1969 I persuaded the city of San Francisco, who had supported Minute for
Peace, to proclaim March 21, 1970 as Earth Day.  The support that followed
included participation by business, schools, churches, the Red Cross,
Chamber of Commerce and a proclamation from the Mayor.  Other cities joined
in observing the day.  The University of California in Berkeley and at Davis
had outstanding participation.  Streets were closed and there was music,
speeches and booths with environmental solutions.  In Davis the campus had a
Street of Spring, Street of Crafts, Street of Mysteries and there was a 12
hour Vigil of Creation.  In San Francisco at Golden Gate Park they had a
Tree Planting Ceremony and their nursery provided plants which the Red Cross
station wagons took to schools throughout the area for children to plant.
Earth Day was featured in the papers and on radio and TV

Question 2-- Now, soon after that you moved to the East Coast and started
efforts to make Earth Day an International Holiday. Margaret Mead and
others worked with you and supported your efforts. Could you describe what
the scene was like at that  time, in  NY, and all the people  involved with
you 
back then? 

Our big Earth Day in New York was the next year.  The 1971 Earth Day in New
York had the backing of United Nations Secretary General U Thant.  He felt
Earth Day could become a vital global holiday that would benefit people and
planet.  My conversations with Margaret Mead and United Nations Ambassadors
in 1970 resulted in participation worldwide.  The International Earth Day
Proclamation I had written after San Francisco was signed by U Thant and
other world leaders.  Issued as a United Nations Release it helped bring
global attention.  

The 1971 Earth Day in New York brought over 50,000 people to Central Park
and the Ringing of the United Nations Peace Bell at the moment Spring began
obtained global attention.  It was featured in the New York Times with a
front page foto and story.

In 1972 the United Nations celebration of Earth Day included the first 12
hour special on national television.  The centerpiece of this remarkable
event was the ringing of the Peace Bell by Secretary General Waldheim and
included panels of world experts from around the world discussing the
growing environmental crisis and what should be done.  This was interspersed
with music which included Pete Seeger and Odeta.

Earth Day observance has continued each year at the United Nations.  It
played a key role in conflict resolution and efforts for the care of Earth.

See Earth Day: Past, Present, Future - www.earthsite.org.