Our friend and colleague Mark sadly died last month. Here, some of his colleagues remember him. Please feel free to add your thoughts by commenting at the bottom of this page.
I've sat at a few different desks at Greenpeace over the years, but right now I'm back at the desk I used to sit at when Mark was my boss on the toxics campaign. He used to sit opposite me, and I can see him now, hunched over the profusion of reports, documents, emails and folders that used to litter his desk, half-moon spectacles hanging on the end of his nose, cup of tea balancing precariously on the edge of his desk. I seem to remember that Mark's desk lamp was often on – testimony perhaps to the fact that Mark often worked late, later than most of us, ploughing through the vast volume of work that he always seemed to have on. Mark Strutt. Scourge of the toxics industry.
Mark was pretty much my first boss at Greenpeace and I have him to thank for having to spend three weeks travelling across the UK vacuuming peoples homes to collect house dust, later to be analysed for the presence of toxic chemicals from consumer goods. But as I travelled around the country bemoaning an increasingly uncomfortable backache, Mark was on the phone pitching the house dust sampling idea to journalists, who loved it. The research and its subsequent media coverage marked the start of our campaign for improved chemicals legislation in Europe.
Mark was a good campaigner. Old school, he liked to use the tools he knew to work and this made for solid, effective campaigns. Mark had the ability to break down dry and technical problems into engaging and positive new concepts. It was Mark who first developed the idea of applying a mandatory substitution principle to the REACH chemicals legislation in Europe – a new and easy to communicate top-line that re-energised the international campaign on this issue.
Mark's persistence always impressed me. Not just in the way he was always determined to see campaigns won or finished properly, but in his staying power at Greenpeace. One of our older campaigners, Mark was still sat at his desk with his lamp on long after many others had moved on to more lucrative employment.
My enduring memory of Mark will be of the night we missed our train from Brussels back to London. We’d been at a three day toxics campaign planning meeting – an act of not inconsiderable endurance – and were both desperate to get home, me to my partner, Mark to his wife and children. Spotting that we were late, we bounded off the Metro at Brussels Midi station, ran up flights of stairs, across concourses, more stairs and arrived in time to be told to go away by helpful Eurostar staff. After a few minutes of standing over double while we caught our breath and stopped sweating, we mopped off in silence to the delights of an Ibis hotel next to the station.
But later, sat in the curry house next door with a couple of beers, we had the nicest evening, talking about music, politics and places we’d travelled. I'll remember Mark for that night. The gentle, fun and passionate man, as much a friend as he was ever my boss.
Olly Knowles
"It must be easier to turn climbers into campaigners than to turn campaigners into climbers," I remember Mark telling me after a day practising rope work up the side of the warehouse. But, despite his fear of heights, he went on to combine climbing and campaigning with spectacular success: leading the fight to stop a new generation of incinerators.
Always calm and cheerful, Mark will be remembered for both his kindness and his tenaciousness in the many campaigns he fought and won. Somehow, he managed to keep his dedication to his work without losing sight of the importance of other aspects of his life: his love for his family, of whom he spoke often; his passion for music; and his appreciation of the simple pleasures of life.
I worked with Mark for seven years and he never failed to be full of enthusiasm, compassion and kindness to others. He made things happen when he believed them to be important: the incinerator campaign; the toxic toys campaign; improvements to Greenpeace’s own policies on dealing with waste and buying products (woe betide anyone caught using PVC!). In doing so, he not only achieved much to make the world a better place, but also gently persuaded many others of the rightness of his cause.
We will all miss him, but when we think of him we will also remember the many things he taught us about life.
Helen Wallace
I first worked with Mark in 1997 during a Toxic Toys campaign push that ended up with 'angry parents' outside the Japanese Embassy in Green Park. The angry parents all happened to have worked with Mark at some stage but that kind of triviality never stopped Mark from being realistic and driven with his approach to direct action. He was the perfect campaigner for an Action Unit to work with. He was adamant about having a campaigner at the pinch point of any action and was superb in the occupation at the top of both Sheffield and South East London Incinerators. Mark was always calm, understanding and very easy to approach even when we strongly disagreed over GPUK owning a Landrover!! I will miss him greatly.
Frank Hewetson
Mark had an unusual touch. Whilst he was driven by the same passion which motivates us all as individuals at Greenpeace, there was a gentleness to him, a light touch, which, when united with his underlying determination, made him a fantastic campaigner and a genuinely lovely guy. He cared about people and he cared about nature - never was this more apparent to me than when we worked together on the incineration campaign and came into contact with communities living in the shadow of the toxic chimneys. He particularly cared about his family and often told stories of his kids' latest antics. He was easy-going, yet he knew exactly what he wanted. He was never afraid to rock the boat with his opinions, but he achieved this in the most gently, obstinate way. I'll miss him being around, I already do.
Sarah North
