Remembrances of Daniel Hirsch

Letters and notes submitted by friends. If you have a written remembrance of Dan, please send it to us and we can publish it here.

Barbara Boxer • Bill Allayaud • Beyond Nuclear • Bonnie Raitt • Charlie Openchoski • Dawn Kowalski • Denise Duffield (PSR-LA) • Eric Estrin • Helen Caldicott • Jack Miles • Jeni Knack • Jodie Evans • Jody Kleinman • Joel Reynolds • Jonathan Jacoby • Kathleen Caine • Larry Agran • Larry Yee • Lewis Finfer • Melissa Bumstead • Nancy Stephens • Nick Allardice • Piero Ferrucci • Rick Moran • Ron Pomerantz • Sr. Veronique Geeroms • Steven Aftergood • Stuart Turnansky • Pauline Saxon and Susan Clark • The Guacamole Fund • Tyrone Tyborn • William Craven

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan helped me understand the absolute imperative of protecting my constituents from harmful radiation. Because of his knowledge and passion we learned of dangers surrounding nuclear plants near earthquake faults and made sure dangerous operations were shut down.

-Barbara Boxer, former United States Senator

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

As head of Sierra Club California and the Environmental Working Group’s lobbying in Sacramento, I worked with Dan on several issues over the last 25 years or so. I found Dan’s insightfulness and thoroughness to be super helpful in our work together. Not everyone can go between academia, grassroots activity, and legislative advocacy and pull it off. Dan could.

I also knew Dan in my role as an occasional lecturer in his environmental studies courses at UC Santa Cruz. I was a UCSC environmental studies major back in the day, so had a feel for what the university is about in that regard. Here is what I observed from being in Dan’s classroom and also hanging out with some of his more advanced students after class: Dan was not just inspirational for these young adults who want to work for change — he focused on how politicians and governmental agencies work and how to influence them — in detail. I am sure that many, many of his ex-students look back on his classes as professionals today and are grateful for his mentorship and detailed teaching.

His legacy will live on.

-Bill Allayaud

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

…Around two decades ago, Dan stopped a nuclear power industry spokesman dead in his tracks — not for the first time. On an NPR interview about energy and environment, focused on nuclear power, the industry spokesman kept bringing up climate protection. At one point, Dan said “I actually care about the climate,” which stopped the industry spokesman from disingenuously bringing it up again.

-Beyond Nuclear, from Dan Hirsch, Presente! at beyondnuclear.org, read the full version here.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

To my friends at CBG and Dan’s family,

I was so saddened to hear of Dan’s passing. What an extraordinary man and activist hero. I feel honored and very grateful to have known and worked with him all these years. He will always remain dear in our hearts.

I send my sincere condolences to you all and know we will keep his legacy going, continuing to fight for safe energy and a green, peaceful and just world.

With blessings and light,

Bonnie Raitt

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan was a fierce advocate for the truth and science, and worked tirelessly to expose what was not true. His curiosity and persistence gave him a grasp of knowledge that was vast and deep and always expanding. He pushed hard to open doors and pushed harder to keep them open in the face of ignorance and inertia. Dan was the passionate voice for so many, a dedicated leader who always tried to move the ball forward. I feel very fortunate that I was able to spend some time with Dan, he was truly one-of-a-kind.

-Charlie Openchoski

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I think everyone knows how much Dan meant to us Simi girls
He was our mentor and dear dear friend
I am so sorry he suffered
He was a bright light in my life and I loved visiting him in Santa Cruz
He spent his life trying to better the planet❤️

-Dawn Kowalski, Co-founder of the Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

In Memory of Dan Hirsch

PSR-LA mourns the loss of Dan Hirsch, President of the Committee to Bridge the Gap (CBG) and retired Director of the Program on Environmental and Nuclear Policy at UC Santa Cruz.

Dan has been a close ally and friend to PSR-LA since its founding over 45 years ago. In 1979, he and his students discovered a partial nuclear meltdown at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) in the Simi Hills and brought it to the attention of PSR-LA and the public. In 1989, PSR-LA joined CBG and community members living near SSFL to co-found the Rocketdyne Cleanup Coalition (RCC). RCC was PSR-LA’s first pairing of physicians and impacted community members.

Together, we worked to stop the relicensing of SSFL’s “Hot Lab” and all nuclear activities at the site, believed to be the first community-based shutdown of a DOE nuclear facility in the country. We conducted independent epidemiological studies on the health impacts of SSFL contaminants on workers and the off-site population, and secured historic cleanup agreements. We also worked with environmental justice communities to prevent SSFL’s radiologically contaminated debris from being sent to sites that aren’t licensed for low-level radioactive waste.

Dan routinely exposed the wrongdoing of the nuclear industry and the agencies and politicians it has captured, and worked to ensure that perpetrators of environmental and public health crimes were held accountable. Time and again, he provided in-depth technical analysis of SSFL contamination studies conducted by polluters or government agencies, revealing sleights of hand meant to hide risks and weaken cleanup efforts. Notably, PSR-LA collaborated with Dan to expose Boeing’s greenwashing plans for SSFL and to draw attention to the fact that, despite agency denials, the Woolsey Fire originated from the contaminated nuclear facility, thereby increasing public exposure to SSFL contamination.

Dan also worked to address safety issues at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, and CBG produced a report about damaged steam generator tubes at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station that helped lead to its temporary and then permanent closure. Dan and CBG also worked to address radiological contamination issues at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. Dan was a strong advocate for more protective EPA and NRC radiation standards, delivering powerful remarks on the proposed weakening of standards in the nuclear executive order just days before his death.

These are just a few of Dan’s many accomplishments, yet his legacy may best be represented by so many good people whom he brought together and the knowledge and skills he taught others who will carry on the good fight. Community members like Melissa Bumstead and Jeni Knack, who cofounded Parents vs SSF,L have become powerful cleanup advocates, learning tremendously from Dan and CBG. Many of Dan’s former students have become leaders in nuclear disarmament and environmental policy issues, including Mikey Rincon, who now serves as PSR-LA’s Research and Policy Manager.

PSR-LA will miss Dan dearly, but we celebrate his life and are proud and grateful for the work we did together.

-Denise Duffield, Associate Director at Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

…Then, I learned about something I want to share. It’s about the untimely passing of Dan Hirsch, a man who did as much as anyone to advocate for environmental safety in America, particularly in the area surrounding Los Angeles County’s Santa Susana Field Lab, which happens to be a few miles from my house across the Simi Hills.

Now, I don’t expect to be writing too many obits in this space, and I sure don’t know enough about environmental policy to tackle nuclear cleanup and regulation on an ongoing basis. But you’ve gotta start somewhere, right? And I didn’t want Dan Hirsch’s passing to go unnoticed.

…

Over the years, he became the go-to source for those seeking information on the safety of U.S. nuclear programs and an effective activist when he saw corners being cut. He testified countless times before Congress, helped influence nuclear waste policy, and mentored young activists around the nation.

For me, one example hits home: Boeing was still refusing to sign the landmark agreement and whining about its expense when Dan came to my neighborhood to rouse community support. He was soft-spoken and serious, but brimming with a kind of righteous fervor you might see from a campus religious leader. He never seemed to get too worked up – at least not until someone proposed that the high school students in attendance could mount a publicity campaign, holding a bake sale for Boeing to help the beleaguered company meet its civic and environmental responsibility. That was the first time I ever saw Dan smile with excitement.

…

And we all remember what Dan modeled for us. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you keep fighting.

-Eric Estrin, excerpt from Editor’s Note. Read the full version here.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan Hirsch was a noble man who in some ways lived the life that Jesus lived

He was highly intelligent, and dedicated his life with a passion to helping the general population and politicians in the US to understand and to avoid the genetic and carcinogenic dangers posed by radioactive isotopes produced in nuclear reactors.

Very importantly he worked to educate the residents occupying the mess that the Department of Energy, Rocketdyne, and NASA had created around the Santa Susana Field Laboratory which had experienced two meltdowns that released radioactive elements which contaminated the surrounding land, yet people were unknowingly allowed to build and occupy dwellings within that contaminated land inducing a high incident of cancers particularly among children – a crime indeed.

He also participated in many forums around the nation taking on the nuclear industry and its consistent lying and, shall I say evil deeds and he was so bright and well informed that they had no hope in opposing him.

He lived a very quiet and dedicated life and was very close to Dr Richard Saxon, a wonderful medic, and his wife Pauline.

The planet cannot afford to lose such people – few and far between in the general population.
We will miss him enormously.

-Helen Caldicott, physician, author, and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan Hirsch told me years ago that as he left high school headed for Harvard, he foresaw a career for himself like that of Daniel Patrick Moynihan: Dapper Dan, Harvard AB, summa cum laude, headed for a White House internship or the like. But Harvard changed him radically, perhaps partly because during his Harvard years the Harvard professor most in the news was not Pat Moynihan but Henry Kissinger.

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer,” Thoreau famously wrote. Dan ended up marching to the beat of a very different drum, but he heard, simultaneously and always, the beat of the general drum. That’s what made him to the end the politician he started out to be as president of his high school graduating class.
He knew who he was. He also knew who they were.

CBG staff have built Dan’s last public act, his testimony against Executive Order 194300, relaxing radiation safety standards, into a cover story for Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Excellent work, and work like this is going to be needed more than ever in the years immediately ahead. AI is ravenous for water and energy, and the big money competing to rule the AI world now looks to generate its own energy in all available ways, including the reckless construction of new nuclear power plants.

W.B. Yeats wrote, “The intellect of man must choose / Perfection of the life or of the work.” Each of us will choose where to draw the line between those two perfections. One does not follow the guidance of a lighthouse by becoming a lighthouse, yet without that guidance where would we end up? Dan is gone now. Let us sail on, still navigating by his light.

-Jack Miles

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

In my lifetime so far, I have met very few truly brave humans. I have met even fewer who have used that bravery to stand up for others, and fewer still that have chosen to dedicate their entire lives to using that courage to oppose governmental and corporate corruption. He is the only person I’ve ever met that clearly was trying to save the world.

The first time I met Dan in person was at a public meeting held by NASA. PASSFL had joined numerous online meetings with CBG and had repeated discussions on the many issues that were unfolding in NASA’s recently released SEIS document, and I was nervous. I had never been to a meeting held for the collection of public comments before, and my stomach was in knots. We met outside by our vehicles, and discussed the plan of action. I will never forget, upon entering the conference room, when Dan turned to me and directed me to go engage with the NASA contractors who were tending to their assigned posters which illustrated the decisions made in the document. He looked me directly in the eye, leaned towards me and instructed, “now go get ‘em.”

I shook.

Go get ’em?! Me?!?? What in the world was I supposed to do? I escaped to the bathroom and wanted to return to the car and leave. I gulped down massive pulls from my water bottle. I returned to the conference room and passed by several posters. I was terrified. I tried to read through a poster, but I couldn’t absorb the words, my nerves made me scan too quickly, and I kept walking. And I probably walked by a few more, my anxiety keeping me in the “flight” mode, instead of the “fight” mode. Until I saw it. A poster entitled “HEALTH AND SAFETY” had an emboldened first sentence; “The SEIS found no discernible differences to health and safety across the action alternatives” Then poster went on to claim “no exposure from contamination to offsite communities under any of the action alternatives”. There it was in print. The bold faced lies from a federal agency. I was hooked. The veil had been lifted. And I found my voice. I continued to eagerly learn all I could from Dan every chance I got.

I wish I had gotten to know Dan outside of the work, to better understand him as a person, I suppose I thought there would be more time… and we were always so busy with some looming deadline…to hear of him passing, all I could think was I didn’t return his last phone call, and I lost a true opportunity, because it is no exaggeration to note that I learned something every single time I spoke with Dan.

The first conversation I had with Dan was well over an hour long. I paced the kitchen and listened as he explained many details about the Santa Susana Field Lab’s contamination, groundwater impacts and exposure pathways. He answered every single question I had. I took pages and pages of notes. His generosity with his time- to educate yet another community member- is astounding in retrospect. I can only imagine how many people have had that same experience…seeking answers, guidance, data; having the chance to learn from someone so with such enormous expertise, and him selflessly taking the time to educate, inform and hopefully, inspire to action.

I imagine I am not the only one who experienced awe and inspiration when meeting with Dan. His laser focus and attention to detail, the seriousness with which he applied himself to his work, the expanse of his intellect…there were many zoom meetings with his staff, with whom he allowed Parents Against SSFL to sit in on for a few years, that left me pondering the research questions he had posed. Compelling questions, fascinating in scope and sometimes incredibly imaginative -many topics I still think about from time to time…his mind and curiosity made him a person that one wanted to learn from.

The standard to which he held himself was frankly unachievable for many of us mere mortals. Not simply because of his formidable intellect, but because of his discipline. His work ethic, what he demanded of himself, was exhausting to even watch, much less emulate.

I wish I could thank him one more time. It feels strange to desire to thank someone for how they lived, but he is deserving of the gratitude, because he led his life in the service of humanity. I am so grateful for the service he provided the communities surrounding the SSFL. Without the work of the CBG which he led so fearlessly, we wouldn’t even have the understanding of why so many of our children and neighbors are sick. And I wouldn’t know how to navigate the world of advocacy. Dan introduced me to an entire world that was previously unknown to me, and his mentorship meant more to me than he could possibly have imagined.

I loved Dan.

He wasn’t a person that I could say that to. Because it wasn’t appropriate or professional. But I so deeply admired and appreciated him, and he represented the type of human being that makes our world more just. He was the kind of human I aspired to be more like- in the small ways I am able. He fought for us, and for that, I love him. I love him for helping me find my voice. I love him for making me want to be a better human. I love him for not giving up on our community, even when he felt we were losing. He didn’t turn away just because the fight was essentially unwinnable. He fought until the end.

He told me once, in a meeting, that I was powerful. It was one of the most treasured compliments I have ever received, because it worked. He made me believe in my own ability to create change, and my life has been forever changed by his inspired leadership.

I continue to think about Dan, and to take lessons from his example. Dan’s passing has affected me differently than the loss of others, it has pulled me time and again into deep reflection. He is not a person that passes and is then forgotten. He was a giant of a human, and the impact of his life and legacy will be long lasting. I feel deeply lucky to have learned from him.

I hope that we all can take what we learned from Dan, and share it, live it, and treasure it; because our time with him was one of life’s precious gifts.

I love you Dan, and will be forever grateful for the life you chose to live.

-Jeni Knack

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan Hirsch graced my life in many ways for the last 45 years. I first met him in the freeze movement here in LA. As a feminist, socialist and peace activist our lives crossed in so many ways. My boss in the early 80’s Jerry Brown loved to talk to him, and Dan could hold his own to Jerry’s thousands of questions. Jerry came back because he always learned something and could trust what he learned. During the years I was on the board of Americans for A Safe Future working to stop the nuclear dump site on the Colorado River he was our light and the built the tools we needed to beat those with the money but no morals or care and respect for life; that of the planet or the people, or much less a future. Many can talk about the wonders of Dan, but I was most affected by the values he lived his life from that allowed him all that focus and depth. he was a rare being in this world, he walked his talk. He lived his values, and therefore had so much power in a room before he even opened his mouth to wow everyone. But as an activist he was priceless in how he could support what we were doing in the streets or in our strategic meetings with his brilliance, his research, his talking points, his always yes to showing up and teaching the community. In a world where people have forgotten the costs of wars, inequality and racism he lived his life committed to affecting the world around him for all those issues. I know I am who I am today because of his influence in being a tuning fork of truth, speaking from depth and never backing down. My life was blessed by knowing and working with him.
Dan Hirsch Presente!

-Jodie Evans, Cofounder, CODEPINK: Women for Peace

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan was a genuine hero in all the environmental issues he felt so strongly needed to be studied, and brought to the attention of the public.

He became my personal hero when remembering him from the high school we had both attended in Los Angeles, I reached out to him as a source for advice about the oil wells that pumped at Beverly Hills High School.

He helped me selflessly and was always there for me as I navigated trying to close the industrial sites at the high school. And he was proud of me and continued to encourage me for many years. When I was asked to testify at a state senate hearing he met with me in LA to go over my speech. He spent hours with me fine tuning what I was going to say. As he put it, you need a sound bite for the news and you still don’t have one yet and sure enough he found it for me and it was on the local news.

What an incredible human being Dan was. When he thought he could help on a number of different environmental issues he never refused. I am truly grateful for his support and he was always available to steer me in the right direction. And when the oil well was shut years later he took the time to email me a note of congratulations. He always made my efforts feel worthwhile, no matter how small my successes were.

Dan was a wonderful inspiration who kept me going during my biggest defeats. I will always think of him as the champion he was for me and so many other people. I greatly admired Dan for trying to save our earth for future generations. Indeed he will be profoundly missed for his unerring integrity and willingness to step up, educate us and continue on behalf of all of us.

-Jody Kleinman

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

It’s very hard in just a few words to capture Dan Hirsch: Brilliant and strategic and fearless, single-minded and serious, relentlessly committed to a better, peaceful, nuclear energy-free world. That we haven’t gotten there yet is no fault of his – far from it — but it pained him deeply. He had a comprehensive knowledge of the issues, the numbers, the risks, and the fatal flaws at the heart of the nuclear power industry since its inception. Given all this, he understood that compromise on nuclear energy is an oxymoron.

Dan was kind, generous, honest, and indefatigable, and his efforts over decades on behalf of others never ceased. Time and again communities sought his aid and advice, and when he could, he gave it, as he did to me. He was the smartest person in whatever hearing room he was in, and over the years he was in too many to count. I never doubted his ability to answer any question of substance in any meeting we attended — ever.

For me, Dan was a mentor and friend from the early 1980’s when I was a young lawyer with the Center for Law in the Public Interest, immersed in fighting Diablo Canyon. He’d already discovered and begun his successful fight to shut down the nuclear reactor in Boelter Hall at UCLA. A decade later we worked together to stop the Ward Valley low level radioactive dumpsite that threatened to contaminate the Colorado River, and, in 2004, we sued and won to prevent a superficial cleanup of the infamous Santa Susana Field Lab site – a battle that, to Dan’s frustration, disbelief, and dismay, continues today.

We all understand that the current state of the world, in so many ways, isn’t what we’ve hoped and worked to achieve, with a federal government ruled by resentment, cruelty, chaos , and a contempt for the United States Constitution. And in what turned out to be my final conversations with Dan, he expressed clearly his own disappointment.

But here’s the essential message for all of us: To his final days, through fires, floods, illness, and political upheaval, he kept fighting, and that is his charge. All of us need to stand up, speak out, and be heard in the struggle for a healthy, humane planet. It’s a battle we have to win.

I’ll always remember, and be grateful that I knew, Dan Hirsch. He was the conscience of the movement for nuclear sanity. He can never be replaced, but he will never be forgotten.

-Joel Reynolds
Natural Resources Defense Council

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

In Jewish tradition, a righteous person is described as someone who “walks uprightly, acts justly, and speaks truth in his heart.”

Dan Hirsch was a righteous person.

Dan was a dear friend. He was also a teacher who taught me justice, a mentor who modeled truth, and a political sensei who insisted that I maintain a posture of integrity in my political pursuits.

Even though I haven’t seen Dan in over 40 years, he has been with me throughout my political and personal journey. And he will continue to be with me as that journey continues to unfold in these complex and challenging times.

His memory is a blessing.

-Jonathan Jacoby, Founding Executive Director, The New Israel Fund

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I am so grateful to have met Dan and especially for the day he and his team came to the grove at UC Santa Cruz to speak to my eighth grade students about the CBG. His eloquence and obvious passion about fighting to do the right thing, no matter how hard it got, was inspirational. Whenever I get discouraged, I think about Dan and how he wouldn’t put down his sword, so to speak, and I keep going. He will be very missed.

-Kathleen Caine

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

With Dan’s passing, we have lost a truly remarkable teacher, mentor and political activist — a thoughtful, relentless anti-nuclear, pro-humanity advocate who always made himself available to share his knowledge, wisdom and strategic insights in confronting the nuclear power industry. In our decades-long struggle to shut down San Onofre (ultimately succeeding in 2013) and now to remove, repackage and relocate 3.6 million pounds of dangerously stored nuclear waste at San Onofre/Camp Pendleton, we could always count on Dan to help us think things through. If — no, when — we finally succeed in moving San Onofre’s stored nuclear waste off the beachfront bluff and into a fortified storage facility on higher ground, I’ll certainly remember Dan’s role in helping make our victory possible.

-Larry Agran, mayor of Irvine

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan Hirsch – in remembrance

Sometimes in life, providence moves, and we find ourselves in the presence of and inspired by an individual who’s both singular in person and purpose. In 2022, then serving as Chair of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, I met Dan when he testified before the Board on behalf of the citizens who were rightfully concerned about the contamination of the Santa Susana Field Lab. But not until I was removed from the Board for openly disagreeing with the secretly negotiated agreements for the cleanup, did I closely ally with Dan, CBG and others who were advocating for a full cleanup.

For over 45 years, Dan was tireless and ever diligent in championing the cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab. Like Gandhi, Dan was driven by right livelihood. He lived a life guided by principle in pursuit of alleviating suffering for those who had been harmed in this case by corporate and government inaction, irresponsibility, and malpractice. He was relentless in his search for the truth. No one could match his technical brilliance at analyzing mountains of deceptive data and misinformation produced over decades by bureaucratic ineptitude and corporate malfeasance. His analyses were meticulous and precise, and his presentations were flawless not be refuted.

Dan led a simple, quiet life. He lived in a cabin in the woods, wore flannel shirts and blue jeans, used a wood burning stove, gardened in competition with forest critters, and could often be found using a chain saw to clear debris after storms.

Unbeknownst to many, he suffered quietly from an ailment that eventually took his life. But he continued to work with unwavering determination and courage. We are forever indebted to his unflagging leadership, nurturing guidance, technical expertise, and strategic brilliance.

I will forever cherish our friendship and the time we spent together.

-Larry Yee, Former Chair of the LA Regional Water Board and retired from the University of CA

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I first met Dan when we were students at Harvard doing working against the Vietnam War and for education reform.

We stayed in touch all these years. I’ve been a community organizer all these years too so we had some things in common all these years.

In the CBG newsletter I followed Dan and his colleagues work for nuclear safety at many locations and environmental work.

Dan had a bit of the manner of an Old Testament prophet. He kept at justice work relentlessly….the words indefatigable and poignant come to mind.

But he regularly took the time to be out in nature, out in the country and he loved doing that too.

In 2022 for our 50th College Reunion, I organized one of the events called, “Activism During Harvard and Activism After Harvard”. Of course Dan could have been at either part of this, but the “Activism After Harvard” was more important and that’s where he stood and walked a path for justice.
He led a BIG life and will be missed.

Lewis Finfer
Massachusetts Action for Justice
Director and Community Organizer
Boston Desegregation and Busing Initiative Co-Chair

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan Hirsch, who devoted more than forty years to demanding a full cleanup of the Santa Susana Field Lab (SSFL), passed away on July 19, 2025.

I first met Dan in the fall of 2014, at my very first SSFL public meeting. I was there with five other local moms—each of us questioning how our children were all diagnosed with rare and aggressive cancers while living so close to each other. We came looking for answers. We wanted to know if the toxic and radioactive contamination from the SSFL could be to blame.

Dan was there. He was livid. State scientists had just told us that there was “no risk” from the site’s contamination—that any pollution leaving the SSFL from wind, rain, or wildfires—did so at levels too low to threaten human health. Dan pointed out that their own data contradicted their claim. I remember feeling intimidated at his outrage. But now, looking back with everything I’ve learned, I realize that his indignation was the only sane, moral response.

That’s the heart of Dan Hirsch’s legacy. He stood in the gap for our community—fearlessly confronting negligent agencies and powerful polluters who would rather spend millions on lawyers, lobbyists, and greenwashing than take responsibility and clean up the site.

Dan was a force of nature. He never compromised when it came to protecting our health and our children’s future. Even when it cost him time, energy, and peace, he fought on. We hope to honor him by carrying out the work he began.

-Melissa Bumstead, Founder and Co-director at Parents Against SSFL

Read Saying Goodbye to Dan Hirsch by Melissa Bumstead published in the Simi Valley Acorn

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

It is not surprising that two days before Dan’s passing, he delivered a powerful public comment contesting the new executive order radically reducing radiation safety standards. Dan was the consummate public servant with a focus on nuclear policy and public safety, as well as a focus on peace!

I got to know Dan when a number of us became very concerned about the Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump. Our fight against the Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump was very much a kitchen table effort where many of us wanted to alert the public about what the potential threats were to the main aquifer of the Colorado River and, thus, Southern California’s source of clean water.

I’m not even sure how Lyle Gregory and I got to know each other, but I was able to call up Lyle and ask if Michael Jackson could have Dan Hirsch on in the next day or so because we are dealing with a potential crisis the public knows nothing about?? I miss those days when there was such a wonderful voice for everything local in Los Angeles!

I was also on a lobbying trip with Dan when we were going to see Senator Feinstein. My memory is that we were being pawned off to a legislative assistant, and the Senator walked into the office and Dan went right up to her and said what must’ve been a few incredibly powerful sentences because she then told her Staff to hold all calls and invited us into her office, where Dan and all of us talked to her about the potential dangers with the third world unlined trenches of nuclear waste, which would inevitably contaminate the aquifer below and reach the Colorado River!

It amused me how many Staff knocked on the door and stuck their heads in, and Senator Feinstein would wave them away! It was one of the many examples of Dan being such a brilliant and persuasive advocate for keeping the public safe from nuclear contamination.

I know we will all miss Dan, but he led an inspiring life that touched us all and will continue to inspire.

-Nancy Stephens

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Earlier this year, a man I’d never met left a substantial part of his life savings to @GiveDirectly … He lived simply, gave quietly, and through his life and death made an enormous difference for those less fortunate than him.

I find his example moving and inspiring.

-Nick Allardice, CEO of GiveDirectly, on Twitter

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan

I came regularly to California to visit Laura Huxley, my aunt and Aldous Huxley’s widow, from 1968 till her death in 2007. For Laura, Dan was one of the family. I met him often and got to know him well. We have known each other and kept on meeting through the upheavals and the formidable changes of our era.

I first met Dan in the early seventies. Laura was the author of You are not the Target, a self-help book that had become a best seller a few years earlier. She would do her “recipes for living and loving” with a group of young and intelligent people. Dan was part of the group. They would meet in the Beverly Hills gardens, the ones with a fountain in the middle. She would make big use of all kinds of techniques. One was what she called “the box”. One person, the subject, would lie on the floor (in this case, the grass), and the others would hold him or her down with their hands, locking the subject’s arms legs and head. At first they would press heavily, and this would evoke the rage of the subject, who would scream and pant; then they would give in a bit, until the subject would finally erupt and be free of all the blocks. A strongly cathartic and intense exercise, useful to explode repressed anger. Imagine doing that in the Beverly Hills public gardens. What would the passers-by think? One time a police car stopped, and the policeman came out and walked towards us. Promptly Dan stepped up and went to talk with him. Laura continued without ever minding the policeman. Later Dan told us he explained what was happening, and the policeman understood. Not only did he accept the idea, but he said, maybe we policemen should try it. With no hesitation Dan invited him to the group. Well, perhaps it was not appropriate. Those were the days when such things could happen.

Around 1971 Laura organized a tour of workshops around the United States. I would also participate as co-leader. We went to Harvard University, and Dan was our kind and skillful host. I still remember that Dan spoke about “Dave”, and I later found out that it was David Riesman, author of The Lonely Crowd, a seminal book at the time. I had read it and was astonished that he would call him “Dave”. We didn’t call professors by first name in Italian universities. I was touched by the casualness, the lack of self-importance I noticed at the time.

Another time, when Dan was visiting Laura at her Hollywood house, and I was also there,
Daniel Berrigan turned up. He was a Jesuit priest, who, during the Vietnam years, would burn draft cards, lead protests and get into trouble with the police. He was fiercely protesting the war. He also happened to be a friend of Dan. I was struck by the warmth and intelligence that radiated from him. Not one of your usual protesters. At that time Dan had become a Gandhian, was living very simply, and was becoming more politicized.

Later, I became aware that an important relationship with a woman had flourished in his life. I remember visiting him with Laura. And I was moved by the beauty of his dream, of living simply, of having found the love of his life in a relationship of sharing, rigorously following high ethical principles, eating vegetarian and being close to nature. Little did we know about the future. That
dream was later shattered by illness, and Dan suffered from the loss for the rest of his life.

As the years went by, Dan kept supporting Laura, and Laura kept supporting him. She told me
that even though Dan was not a lawyer, he knew more than most lawyers did—by testimony of the lawyers themselves. He would find the tricky aspect of a contract in no time or anticipate the
unpredictable consequences of an agreement. He would instantly see what could go wrong. His
mind raced so fast I found it hard to keep up.

I also heard Dan a lecturing in a small venue on Wilshire Blvd. He made it very clear why nuclear plants are dangerous: they could be easy terrorist targets. Bomb them, and millions could die in the explosion. A great lecture. I turned, and I looked at the audience. Among them, a couple of movie stars I had seen a few days before on TV. I could see how people of all kinds loved and respected him.

One day I went to UCLA to do some research (no internet yet in those years, and no cell phones). While I was away, Laura, already quite frail, had what looked like a stroke. Dan came to look for me but did not know where I was on camus. So he went first to the research library, where I would most likely be. He searched all five floors of this big building looking for me everywhere. He went to the Powell library, the student shop, the cafés, and could not find me. At last he found me in the medical library, a rather unlikely place for me to be. That was Dan: looking for me in each single place I could possibly be, leaving no stone unturned. I felt that for him it was a way of life: through perseverance and thoroughness you reach your aim.

My last meeting was a few years ago, after Laura’s death. He was finally in good shape (his
health later degraded), and we had a walk together in Santa Monica. He apologized for having been rough with me at times: it was because it was of his illness, he said, and now he felt so much better. But he hadn’t been, I told him. We always got along very well. However, I know that at times he could become unpopular. When I remember him, I think of the Latin saying “Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas”, meaning “Truth is a dearer friend than Plato” or, interpreting, “I will tell you an unpopular truth even if it makes you uncomfortable, because truth is what I care for above all else.”

I remember him fondly: the gently ironic look that would see through you, his fierce honesty, his unwavering search for justice, his uncompromising stance: this is what I treasured in him and always will.

-Piero Ferrucci

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan’s Memorium
by his friend, Rick Moran

Dan and I got to know each other while shoveling mud for about four hours on a wet winter’s day. A landslide had blocked his road and I had said that if he ever needed help I’d be there. So we shoveled and talked, took a few breaks and talked some more. We cleared the road and became friends. He shared some of his past, pulled up a song from his phone, and told a few jokes. He listened to my tales as well.

Over the last few years we repeated that routine, clearing fallen trees, stacking wood. But the most enjoyable time was our hikes. Dan knew the Santa Cruz Mountains like the back of his hand and he showed me beautiful places I had never seen before. While some of his stories included famous people and historically significant events, it was when he talked about the El Salvadoran family, particularly Irene,that his tone shifted. He spoke like a proud father of this child he had helped raise. And he cherished stories about Tyrone and helping this young boy grow into a man. Most tenderly he talked about Wendy, the woman he loved and had shared so much joy.

Dan’s brilliant mind was matched by his physical strength. I could barely keep up with his shoveling prowess or his hiking. He pushed his body as much as he pushed his mind—an example for others to work hard. Dan’s moral clarity was a guidepost to questions I had for him.

He always sought truth over dogma. As a young man, Dan took the the Shakertown Pledge—a commitment to an ecologically sound life and to live a life of creative simplicity. That depth of character is rare.

I will miss Dan’s brilliant recall of facts and history, his power and eloquence of oratory, his compassion, his wry humor, and his walks of exploration. But mostly I will miss the neighbor up the hill who could use my help every once in a while.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

November 8, 2025

St. Dan Hirsch remembrance

Today we remember and honor dear Saintly Dan. He was brilliant in all ways with a remarkable full life which cannot be summarized in a short letter. Volumes would be needed. He worked unselfishly and nonstop on what he knew and believed to his dying day.

St. Dan sacrificed his life beyond mere mortals. At a young age he recognized he lived a privileged life. At a ripe college-age he took a vow of poverty to dedicate his life to noble causes and humanity to make the world a sustainable, healthier, and more equitable place. He could easily hang with the likes of Aldous Huxley, his wife Maria, Daniel Ellsberg, and many other renowned, respected, and important folks who made an impact for good. He worked tirelessly to end the war in Viet Nam. He organized and sustained the Committee to Bridge the Gap because he knew organizing and activism were essential to correct the wrongs of greedy corporations, fat cats, and political lackeys. Working on a lifelong, never-ending quest of many little known or unpopular issues along with nationally recognized controversies. Look at his lifelong record to stop the development of nuclear power and weapons. A many decades long effort to Clean up the Santa Susana Field Lab area where there was nuclear waste as well as hazardous waste from rocket testing. He dedicated decades to cleaning up Hunter’s Point in San Francisco of radioactive contamination from the ships that were exposed to aboveground nuclear bomb testing. I’d nominate him for Sainthood as his work and sacrifice was comparable to Mother Teresa and affecting many 10’s of thousands of people directly and indirectly. But Popes weren’t his favorite people that he’d like to be recognized by. A MacArthur Fellows Program Genius Grant would have been more fitting and well deserved. Humility and humbleness were his traits. Public recognition, and awards made him recoil. He dedicated himself to education, activism, and passing his torch through his interns and by example. No job was beneath him even cleaning up goat excrement at the Quaker Center. Sadly, this work eventually cost him quality of life as well as his life from contracting Q-fever.

What kept St. Dan going when an issue seemed lost and futile? Shear willpower and determination even when he had his doubts of success. He knew what was in front of him was essential and needed sustained activism. Undeterred he’d put one foot in front of the other to keep going, even at the end of his life when pain racked his body.

I was so fortunate to be in the presence of St. Dan’s brilliance, humanity, and activism. To learn about his rational and detailed research and study, armed with data and knowing the rules of the system. Through gentle strength and the power of information, St. Dan made the power brokers and decision makers listen and act.

On a personal note, Dan had a big heart and was empathetic to a fault. He was always concerned about my family’s activities and health. He always wanted to help however he could. We enjoyed hiking together all around his mountain. Also memorable was working together trying to figure out how to get his water system functioning, making sure there was adequate fire clearance around his house, getting the sink to drain, and other important mundane tasks around his house was a side of St. Dan that was heartfelt and down to earth.

St. Dan is impossible to replace. Truly one in a million. Many folks will need to step up to pick up where he left off. Fortunately, this is in part the case and his life’s work will carry on through the Committee to Bridge the Gap along with his spoken and written documents. We all carry on St. Dan’s legacy and must continue to do so.

All my love my brother St. Dan. Rest in Peace for your life’s dedication to humanity and the planet.

-Ron Pomerantz

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Dan has come to Redwoods Monastery for more than 30 years. We have been always impressed by his integrity, his intelligence and his selfless commitment for peace, and his honesty towards the ‘other’. His faithful friendship remains with us as a witness of hope and commitment to our planet and to humanity. We honor him for who he was and what he gave to so many people.

-Sr. Veronique Geeroms

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Remembering Dan Hirsch
By Steven Aftergood

Dan Hirsch was, among other things, a serious reader of books. His purpose in reading, especially during his younger years, was not scholarship but rather a search for inspiration, consolation, and lessons that he could apply in his own struggles.

I was a bit of a reader myself, but it was not until I came to Committee to Bridge the Gap in the early 1980s and scrutinized Dan’s bookshelf that I discovered works such as Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Paulo Freire), No Bars to Manhood (Daniel Berrigan), Neither Victims Nor Executioners (Camus), and This Timeless Moment (Laura Archera Huxley). Each presented a perspective that was altogether new and surprising to me.

From his reading – which also extended to Gandhi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Martin Buber, Thomas Merton and Saul Alinsky — Dan derived some kind of synthesis that as far as I know was uniquely his. The marginal notes in his old paperbacks – the ideas that he endorsed, rejected or revised — could almost serve as a first draft of his intellectual biography. The outcome was a framework for a deeply considered way of living that he would follow faithfully for decades to come.

Hovering in the background, I was an indirect beneficiary of his studies. My undergraduate education was already behind me, but I still had a lot to learn.

There is a remark by Thoreau which is apparently fairly well known but that was unfamiliar to me until I heard it from Dan: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.”

It is a notion that captures the spirit of the Committee to Bridge the Gap in the 1980s. Dan encouraged us to imagine hopeful new realities that may have seemed out of reach – such as healthy communities made up of compassionate individuals, nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution, clean environments, justice and friendship for minorities, immigrants, the disadvantaged – and then to do the painstaking work needed to bring them into being.

Under Dan’s leadership, we were called upon to do all kinds of things we had never tried before. We modeled the dispersion of pollutant plumes in the atmosphere, investigated previously unreported nuclear accidents, intervened in administrative law proceedings, organized national speaking tours, did archival research, testified in congressional hearings, and more.

When the tasks exceeded our abilities or our meager credentials, Dan successfully recruited dozens of volunteer experts in diverse fields – chemists and filmmakers and physicists and attorneys — who seemed to have been waiting for just such an opportunity to fill a public interest role.

And work that might have been difficult and tedious under other circumstances instead became exhilarating because it served a purpose that was chosen by, and that helped to nurture, our better selves. Even the setbacks felt meaningful.

Over time — often a period of years — some of these efforts bore real fruit. (The 50 th anniversary issue of the CBG annual newsletter from December 2020 provides examples.)

Although it has been decades since we last spoke, I still think of Dan frequently. I hope that I have honored his teaching and his example by practicing what I and so many others learned from him.

Steven Aftergood worked at Committee to Bridge the Gap from 1981 to 1989.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

It is with the deepest sadness that I learned of the passing of my dear friend Daniel Hirsch. As I have known Dan over these past 4 decades I have been always impressed by his unyielding dedication to fight for justice, and world sustainability. His moral compass never wavered. I and the world will miss him dearly.

-Stuart Turnansky, friend

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

Our Conversation Remembering Dan

Pauline Saxon and Susan Clark

Pauline: I loved Dan, he was like another son to me and of course I admired him-he was so smart. I met him at UCLA when he was 21 and just graduated. He was slender, good-looking and kind of shy. He was the same age as one of my son’s, but they never became friends.

Susan: Yes, he loved and admired you and was always very protective of you. I think you were another mother. You and Richard introduced us in 1988 at a PSR fundraiser in your garden and Helen Cauldicott was there. At one point Dan turned to me with that direct gaze and said, “Why are you here?” “Because as a teenager at the RADA in the 60s I joined a peace march which ended in Trafalgar Square where Lord Bertram Russel was giving a fiery oration about banning the bomb. It changed my life.” Dan smiled and said, “Good” and walked on. I’d felt as if I’d passed a test but wasn’t sure what. Three years later he was our mentor for Americans for a Safe Future. When we went to hearings in Sacramento about Ward Valley, he was like a conductor, and we were the players. He either gave us our remarks or checked what we had written. He was the smartest person in the room and a force to be reckoned with.

Pauline: You know Susan, I’m 101. I don’t remember a lot of things but as you tell it, some of it is coming back.

Susan: Do you recall telling Dan, “You can’t go on tv in those jeans and a plaid shirt. Susan, you have got to take him shopping.”

Pauline: Yes, I sort of do. Oh, he must have been thrilled!

Susan: Indeed. We met at a small men’s store in Studio City. “Dan, you look like you’re going to have oral surgery!” “Worse”, he said. He politely waved off the clerk, crossed to the back, sorted through the rack, and found a brown tweed jacket. It fit. In 30 minutes, we were out the door with that jacket, two shirts, one tie, one belt, two pairs of slacks, one pair of socks and a pair of shoes. With a grin he said, “that’s done.”

Pauline: It was probably worn for the rest of his life. I remember I told him, “You’ve got this nice house in the woods but if you want to meet a nice woman and have a good relationship, you have got to get rid of those filing cabinets.”

Susan: Well, he heard you and a shed was built that housed most of those filing cabinets.

Pauline: I remember how well he took care of his mother. That was the compassionate part of Dan. He seemed to have a lot of compassion for the world but not too much for individuals.

Susan: His son, Tyrone Tyborne, wrote, “his legacy arrives as both a gift and a challenge.” I got the gift of his friendship, trust, humor-all were a lifeline to me in the early years of widowhood and later in Covid. On our many phone visits he began by saying, “How are you? Really?” And we talked about what he’d seen on his walks in the woods, our favorite Russian authors, the state of the world, good and bad, family, our health (or lack of) and the arc of our lives. He had a dry, irreverent sense of humor which made me laugh.

Pauline: Yes, he could be very funny. He got along very well with Richard and probably Alex too.

Susan: He did. We had many fundraisers here for CBG. Dan always arrived early, requested water and a quiet room. When the guests had eaten and had a visit, Alex would go and knock on the door and say, “Okay, you’re up”. He would walk into the room, nod to the group and begin talking about the latest issue of CBG. He was brilliant. After everyone had left, he relaxed, sat down, ate and told funny stories. He had no small talk unless he felt comfortable.

Pauline: I worried about Dan alone in that house near the woods and up that terrible road. Especially when he’d say he was sick. I didn’t understand what it was. I thought he might be exaggerating.

Susan: No, he was in pain most of the time and worked long hours to distract himself from it. He didn’t sleep much. One day in LA after a tough session preparing for a hearing at UCLA about the Colorado river, we went for Chinese food-his favorite. He looked exhausted. I said, “Can you give me 90 minutes?” “Oh, I’ve so much work to do.” Silence. “Ok.” We drove to Disney Hall, I had the tickets, sat down three minutes before the lights dimmed. He was mumbling, “I shouldn’t be here, I have to work.” The concert was Schumann and Mendhelsson-piano and violin. After 20 minutes his face relaxed, eyes half closed and a small smile. Neither of us spoke until the end. He just said, “thank you.”

Pauline: Oh, I never knew that. He must’ve trusted you and you knew him better than I did. I do miss him.

Susan: I miss him too and always will. I do remember all of his fantastic accomplishments but mostly I want to remember our dear friend.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

The Guacamole Fund sends their sincere condolences to the Committee to Bridge the Gap on the loss of their longtime leader, Daniel Hirsch. Our founder, Tom Campbell, worked with Dan for decades, supporting his incredible activism educating the public via music concerts, receptions and rallies. Dan’s activism was something to be admired and was inspiring to all. He was always ready to share his passion with information tables at Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Crosby, Stills & Nash concerts with his dedicated staff and volunteers over many years. We will sorely miss you, Dan, but know that your powerful legacy will live on with all the work you have done, on so many fronts, to make this world a better place.

-The Guacamole Fund

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

The Passing of a Giant by Tyrone Tyborn

Published in US Black Engineer & Information Technology

On July 19, 2025, the world lost Daniel Oren Hirsch — a man whose life was defined not by titles or accolades but by principle, conviction, and an unwavering belief in humanity. Hirsch’s passing marks more than the end of a life. It marks the closing of a chapter written by a giant who dared to think globally, act morally, and live intentionally.

Hirsch’s philanthropy was borderless. His estate is a study in global solidarity, designed with the precision of someone who believed that every dollar has a moral trajectory. Organizations like Doctors Without Borders, GiveDirectly, and the Against Malaria Foundation stand at the center of his philanthropic design.
These are not casual donations but strategic alignments. Each organization represents a fight that Hirsch considered central to humanity’s survival — the fight against disease, the fight against poverty, and the fight for life-saving humanitarian aid.

Equally significant was his commitment to nuclear disarmament and environmental protection. By supporting groups like the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Beyond Nuclear, Hirsch tied his personal legacy to the urgent global struggle against existential threats. In this way, his philanthropy speaks as loudly as his writings: the survival of humanity depends on courage, foresight, and solidarity.

Hirsch’s vision was expansive, but it was also rooted in local justice. His trust included support for Catholic Worker communities in Los Angeles and New York, Redwoods Abbey, Beatitude House, and the Nepal Youth Foundation. Each of these institutions represents the kind of grassroots commitment that Hirsch valued.

They are not large bureaucracies but intimate communities of service — feeding the hungry, sheltering the vulnerable, educating the young. By supporting them, Hirsch affirmed a timeless truth: justice is not abstract. It begins in neighborhoods, in kitchens, in shelters, and in classrooms.
This balance between the global and the local, between structural change and personal compassion, is what made Hirsch’s vision so powerful. He understood that the fight for justice must be waged everywhere, at every level.

Perhaps the most striking feature of Hirsch’s legacy is the radical clarity of his estate plan. He chose to disinherit personal heirs to prioritize humanity itself. In a culture that often treats inheritance as the final act of family loyalty, Hirsch redefined loyalty as fidelity to the human family.

This decision may challenge our assumptions, but it compels us to think differently about what it means to leave a legacy. Hirsch believed that the measure of wealth is not what remains in one’s lineage, but what reverberates through the broader community. By redirecting his assets to causes that serve millions, he expanded the very definition of family — from bloodline to humankind.

Hirsch’s life and legacy arrive as both a gift and a challenge. His generosity reminds us that resources can — and must — be instruments of justice. His planning demonstrates that philanthropy is not an afterthought but an intentional practice. His values remind us that the work of justice is never finished, only inherited by the next generation.

In our era of inequality, climate crisis, and social fragmentation, Hirsch offers us a model. He teaches that intellectuals can be activists, that estate plans can be moral declarations, and that one life, lived with integrity, can become a multiplier of hope. Hirsch’s estate plan reads less like a legal document and more like a moral blueprint — a declaration that every act of compassion is a building block for a more humane society.

Daniel Oren Hirsch is gone, but the thunder of his impact remains. His life calls us to stand taller, dream bigger, and give more boldly. That is the enduring legacy of a giant. As we honor his passing, we must also accept the responsibility he leaves us: to live with conviction, to give with intention, and to believe that our lives can be instruments of change.

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𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧

I worked closely with Dan for many years, mostly on Santa Susana, but with detours into several other nuclear waste and botched cleanups in California. He was a tireless advocate for the victims of the Santa Susana mess, and tried his level best to hold agencies and politicians accountable to the public. He tried so hard that it ultimately ruined his own health. It was incredibly difficult work. He was up against a large national defense contractor, agencies that wanted to paper over the whole cleanup, and way too many elected officials who were deliberately oblivious to the environmental and public health disaster that occurred at Santa Susana. (There were some notable and heroic exceptions such as Sheila Kuehl, Julia Brownley, Linda Parks, and Linda Adams who come to mind immediately. There were others. ) My role was small, but rather constant over the years. I always admired his tenacity, preparedness, persistence, and knack for achieving little victories.

-William Craven, Retired Chief Consultant at the California Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

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