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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Monthly ceilidh gatherings will be a bit quieter from now on. Longtime peace activist and nature lover John Murray died at Stanton Territorial Hospital, Sunday after complications stemming from a stroke. He was 75.

The former member of the Canadian Peace Alliance and Nuclear Free North is being fondly remembered by friends and family this week as they talk about times they shared with John.

According to those who knew him well, Murray was not a one-dimensional character and was known for being exceptionally well-read, socially-connected and well-travelled. He was a watercolour and pastel painter, a teacher of ancient philosophy for city recreation programs and a lover of music, especially rhythmic drumming. He was also a lover of nature and an outspoken peace activist.

He regularly attended Moira Cameron's monthly ceilidh gatherings for about 20 years, until September, where he shared his drumming and poetry, and more importantly made many close friends.

"His contributions were always interesting," said Cameron. "He had this amazing collection of drums from all across the world and he would sometimes play them. He was also a teacher of ancient philosophy and would sometimes share that. One of my most recent memories was when he told the Epic of Gilgamesh, which is a big long story, but was absolutely fascinating."

One event recalled by many of his friends was his involvement in helping to organize local protests against the Persian Gulf War in January 1991. At that time, Murray was front and centre in the peace movement, holding demonstrations and singing anti-war songs in the old Miner's Mess, and speaking out against the bombing of Iraq. Through his membership with the Canadian Peace Alliance, he helped encourage more than 600 people, including high school students, to shut down Franklin Avenue and march to city hall to meet then-mayor Pat McMahon and former NWT government leader Dennis Patterson in the name of peace.

"We met way back in relation to the First Gulf War back in 1990, 1991," recalled friend Steve Lacey. "We discovered we had the same political interests and similar musical interests and similar interests of all kinds and we became good friends."

Born in 1937, Murray grew up in Newark, N.J. and enlisted in the U.S. National Guard in 1959. Through military training, he studied cryptography and later graduated from Columbia University with a BA in history and English.

He married his wife Pamela in 1961 and the two moved to a number of cities, including Toronto, Churchill, Man., Winnipeg and Edmonton, before finally coming to Yellowknife in 1985. The two were well remembered as a real "together couple," according to friend Bill Reid.

"I always appreciated the conversations I had with John and his wife who is a lovely person," he said. "We are all concerned for her because we always thought of John and Pamela together. They were very much a together couple."

Pamela recalls being in nature with John over the years, including hiking trips in Jasper National Park and thrilling canoeing escapades on the Peace River in Alberta.

"Almost right away (we) began canoeing lessons to gain more enjoyment of (the) new Northern environment and that led to a canoe trip on Peace River and to a visitor cabin on the bison plains," she recalled. "We loved canoeing and canoed on the Yellowknife River and Madeline Lake and surrounding lakes quite a bit."

John is remembered for being an extensive reader and having founded the now defunct Festival of the Midnight Sun.

John is survived by brother William, who lives in Irvington, N.J., and two cousins, Donald and Carolyn Chesney, both living in New Jersey. The Murrays didn't have children.

Funeral arrangements were still being made by press time, but Pamela said it will likely be scheduled time next week.

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