Environmental Hero: John M. Lewis Celebration of Life

Boston, MA- A Celebration of Life is being held tomorrow at the Top Catch Room at Joe’s American Bar & Grill, 100 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, to commemorate Newbury Street jeweler and environmental stalwart, John M. Lewis. 

John and his late wife Louise were founding members of the New England Chapter of the Sierra Club; they worked tirelessly to promote equitable transportation choices and open space access in Boston. They helped to enforce key Clean Air Act Provisions, and assisted in the redesigning of the Charles River Crossing. John and Louise helped to establish the Boston Harbor Islands and surrounding waters as a state park, as they were both advocates and lobbyists for cleanup and protection of the Boston Harbor. 

John served on the Boston Conservation Commission for 43 years. In the late 1960s, John and Louise were instrumental in protecting vital areas of the Boston waterfront by promoting environmentally responsible development. They successfully transformed the city’s plans to construct a high-rise, parking lots, and roads into a more environmentally-informed design with a lower profile to avoid shading in parks or walkways. This effort helped establish the “Walk to the Sea” as part of the expanded green space which ultimately became Christopher Columbus Park. This alternate plan further influenced open space planning for the Central Artery project, helping to create the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a monument to the greening of urban neighborhoods. You may read a letter from the Boston Conservation Commission recognizing John’s achievements and his Boston Globe obituary.