Elliot Katz. (Beth Clifton collage)
“Had a front-row seat for four decades with this larger-than-life man.”
In Defense of Animals founder Elliot Katz passed away on March 24, 2021, at age 86, his former wife told me, survived by their two daughters, a grandchild, and his brother.
I had a unique relationship with Elliot. It wasn’t merely that I was his closest colleague and friend in the movement, but he revealed a diametrically different side of himself to me than his movement persona of being intractable, demanding, volatile, etc., largely fueled by the intensity of his drive to end speciesism.
I came to know an altogether different man in our four decades of friendship–sensitive, loving, supportive, and even tender. When I asked him why he so rarely displayed that side of himself publicly, he shared that a piece I wrote inspired him to start In Defense of Animals, and that led to a sense of trust that made him comfortable in being himself with me.
Howard Granville Sharpe rediscovered California sea otters, then thought to be extinct, in 1938 near the north end of the Bixby Creek Bridge, built in 1932, 10 miles north of Big Sur. (Beth Clifton collage)
“Restless to find his true calling”
Born in New York City, Elliot was a 1958 graduate of the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Even then, he challenged practices he believed to be needlessly cruel. He established a successful veterinary practice, but his fertile mind was restless to find his true calling. He then spent some time at Esalen in Big Sur, California, studying under Fritz Perls, the Esalen resident guru/psychiatrist and founder of Gestalt therapy.
Elliot then became immersed in Zen Buddhism at a Zen Center in the San Francisco Bay area, followed by establishing City Celebration, an organization to help immigrants retain their indigenous art forms.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“A force in the arts scene”
Indeed, Elliot was a force in the Bay Area arts scene. City Celebration was literally just that: a celebration of the Bay Area’s diversity, arts, and progressiveness. I attended many of the events, and the embrace of both immigrants and their art forms enriched performers and audiences alike. He predictably clashed with the board of directors, and it didn’t end well for Elliot. Still, he left an indelible imprint on Bay Area arts.
Elliot first became involved in animal advocacy after that, forming Californians for Responsible Research to protest against laboratory conditions at U.C. Berkeley. He then founded In Defense of Animals in 1983.
Then-San Francisco SPCA president Richard Avanzino, Ed Duvin, and Lynda Foro at the 1998 “No More Homeless Pets” conference. Elliot Katz may have taken the photograph.
“Hardly blind to Elliot’s shortcomings”
I was hardly blind to Elliot’s shortcomings, and did what I could to assuage them. My lament is that he couldn’t share the side of him I knew with others. That was Elliot, however, a complex and contradictory man. What isn’t in question was the depth of his commitment, support of the grassroots, and myriad achievements through In Defense of Animals, a group of limited size and resources.
His two major passions were vivisection and his “baby,” the Guardian Campaign, which focuses on changing the language of animal ownership to that of “guardianship.”
Indeed, of nearly a dozen times I consulted for him, one was specifically focused on initiating that campaign. His belief, shared by me, is that as long as other beings are considered “property” under the law, our progress will be limited to the margins.
Ed Duvin
Seed-planting
One of his happiest days was when the entire state of Rhode Island changed their humane statutes to use the word “guardian.” Elliot realized that didn’t move the bar in the larger legal realm, but he saw it as seed-planting.
Our temperaments were as different as different can be. Many times when consulting for IDA, I would insist that he leave the office, and remarkably he would comply. If it weren’t for our bond, largely inexplicable, that would have resulted in my early demise! His only condition was that nothing occurred in his absence that I didn’t personally approve, as he was a quintessential micromanager/perfectionist.
Elliot Katz, 1934-1921.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Good isn’t good enough”
When working in the civil rights and anti-poverty causes, I wrote a piece in which the salient point is that good isn’t good enough when lives hang in the balance, and Elliot was ecstatic over it. It wasn’t that Elliot felt it justified his overbearing treatment of staff and others, but he believed that it shed light on it.
He felt the suffering of other beings as acutely as anyone I ever knew in the movement, and although he often asked me to help temper his intensity, it was so fierce that my efforts were to no avail. In our personal time together, however, he manifested all the positive attributes that eluded him in other settings.
Interpersonal conflict was Elliot’s constant companion. I often joked with Elliot, and a big smile would appear on his face when I said, “Elliot, just imagine what you could achieve if you weren’t your worst enemy.”
(Beth Clifton collage)
“Elliot detested walking in place”
My piece all those years ago that inspired Elliot, and was the initiation of our enduring friendship , was something like “Complacency is Another Word for Complicity,” as most of all Elliot detested walking in place. It was actually fun to consult for him, as he had an insatiable thirst for innovation and a keen tactical mind.
Yes, Elliot was flawed, which he freely acknowledged. Everything considered, I feel privileged to have had a front-row seat for four decades with this larger-than-life man.
Beth & Merritt Clifton
Despite Elliot’s limitations in interpersonal relations, what I know for certain is that our beloved animal family is far the richer for his presence on this Earth. He was a warrior’s warrior and a friend, and even when I served in other social justice movements, his support was unfailing. Imperfections and all, I’ll miss him.
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I am grateful for Ed Duvin’s tribute to Elliot Katz.
I first met Elliot in the mid-1980s shortly after joining the AR Movement and participating in PETA’s occupation of a floor at NIH on behalf of the Silver Spring Monkeys. I always liked Elliot and considered him a friend and a man of deep courage, conviction, and care.
Elliot supported our campaign to eliminate the use of chickens in the Kaporos ritual, and his campaign via IDA to upgrade the language we use in speaking about animals and our relationship with them inspired me and helped wake up the animal advocacy movement to the critical importance of advocacy language. My one disagreement with use of the term “guardian” had/has to do with referring to institutionalized exploiters of animals as their “guardians,” which they most certainly are not.
Elliot lived a good and productive life in full service to his care and mission for animals. I am sorry he is gone, Fortunately his legacy of leadership and inspirational example of dedication to animals and animal rights are permanent.
Karen Davis, PhD, President, United Poultry Concerns. http://www.upc-online.org
Thank you, Karen. Elliot held you in the highest esteem.
I rarely read one of my writings after publication, as invariably I regret a few things left unsaid. I did read my farewell to Elliot, however, as the void in my life grows greater as time passes. Accordingly, what follows are three matters that warrant elaboration.
I noted that Elliot’s formidable talent and innumerable achievements often clashed with excesses in interpersonal relations, at times overshadowing his immense contributions. I had to ask myself if Elliot would have wanted this issue to be prominently raised. The answer is a resounding “yes.” The very last thing he would have wanted was a biased puff piece. Although Elliot felt contrition over his shortcomings and endeavored to mollify them, he also realized that intensity was part of his DNA and openly assumed full responsibility.
Secondly, I’m humbled that Elliot so generously embraced me and my writings. However, I could have been on Mars, as Elliot needed NO inspiration from me or anyone else. I’m not a huge believer in destiny, but if anyone was destined to devote his life to other beings, it was Elliot. Indeed, it was his raison d’etre–his reason for being.
Lastly, although noted in the obituary by Animals 24-7, I omitted to mention the greatest love of Elliot’s life: his two daughters. He was so proud of Raquel, an accomplished educator, and Dani who is an Associate Director with PETA. Elliot was passionately committed to Lady Justice, but his daughters always came first.
Not only our animal family, but all of us are poorer for the loss of this giant of a man.
It’s no easy feat to write an obituary for Elliot, and you didn’t disappoint. I hasten to add that Beth’s collages are truly outstanding!
I think between the three of us, we provided Elliot with the farewell he would have wanted–an honest depiction of what I referred to as a “complex and contradictory man.” His excesses were many, but so were his impressive accomplishments. To me, he was a valued friend, loving father, and talented activist whose commitment to the vulnerable knew no bounds, whereas many perceived him in a different light I’m not suggesting he was Gandhi, but rather than assess someone by their least admirable traits, I think the more just approach is to consider the whole of a person.
I’m profoundly grateful to you both for suggesting my comments be published, enabling me to reach a wide audience in saying goodbye to an old and dear friend. I find the most difficult aspect of aging isn’t the health issues that have caught up with me, but the loss of close friends. When they perish, a little of myself goes with them. Thanks again for your friendship, and I posted a comment after my piece to add a few thoughts.
Having had the pleasure and privilege of personal acquaintance with many people who knew and worked with Mohandas Gandhi during the long Indian independence struggle, I can guarantee––albeit second hand––that Gandhi himself also “wasn’t Gandhi,” but like Elliot Katz, was a driven man who freely acknowledged his faults, changed his mind from time to time about tactics, occasionally had temperamental outbursts, and had a sense of humor, especially about himself. Several years ago an animated cartoon depicting Gandhi doing a pole dance with his staff and then fending off beggars with it scandalized much of India. Many devout Gandhians called for banning the cartoon, but my sense of the matter is that Gandhi himself would have laughed his ass off and then seized upon the furor to amplify his own many messages about breaking down the caste system, promoting equal education and economic opportunity for women, feeding the hungry, etc.
The people I knew who knew Gandhi, who were in their teens and early twenties then, and are all now deceased, all went on to long and productive careers in journalism, education, librarianship, law and politics, and anti-hunger and peace work, focused on helping the poorest of the poor and on furthering the causes of equality and social justice.
Elliot Katz would hope for a similar legacy among the much younger people who knew him.
I had the honor of working for/with Elliot as well, and his influence on my life and ideology is great. The extremely intelligent and passionate are often misperceived by others, or correctly perceived, as less than perfect. That does not detract in any way from their brilliance and accomplishments.
The use of the terms, “owner” and “pet,” among others, always raises my ire and makes it necessary for me to speak my mind. My family never used these terms, as far as I know; Elliot’s insistence on giving the proper respect to members of other species only reinforced my conviction and reinforced my need to share what I believe to be necessary in terms of how we express our relationships with other living beings with those who have never stepped outside of society’s narrow parameters.
May Elliot’s influence continue to inform others and help improve our treatment of our fellow beings. That will be a fitting legacy and memorial.
You’re right, Merritt, that Gandhi wasn’t Gandhi, nor were most of the renowned humanitarian figures in history, Voltaire might have ignited the French Revolution with his pen, but most were–as you noted–driven men who like the rest of us, had their flaws and frailties. I always felt Elliot’s
flaws emanated from the passion that made him such a force of Nature.