George was always there. Even before any of us oldtimers. Frederick Douglas said nothing happens without struggle. George would say nothing happens without organization, which is the implementation of struggle. He went about it calmly, methodically, dependably. History teacher that he was, he made sure the struggle was based on truth, a weapon more powerful than even the atom bomb.
It is doubtful that nearly four million declarations of public conscience could have been collected without him and Jean for the ICJ nuclear weapons case. They not only helped to collect them for the movement. They were the public conscience of the movement.
Unlike other social scientists, who tend to be skeptical of the role of law in promoting progress, George had a deep abiding faith in law as necessary to progress. Which made it such a joy for us lawyers to work with him.
George was always there and he will continue to be. If he were a hero of the Latin American struggle, rather than the somewhat more staid British one, we would be shouting “George Farebrother, presente!” from the rooftops.
Peter Weiss, for the Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy
February 19, 2015