John Ludwigson's Obituary
John Ludwigson, 76, left this blue marble, Earth, from his home on Sept. 8, 2015. His family was by his side to say goodbye.
A science writer and editor, John had diverse and intense interests from technology to ocean science to animal welfare. An Apple aficionado and geek, he eagerly leaped onto social media, through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and his own websites and blog and was a vocal online presence in groups such as the National Association of Science Writers.
Born in Massachusetts and retaining some New England snobbishness about the best clam chowder, among other things, John spent his formative years in Shaker Heights, Ohio. After graduating from Western Reserve University, he became the science writer at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, covering stories ranging from the space program to water pollution in the Great Lakes. In Cleveland, he also became an avid caver and member of the National Speleological Society.
After moving to Washington, D.C., John wrote for Mosaic, a National Science Foundation magazine, and for Science News. He wrote the official position paper on the environmental aspects of natural resource management for the 1972 U.N. Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm. He was editorial consultant to the National Academy of Engineering’s Marine Board and to the U.S. National Committee for the International Hydrological Decade under the National Research Council.
“Earth is a water planet,” he wrote on his website Scienceworks. “The oceans affect nearly every aspect of human endeavor, from farms to literature and from commerce to warfare.” His fascination with the oceans informed his work as Washington correspondent for Oceans magazine, editor of Ocean World magazine and associate editor of Ocean Science News, a publication of Nautilus Press, where John met his wife of 38 years, Rose Jacobius.
She and their daughter, Elli Ludwigson, survive him.
He recounts on his website the November day in 1963 when an editor rushed into the newsroom shouting that the president had been shot. “He headed straight for the press room and became the only person I know of who actually yelled, ‘Stop the presses!’ To his astonishment, they stopped. Later that week I wrote a four-line poem about the assassination, which the paper printed. To this day, it’s my only published poetry:
“The pond froze over last night,
“And little icy fingers of frost
“Have touched the leaves,
“As lately they have touched our hearts.”
Funeral services are private. The family suggests that fitting tributes to John would include memorial donations to the National Speleological Society, the Cornell Feline Health Center, or a charity of your choice.
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