If you were an early member of Health Action Network Society, you would remember the name Len Greenall. If you live on the south slope of Burnaby, and travel along Marine Drive close to Boundary Rd, you would recognize Greenall Avenue. Both are significant, and stem from a man who's early years were dedicated to building homes and structures with Greenall Construction.

Len first came to the HANS office when it was in the basement suite of my home. I remember thinking - he's a pretty spry senior, that's for sure. He always wore a hat, and rumour had it that he was a great dancer. 'Loved to dance til the last dance, and usually wore his dance partners out' they said about him. And, he said about himself, with great humour. A great whistler, too... But, I digress.

Len always said that he was just a guy in construction, but by a fluke, he got to know Dr Fred Exner, an MD from Seattle, Washington area, but who later became a world-renouned
expert on the topic of fluoridation. They became fast friends, and Len would travel with Exner to towns that held fluoride referendums, and watch Exner debate local authorities. Any town that invited Exner to speak, was a town that voted fluoride out of its drinking water. Exner focused on the 'Economic Motives Behind Fluoridation' and the link to industry, which fronted groups with peaceful names like 'Citizens for Better Teeth', or some such.

Upon Exner's death, Len was entrusted with Exner's precious scientific material, and guarded it carefully. He made the mistake, he says, of letting others know at a public environmental meeting one day, in the late 70's, and also saying that he was going out of town for the weekend. As the story goes, his home in Surrey was burnt to the ground two days later. Torched, authorities said, by someone who knew what they were doing. With it went all of Exner's valuable scientific documentation which exposed the connection of fluoride to industry.

So, that's one of Len's stories, which was well known to people who fought a fluoride-related battle.

Len was an environmentalist, an organic gardener, and passionate about his beloved salmon. He was also a good friend to HANS, and we will always miss him for his dedication and support. He passed away November 25th, at the age of 89. There is no doubt in my mind that Len Greenall is in a heavenly place.