This tribute to Pierre is a letter Roger McGowen wrote to Meena Compagnon Goll, which she shared on the evening of October 31st in Geneva.
Yes, Pierre was very special to me, in ways that can never be explained. He took a young man sitting on death row without hope and basically no family and he taught him to be a man, a man of principles, a man of love and a man of God.
He gave him hope, he gave him a voice, he gave him the means to share that voice with the world. Most Importantly, he gave him his life back and in return he asked for nothing. He dedicated his life to me and he asked for not a single thing.
Pierre walks among the greatest teachers of love this world has ever known. He stands in the shadows of no one when it comes to loving humanity.
Words can never explain what he was and what he meant to me. He was a brother, a friend, a teacher and a father. He will live in me as long as I breathe, and I make sure everyone who hears my story understand that my story would not be,if it were not for Pierre Pradervand.
I talked to Pierre just weeks before his death. I said what I had to say to him ,and he said what he had to say to me. After we spoke, there was a silence that fell between us, neither of us wishing to break it. I realize now that we were both saying goodbye, in our hearts we knew that would be our last conversation in this world. When I hung up the phone, I knew that the next time his name would be spoken to me, someone would tell me he had left this physical world. Emilio told me a week later.
I am glad that his life and legacy will be honored and remembered. I wish I could be there, and I will in spirit and in heart. I know he told me to let him go, but it is so hard to do Meena. Very Hard.
Just let everyone Know that, whenever love is shown or a kind word spoken, when the sun shines on a bright and beautiful day, Pierre Pradervand is smiling.
