My dad, the radical feminist, firmly believed that his daughters would grow up to be power players and leaders of men. As such, he saw no reason to go easy on us - particularly when there was a lesson to learn.

My sister and I used to play epic, multi-day marathons of Monopoly with Dad. Trained in the ways of finance, he would use his knowledge to become the real estate tycoon that he would have fought tirelessly to prevent the development of the beautiful marsh that used to be Mediterranean Avenue. He was also fiercely competitive and saw no reason to allow his young girls to get ahead - or, perhaps he was preparing us for a work environment where our male colleagues would get a head start and play for keeps. Either way, he was nearly impossible to beat. Eventually, we refused to play with him anymore - but not before he imparted upon me the importance of choosing appreciating assets.

As a small child, I found the railroads in Monopoly to be most excellent. The more you have, the more each one will yield when an unsuspecting opponent lands on one of them. One memorable game, I successfully traded a single property to Dad to complete my collection of railroads - and secured him the ultimate monopoly of Park Place and Broadway. I didn't know it at that moment, but my fate was sealed.

Dad knew, though. He proceeded to build multiple hotels on both properties, progressively robbing me of all my assets as I landed on the squares repeatedly. When I finally went bankrupt, frustrated and grouchy, he asked:

"Do you understand why you lost?"

I literally couldn't care less - but Dad proceeded to explain to me how his properties would keep getting more valuable over time, while my railroads wouldn't, so my railroads weren't a good strategic investment. I was so angry at him. He known he would beat me for hours, and he still did it. I stomped away and made him clean up.

But - now I know that you should buy things that get more valuable over time. Thanks, Dad.

My husband and I live across from what is now land managed by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There had been a plan to build private homes at this location at the north end of Montara. As a well-connected, hard-working conservation advocate, Chris worked to preserve this land for wildlife and for public enjoyment.

We greatly appreciate his involvement in preserving this space. And I am sure that the deer, owls, hawks, rabbits, butterflies, mountain lions, and other wildlife, appreciate it as well. The areas here and in other parts of this new park are now criss-crossed with well-worn hiking trails.

We will miss seeing Chris on our daily walks on the old Pedro Mountain Road. We would stop to chat with him. Chris will be missed by many. While he is gone, he left our community with a gift of the improvements that he helped to make.

I first met Chris in the early 1990's while involved with a local environmental group opposed to the Devil's Slide Bypass proposed by Caltrans.  Chris was instrumental in getting us the assistance of the Sierra Club to block that project.  In 1995 he also helped me organize a committee of geologists and engineers that proposed the tunnel alternative to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. We remained friends ever since, often meeting up on our walks on the Old San Pedro Mountain road, and several hikes to the top of the mountain.

Thank you Chris, for your years of civic mindedness, friendship, and many contributions to our coastside community.

Everyone has Chris stories. His orbit of friends was huge. Most knew him as the lifeblood of Coastside activism  -- the energy and brains behind all Coastside environmental/open space victories. He was our mentor. What he told us was always true.

Chris, Suzie, Julia, and Katrina spent summer vacations with Bill and me on the North Olympic Peninsula. We threw snowballs at each other on top of Hurricane Hill in Olympic National Park. Suzie and Chris carried bushels of trash off Dungeness Spit National Wildlife Refuge. No matter where they visited they participated.

Then, after Bill died, Chris and other Tunnelistas hauled an old-growth redwood bench to the Saddle Pass on Montara Mountain to dedicate it to Bill's memory -- and to all Tunnelistas.

Chris often visited me when he had a job at Bainbridge Graduate Institute on Bainbridge Island. It seems like we'd talk all night about Coastside affairs. Then all day long Chris did chores around my property -- like removing yards of deer fencing no longer needed or whack weeds.

Always giving, always full of ideas, always helping.

I dearly love Chris just as I dearly love Suzie, Julia and Katrina.

I got to know Chris while covering two important issues for the HMB Review: the Montara Sanitary District, which attracted almost no attention from the public; and Devil’s Slide, which demanded it with its periodic closures of Highway 1. His involvement in both of these was instrumental.

He was principled enough to vote in favor of an expansion in sewer treatment that would lead to increased growth that he personally opposed, and intellectually expansive enough to see the merits of tunneling through Montara Mountain and push for it with all his might. His thinking and analysis were precise, always a valuable commodity.

If my reporting ever demonstrated any spark of comprehension it was due to Chris and others like him (including John Lynch) who took the time to pound it into my head. Safe travels, Chris.