Death demands reflection and introspection. And so I found myself thinking quite a bit this past week about the passing of Richard Amper.

Dick, who was 81 when he died Monday, was one of Long Island's foremost environmentalists, a man who brought to his work a seemingly boundless energy. His long and admirable record of accomplishment was highlighted by his work to protect and preserve our precious pine barrens and his decades-long tenure as executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society.

Every movement needs a megaphone. For our region's nature lovers and conservationists, that was Amper. When it came to the environment in general, and protecting open space and clean water in particular, he brooked no dissent. But one person's passion is another's abrasion, and some elected officials and real estate developers bristled under Amper's microscope. I knew Dick for a number of years, as a chronicler and champion of environmental causes throughout my career as a........

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