Environmental advocate Mick Putney dead at 80

Gifted scholar, poet and environmentalist Snell “Mick” Putney of No Name Key died unexpectedly at the tender age of 80 on Saturday, November 21, 2009, from a rare fungal infection, blastomycosis.

Born in Lincoln, Neb., to Williams W. and Hazel Snell Putney on Feb. 27, 1929, Mick earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in philosophy at the University of Nebraska, before receiving his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Oregon. A professor for most of his adult life, he taught at Drake University, Florida State University, San Jose State University, and Union Institute in the course of his long career.

Mick and his wife, Alicia, first visited the Keys by sailboat in 1978, before buying a house in Key Largo in 1983. In 1990, the couple built their beautiful solar home on No Name Key, which has been the site of many lectures and tours educating people on the possibilities of a sun-powered residence.

What many people who toured the home don’t realize is that Mick built most of the house himself, as he did a 40-foot sailboat, and always had a workshop wherever he went. As his wife likes to put it, “Mick could fix everything … except a computer.”

Mick was trailblazing, boating, building and fixing things up until the last month of his life.

Most people knew Mick from his tireless work to protect the environment, particularly that of the Florida Keys. He served as president of the Key Deer Protection Alliance for almost a decade, only ending his tenure in early November 2009. He also served on the board of directors for Last Stand for many years. Mick did everything a man could do to minimize his footprint on his beloved green earth.

For those of us who will miss him so, and will celebrate his work, we can attest that his impact on all of us was enormous and profound, and will long be remembered.

Mick is survived by his wife of 35 years, Alicia Putney; his sister, Patricia Watson of Portland, Ore.; his son, Gregory Putney of Selma, Ore.; his daughter, Cynde Mitchell and her two children, Daniel and Amelia, of Peaks Island, Maine; and his beloved cat, Tee Cee.

Mick requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of his favorite charities: the Key Deer Protection Alliance, Last Stand, Witness for Peace – Southeast Regional Office (919-856-9468), the Freedom From Religion Foundation (608-256-8900), and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (716-636-1425).

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 5, 2009, at the National Key Deer Refuge, at the head of the Fred Mannillo trail, where Mick donated more than 2,000 hours of his volunteer service.

Editor’s Note: Mick Putney was one of the many voices of the environmental community in the Lower Keys, a tireless advocate for the preservation of nature in all its forms. He believed wholeheartedly in the grand off-the-grid experiment that has defined No Name Key for five decades.

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1. The Shew Family Dec 18 2009 / 11pm

   I will miss Mick’s free-thinking and his dedication to reason and freedom from religion.