Nov. 1, 2025 7 AM PT
To the editor: Those of us who work along the banks of the Los Angeles River are often told to be practical. To weigh flood control, secure permits, follow timelines and keep expectations in check. It is responsible work and it is necessary.
But every so often, someone reminds us that practicality can be a trap. Someone insists the river demands more than patience, more than bureaucracy, more than progress reports. That person was Melanie Winter (“Melanie Winter, who fought for embracing nature along the Los Angeles River, dies,” Oct. 23).
Melanie never accepted “later.” She believed the river should be healthy now, that people living along it deserved access now, that nature and justice could not wait for convenience. She wanted us to move faster, be braver and stop apologizing for wanting more for the river.
I had the privilege of knowing Melanie, of sitting across from her as we debated the pace of change and the politics of restoration. When she told me, “Don’t be lazy, Candice,” she meant “Don’t compromise. Don’t settle for partnerships that dilute your purpose or alliances that lose sight of the river.” She could not abide small visions.
Melanie worked alongside Lewis MacAdams, the founder of Friends of the Los Angeles River. Together, they defined the modern river movement, believing it could be both wild and urban, ecological and human. Lewis said, “If it’s not impossible, I’m not interested.” Melanie took that impossibility and made it urgent.
At FoLAR, our work sits at the intersection of big vision and practicality. We bridge people and government, navigating the slow world of policy while also responding to pressing community needs. Melanie reminds us that collaboration cannot mean complacency.
This is our challenge now: to carry forward Lewis’ poetry and Melanie’s defiance with the pragmatism needed to turn vision into access, passion into policy and urgency into lasting change.
Candice Dickens-Russell, Los Angeles
This writer is president and CEO of Friends of the Los Angeles River.