In local schools, nuance often stumps students. What's the difference between "height" and "stature"?
My friend Sylvia Glass measured around 5-foot in a doctor's office, but to me, she stood 10 feet tall. Her commitment to making neighborhood, community, and government work was unshakable. Ditto to empowering people-based institutions and civic transparency. Whether in her own neighborhood, or as president of Allied Neighborhood Association, which umbrellas Santa Barbara's neighborhood groups, Sylvia was welcoming, focused, and genuinely nonpartisan.
A more enthusiastic, effective advocate would be hard to imagine. Whether for Allied, the Citizens Planning Association, her place of worship, or myriad other groups, Sylvia was an irresistible force. "Preaching truth to power," today sounds cliché, but that's what Sylvia did, in public and private, nudging people, companies, institutions, agencies, to get more involved and address problems, not just talk about them. When so much in national government hovers between acrimonious and dysfunctional, Sylvia mastered the vanishing art of disagreeing without being disagreeable. Her focus was always on facts and issues, not individuals who disagreed with her.