Jim Stephenson: A good man in a tough business

This has been a hard week for North Carolinians who love the coastal region -- and those who work hard at preserving what is best there. Earlier this week David Stick, noted author, historian and coastal conservationist, died at age 89. He had a rich and full life and a world of friends.

But this morning came terrible news that 57-year-old Jim Stephenson, policy analyst for the N.C. Coastal Federation and a tireless advocate for protecting our coastal resources, had died in Raleigh. Stephenson lived in Morehead City but rented an apartment during legislative sessions, where he spent a lot of time tracking coastal legislation specifically and promoting what he saw as good environmental policy in general. The Coastal Federation announced on its Web site this afternoon that he had died early Thursday of a heart attack or stroke.

Bearded and bespectacled, Jim was the perfect advocate and thinker about the environment, which involves some highly technical issues. He was a patient man who spent a lot of time explaining the science as well as the mechanics and the politics of environmental issues. Before he joined the Coastal Federation he was executive director of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, and prior to that he was an adviser to officials in his home state of Pennsylvania.

In this legislative session he worked hard on a number of issues, including plans to allow construction of terminal groins at various N.C. inlets as well as construction of the state's first concrete plant on the Northeast Cape Fear River in Wilmington.

I think Jim had a lot of adversaries in his work, but I don't know of a single enemy. That's all the more remarkable because coastal controversies boil at high speed and tempers often flare. He was well regarded as a quiet man, level-headed, thoughtful, civil and determined. I'll miss his advice and counsel -- and those who revere our coastal areas will miss his efforts to preserve our shorelines and keep our coastal waters clean.