When I think of Paul Kurtz, I think of three adjectives: Visionary, Indefatigable, and Productive.

Paul Kurtz was a visionary in many ways. Personally, I appreciated his recognition that the future of secular humanism had to include a more diverse demographic. The future of secular humanism cannot continue to ignore the more than 50 million people that we call Latinos/Hispanics in the United States, and he knew that.

I started reading about Paul Kurtz while I was still completing my graduate degrees in biblical studies at Harvard in the 1980s. Later, I sent a manuscript to him for Free Inquiry, but I had not heard back on whether it was accepted or not. When I learned that he was speaking across the river at Boston University on December 3, 1989, I decided to go meet him. It was one of the best decisions of my life.

In 1992, Paul Kurtz graciously offered me the opportunity to become a voice for a larger secular humanist audience by publishing my essay on the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Free Inquiry. Paul Kurtz also gave me the opportunity to lead the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion, and to edit the Journal for the Critical Study of Religion.

Describing Paul Kurtz as indefatigable is an injustice. The man seemingly worked around the clock trying to make the dream of a secular humanist society into a reality. He gave speeches. He wrote articles and books. He edited magazines. He organized conferences. He travelled around the globe. He started a press. He took on the causes of individuals who were persecuted by theocrats. He held countless meetings with groups and individuals. It was his passion for secular humanism that drove that energy, and it was that energy that drew many to him.

Kurtz’s productivity can be seen in the landscape and in the life and work of friends and followers. The landscape in Amherst, New York is different because of him, and the Center for Inquiry is a physical monument to his labor and ideas.

Paul Kurtz was in the business of saving minds, not souls, and he was very good at it. He produced many followers who will continue his work. Paul Kurtz left us with organizations and other vehicles through which secular humanism continues to assert its place in the public square. Even his critics must acknowledge that.

Paul Kurtz manifested the incomparable magnificence of a secular life worth living. He will forever be a friend to all of those who refuse to go gently into that good night.