Donald James Harlow, a native Oregonian and longtime resident of California, died Sunday, January 27, 2008, of cancer. He was 65 and a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and brother, who will be remembered for his great intellect, inspirational passion for the language of Esperanto, love of nature and frequent letters to the editor.
Donald was born July 8, 1942 in Portland, Oregon. He traveled to Denmark with AFS in high school, where he first spoke Esperanto, which he was proud to have learned from a book. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in Astronomy.
He met and married his wife Angela in 1964 and joined the Air Force as a meteorologist. He was stationed in Texas, South Carolina, England and California, and was promoted to the rank of Captain.
After leaving the Air Force he pursued graduate studies in Astronomy at University of California at Berkeley, until taking over as the director of the Esperanto League for North America (ELNA, now Esperanto USA). He left ELNA to work as a programmer in the technology industry for over two decades, after which he returned to work for ELNA until the year before his death.
His involvement with the local and international Esperanto speaking community included serving as President and Board member of ELNA, teaching courses at local universities, traveling to international conferences, and writing original works and translating literature, including poetry and prose, into and out of Esperanto. He was particularly fond of original Esperanto works.
He won the Deguci award from Japan for literature and an award for outstanding Internet work from the Universal Esperanto Association. His Esperanto literature website is one of the best known and respected worldwide.
In 2007, ELNA’s prize for translation of American literature into Esperanto was named the Harlow Prize in his honor. He was made an honorary lifetime member of Esperanto USA.
In addition to his wide achievements in promoting Esperanto, his lifelong passions included reading science fiction and fantasy novels; studying astronomy; solving physics equations for fun; hiking, particularly on Mt. Tamalpais and in the Point Reyes area; and writing movies and literature reviews, nonfiction, fiction, and letters to the editor, all of which he published on several blogs and websites.
Donald is survived by his loving wife Angela; his children Gwen (Chad) Harlow of Alameda, Sybil (John) Harlow of Orangevale, Esther (Jason) Harlow of Portland, Oregon, and David, of Richmond; 4 grandchildren, D’arby, Natalie, Rhianna and Audrey; and siblings Anne (Rick) Trussell and Vere (Ying-Shan) Harlow.
[S5] Find A Grave, → Memorial ID 132533916.
1942 - 2008 (65 years)
Siblings
. Gwen B. HARLOW, b. 2 Dec 1967, Oakland, Alameda, California 
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