02/07/2025
To listen to John was a privilege and a joy. He leaves a legacy of gentle strength, passion and connectedness few can match. Sending love and thoughts to his family and those closest to him. Thank you John.
John O’Brien, a giant in the disability rights movement, died peacefully on June 27, 2025. He’s gone now. And already, there’s a space where his quiet, fierce hope used to be.
For decades, John didn’t travel the world to speak, he came to ask questions. Real ones: What does a good life look like? Who do you sit with? Who dreams with you? Then he listened deeply, persistently. He saw every person as a constellation of gifts waiting to be seen and shared.
With his life partner and co-conspirator Connie Lyle O’Brien, John was a pioneer in the person-centered planning movement, and the belief that services should follow the person, not the other way around. His writing didn’t shout. It invited. It whispered justice, love, and the radical act of walking beside.
He wasn’t flashy. He wasn’t loud. He was precise, grounded, and relentless.
In a world that demands compliance, John asked for contribution. In systems that offered protection, he insisted on presence. And he reminded us that real safety comes through relationship, through community, through simply being human together.
The disability community mourns, yes. But remembering John means more than grief. It means action. It means listening harder, dreaming louder, and refusing to settle for inclusion that stops at the doorway.
John O’Brien is gone. But his legacy is not. His vision is not. The work is not over.
Ben
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ID: Image shows John speaking into a microphone. Text reads: In Memory of John O'Brien - A Weaver of Possibility
