from Marilyn Villanueva // Centerville, VA

John was my mentor, my direct supervisor, and the older brother I never had. We worked together and traveled all over India and Nepal together. He taught me how to pack light; literally packing what I need for 2-3 weeks of international travel in a small carry on (for a woman, that’s asking a lot). He taught me how to appreciate fine wine, a good lamb dish and Kingfisher beer (all in one evening). We’ve traveled by plane, by rail, by boat, by electric vehicles, by bus, by trucks and on foot in the remotest villages of India and those adventures and conversations remain close to my heart.  He also taught me the art of networking, every place we travelled, John knew someone and in most cases he already had various meetings lined up from breakfast all the way to dinner.

He also showed me tough love. When I was being indecisive about what steps to take next in my life, (grad school or another job) he kept pushing and prodding me to not just let time pass by; that attempting to calculate every possible misstep; was keeping me from experiencing my true potential.  I was young and learning the ropes in development work from him, he told me that the worst thing potential partners, investors and funders can do is say no; that whatever I decided to do in my life, whatever I focused on, I should believe in it with all my heart and I should know my material well, research everything and anything about it, then just be bold and sell it, the worst thing that people can say is no.

As passionate and as enthusiastic as he was, bold and unafraid, one of my favorite memories of him was when we went to Pune India. He mentioned that Iyengar lived there and you practiced his form of Hatha yoga. This time it was my turn to push him and I somehow got our rickshaw driver to make a side trip to Iyengar’s Center. When we got there we saw Iyengar sitting on a chair reading a book. John, all of a sudden became this shy hesitant person, I had to press him to approach Iyengar, to say hello. He didn’t want to intrude, so we decided to go the reading center. There he purchased a book for you and again I told him he should get it autographed, he didn’t want to and for some reason, a voice inside said, well “just be bold, the worst thing he can say is no”. So I did and Iyengar gladly signed the book, he even offered for us to stay, chat with him and have some tea.

I finished grad school and am again at a crossroads in life. It would have been nice to contact him again after all these years to get his advice.

I extend my condolences to all of John’s family. My prayers go out to all of you.

from Sue Conley & Peggy Smith // Marin County, CA

We send our love and offer support for the loss of John...a person who we will always remember for opening the whole wide world to us.  John made us feel like we were part of a much bigger picture.  We honor his legacy and his brilliance.

Sue Conley & Peggy Smith
Cowgirl Creamery

from Sharon Forsyth / Washington DC

I can only say that the day I met John, at the Costa Rican embassy, it felt like reconnecting with a long lost friend. We spoke for hours, and I was filled with joy to have discovered such a brilliant and fascinatingly complex person. He was one of the most intensely interesting, enthusiastically intellectual people I ever met, and the joy and wonder that he found in the intricacies of a staggeringly broad range of arcane topics enriched my life and made every shared tea or lunch more fulfilling than a lifetime of conversation with almost anybody else. His intensity, his passion, his sensitivity, seemed to allow him to experience life on a higher plane, in more vivid color than most of us, which must have made his life much more wonderful, but also undoubtedly more painful, too.

Even the memory of John is brighter than most else that I have experienced in this confusing, all too mediocre world.

I'm looking forward to celebrating John's life, rather than just mourning his loss. Thanks for providing that opportunity. Let me know if there is anything we can do to help.

Sharon Forsyth

from Adrian Forsyth / Washington DC

Here at the Forsyth house our hearts go out to you and John's parents in what must be a desperately hard, sad time. I just wanted to say please let us know if we can help in some way and also I wanted to let you know how I am thinking about this tragedy.

Many years ago my sister killed herself with a heroin overdose. Was it an impulse, an accident or carefully intentional? I can't ever know because there was no goodbye note. Like John she was young, good looking, physically healthy and highly intelligent. Family and friends can't help but try to find answers the the source of such a tragedy. But over the years of looking for anything sensible in her death I have come to just see it as not much different from some other biological system failure-- Like a seizure of the heart or liver but in this case, of the mysterious neurology of the human brain. No conversation, no pill, no surgery can repair some of the things that go wrong in the fragile complex machine that we are. At some level all deaths are accidental and the inevitable consequences of biology going wrong in a way that is beyond our ability to change it.

The way a person has lived is vastly more important than the manner of their ending. For me John was all about doing good for our amazing world. In his thirst and appreciation for the splendor of human creation he had no peer. I remember when Sharon came home from first meeting John. She was so happy and excited to meet someone who knew so much, who cared so much, who was so full of enthusiasm for things she valued. Every hour I spent with John was exhaustively interesting---an hour with John was like a week with anyone else, in terms of what he might impart to you. There was never anyone so full of diverse passionate interests coupled with a prodigious knowledge and enthusiasm for the richness of the human cultural experience. Who else could explain to you the details of how to make biogas from guinea pig dung in the Andes,  the best way to help organic tea farmers in the Himalayas and where to find the best goat cheese in Marin County -  all in the space of five minutes? His flame burned brighter than the rest of us. I can not help thinking that John sometimes must of felt like a fish out of water when surrounded by plodding mediocrity, constrained by bureaucracy and thwarted by people who did not care as intensely as he cared for his work and ideas.  We are very saddened to lose John. But the memory of John will not be a sad memory but an enduring, grateful happy one of a uniquely brilliant good man the likes of which I do not ever expect to meet again.

Please convey our condolences to John's parents and know our thoughts are with you.

Sincerely,
Adrian and Sharon

--
Adrian Forsyth, PhD
Vice President for Programs
Blue Moon Fund

John exploring the Amazon, January 2009

from Larry Manekin / Ft. Myers, FL

John Ryan taught me how to drink beer.  And wine.  And cognac.  And whiskey.   Not just to drink as in the copious amounts that most college students drink, but to appreciate the good stuff.  We didn’t drink to get drunk, but to understand the art of it.  Even on one particularly memorable occasion when we drank beer and wine and cognac and whiskey and sake in the same night.

He also taught me how to enjoy food and to disdain chain restaurants.  Long dinners together ranging over many topics are my fondest memory of our time. 

He loved to experience all there was to life.  We had times spent together at mardi gras parades, art museums, the ballet, horseback riding, and Shakespeare plays just to name a few.

I have always been shy socially.  John was the one who encouraged me to be bold.

He is the only person who has visited me in every place I’ve ever called home.  He stood up with me as a groomsman the day I married.

There was a time when I was at my lowest; unemployed, alone and despondent.  Out of the blue he called me up and invited me to a weekend at a luxury hotel.  I don’t think he ever knew how much he helped me that time.  There are many things I owed him.  Things he did for me and things he taught me.  I owe him more than I can repay.

We met the first day of class, freshman year of college.   It was the oldest assignment out there; interview the person sitting next to you. 

Since then 28 years have passed. 

Over those years were a lot of adventures.  I always assumed we’d have another.

IWMI memorial service / Colombo, Sri Lanka

"Sharing interpretations, observations, and assumptions and working together on narratives is one of the greatest joys. What I think any work should be about."
John Ryan

 

"John was a remarkably bright light - a true believer in the spirit of free enterprise and in one's ability to create exciting opportunities where others might see only impossible challenges."
Dennis Wichelns, IWMI, Senior Fellow, Colombo

"He was such a nice guy and indeed an inspiring person! An example for me."
Luca di Mario, PhD student, Cambridge, UK

"John did not just bring passion to his work - passion was a given. Above all he brought a certain honesty. John looked beyond organizations and strategies. His intellectual integrity constantly reminded us why we set out to do what we were trying to do. To all of us, John was a gentle, guiding friend.“
Avinash Krishnamurthy, S3IDF, India

"John was a deep thinker and had great insight into issues. I appreciated the deep perspectives he brought into our field of research." 

Olufunke Cofie, CPWF

"I very much enjoyed meeting John in Colombo and especially our discussion over breaks - he had an amazing career and inspiring ethical viewpoints. I'm sure he will be sadly missed by many."
Kate Medlicott, WHO, Geneva

"We do not only lose a good friend but also an important project partner."
Johannes Heeb, CEWAS, Switzerland

"I interacted with John during his visit to Accra. One week wasn’t enough and I was looking forward to meet him again some time soon... too bad this can’t happen. RIP John." 

Edmund Akoto-Danso, IWMI Ghana

"John made a big impression on me, particularly his enthusiastic character and dynamic approach to his work."
Fraser Sugden, IWMI Nepal

"John impressed me by his simplicity, his patience and his capacity to lead and motivate the whole team to perform. We will miss him.“
Josiane Nikiema, IWMI Ghana

"John had only been with us for a short time, but had already left his mark on IWMI through his enthusiastic and creative approach to problems in the RRR team. He will be sadly missed as a colleague and friend to many of us."
Colin Chartres, DG, IWMI, Colombo

Photos from IWMI trip to Accra, Ghana - March 2012

Update

Thanks to everyone for all of their support and best wishes during this very difficult time. The entire family is doing as well as can be expected and are all back at their respective homes. Please keep in touch via email: melissa.ryan.beach@gmail.com. I'll forward emails to John's family and/or pass along addresses as requested.

John's global family is a truly powerful and inspirational group of people and we are all so grateful for all of the love and support.

 Missy & John, Rehoboth Bay, Delaware - October 2011