Our friend and founder Larry Harvey passed away on April 28, 2018. Every year, in honor of his legacy, the worldwide Burning Man community holds a Global Celebration and Day of Gratitude on June 20 — the solstice, when the first Man was burned on Baker Beach in 1986.
Share photos and videos of your local celebrations using the hashtags #thankslarry, #larryharvey, and #burningsolstice.
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We created this site for friends, family, and anyone who came to know or be inspired by Larry over the years. We invite you to share stories, photos, and videos. Commenting on other posts is welcome. Please feel free to share this page.
With much love from all of us at Burning Man Project.
Because for your adventure 37 years ago we have met people and adventured to Burning Man 25 times and been to Africa , Guatemala, China, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, and sailed the Danube. Thanks, Larry. ...Read More
I pounded on the door of Larry's trailer in First Camp a few years ago, in order to gift him a few bumper-stickers I'd created for that year's theme: Rights of Passage. The stickers depicted the Man simulating a manhood ritual in Vanuatu wherein youths jump from a high platform with thick vines tied around their ankles, just long enough to almost reach them to the ground. Larry "got it" right off. "Hey, George, c'mon in, it's great to see ...Read More
It was Thursday afternoon of Burning Man 1998, and Larry needed to run into Gerlach to go to the office. There was no internet on the playa, Black Rock City's residents that year numbered only about 20,000, so it was easier to come and go. I hopped in the car with him, and we drove into town. He took me to lunch at Bruno's — the only time I ate their famed ravioli — and I remember sitting there and ...Read More
It would have been very easy for Larry to make Burning Man about himself, to let people elevate him to some kind of cult-like leader. But he didn't. Sure, he had his flaws and many tried to put him up on a pedestal, but I always found him to be quite humble. He preferred to talk about the art and community much more than about himself. Whenever we spoke he expressed a very genuine joy and amazement at how the ...Read More
several years ago there was a patio sale at a condo on O Farrell in the tenderloin. while browsing the items for sale I came across a hat that fit me for a reasonable price and during the palaver with the seller mentioned that it looked much like the Stetson that Larry Harvey was fond of at the time. the seller had no idea who Larry Harvey was and when i told them he was the founder of Burning Man ...Read More
i started this at seattles precomp, critical last week. its gold and playa dust acrylic on canvas and a little playa dust too. This man changed my life forever and the lives of so many others by creating a global movement of kindness in a cruel world. thank you larry for all your hard work. you will live on forever in the hearts and actions of those whos lives you touched ...Read More
My wife and I had a profound experience at Burning Man last year and were so sad to hear of Larry's passing. We wanted to celebrate his life, immediacy, and togetherness by organizing a celebration and watching the solstice sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean this morning where we live in Myrtle Beach, SC. While it was early, everyone in the group was thankful to be in the moment and absorb the positivity of the start of summer! ...Read More
Really there are no appropriate words to do you and your work/vision/life justice, sir. Burn Bright, Always and Forever, you have our eternal gratitude and Love! Thank you Larry the Hat. [photo taken over my shoulder during my DJ set on the Esplanade, 2014] See you out there in the dust HYJYNX ...Read More
My earliest memory of Larry was Burning Man 1993 (I think, maybe 94?) and the "famous people from history" wrestling matches. I recall his Albert Camus (black sportscoat sunglasses and slicked back hair) having beaten Moses into a daze - proceeding to bang him over the head with the (Styrofoam) ten commandments he'd snatched away from him. Bits of styrofoam flying everywhere and everyone laughing their asses off. High art and hilarity. Two things Larry embodied and channeled. Burning man ...Read More
I was stationed on the north entrance of The Man pavillion. It was evening and the sun had gone down. This was my first burn. I volunteered with "Man Watch" so I could meet people and get an understanding of what this was all about? A man appeared beside me. He made a gesture and smiled towards a lady who had walked towards the building and was admiring some of the tribute offerings near the entrance. We chatted about this ...Read More
Dear Larry - thank you for your kindness, your wit, your interesting stutter, your sense of humor and your awkward charm. I can't believe you're not going to walk out of the fourth floor elevator at HQ and stroll by my desk, as usual..... where can you be???? I still feel you all around me. I love you. ...Read More
My first trip to Burningman was in 2000. There, I learned I was normal, for the first time in my life (50 decades). In fact I was kind of a mild normal! Thank you, Larry. ...Read More
Hola I wanted to give some recollections and thoughts on the passing of LARRY HARVEY, the founder of Burningman. It's hard to fathom the magnitude of his contribution to all of us. There was forethought, combined with a pure sense of the "here and now" that motivated him into doing that first burn on Baker Beach, and to then go from there. He captured us at a time when we needed to be captured. His capture of me and Jane ...Read More
It was a great honor for us to interview with Larry Harvey at Burning Man in 2011 on Burning Man's impact on Reno, Northern Nevada, and beyond for the documentary movie "Event Horizon - Burning Man Burning Reno." Some really great history and profound insights from Mr. Harvey for which we are very grateful to capture and share: Only portions of this interview were included in "Event Horizon," which was published in 2012. The movie trailer: The full movie: In ...Read More
“… from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” --Charles Darwin, from the end of The Origin of Species, and the beginning of the 2009 Burning Man Art Theme: Evolution “This is just like my home. This is just like where I grew up,” said Larry as we ambled down a mountain path on the outskirts of Taipei, Taiwan, in the spring of 2015. We had just bathed in ...Read More
1996, rolled into BRC at night in mini-van... exhausted after making dozens of sophomore mistakes. Dragging along a girlfriend and my best friend who had listened to me for a year of jabber on like an idiot about this crazy punk rock festival. I roll right into the center of center camp - which at that time basically consisted of not much more than a pop-up tent, a beer cooler, and some big dog heads. A guy in a cowboy ...Read More
I am eternally grateful for the courageous expression of kindness that is Burning Man. There are many a valuable lessons to take from the playa. Each year as we return to practice our mastery of the last your legacy will live on. ...Read More
| By: Turner Rentz, III (turnerBroadcasting/p3dr0)
We remember in scenes, fragments. Our memories fade and shift, but sometimes there are people who convey a wilder and ultimately more direct experience of whatever world they find themselves in, virtual, real, it's a real sense of simply hanging around with the person - that helps you to breathe a little easier, see things a little more clearly. It's a hard quality to discover in anyone, and rare. I first ran into what might have been a San Francisco ...Read More
I was fortunate to meet Larry a dozen times or so due to my involvement with the Org’s Documentation Team and my friendship with his old pal Stuart Mangrum. A conversation with Larry was always fascinating, usually amusing, and often enigmatic. He had a unique world view, and a non-sequitur way of expression. Many times after the conversation had been over for a while and I’d had time to mull his words I realized what he had been saying was ...Read More
Thank you, Larry, for creating and shepherding the culture that is Burning Man. This community has enhanced my life so completely I am without words. You creating something so powerful, so global, and yet, was always humble. You were an amazing person. You will be an amazing spirit as well. ...Read More
I only met Larry once, and in that moment he made me laugh. It was at a Burning Man film screening, some 10-15 years ago, in Arlington VA. He saw me taking photos of people, being goofy, and asked what I was doing. I told him that I was working on a photography project called "Funniest Face Forward" and he asked if he could participate, which is how I wound up with this photo of him with his tongue out. ...Read More
Last year, Don and I had the pleasure of seeing Larry in Center Camp standing in line to buy coffee, just like any other participant. He stood right behind Don, waiting his turn, talking to a man he was taking on a tour. Don and he conversed for a bit while I waited nearby with a couple of newbies. I explained to the newbies what was going on, they had never seen Larry Harvey in person and didn't know he ...Read More
I first remember Larry when I was still at Burning Man, two days after the Man burned in 1995. I celebrated my 25th birthday on playa, fell madly in love with Burning Man, and I stayed to clean up. I just couldn't leave! A year earlier, I had moved to San Francisco, a dream I had since I first visited as a young girl. I never dreamed I would find something like Burning Man in an incredible location like Black Rock ...Read More
I went to my first Burning Man in 2017, and met Larry Harvey on the playa completely out of the blue. I tried to find a friend who I knew was in First Camp - she was away and as it was super hot I needed a break. I asked an old guy in a hat who was in the shade if I could sit with him. After I'd drunk some water I asked him how his burn was going. He said ...Read More
Larry was always good for a story or three and it was no different when I visited with him in Reno. He listened patiently as I explained why tickets should be sold at the event for the following year with I.D. to buy and ID to enter the following year with re-selling only through STEP. He was seriously considering it, and I was so elated. This gentleman created not only the worlds biggest party but the worlds biggest people changer ...Read More
My twin and I attended at States of Transition in 2011 to celebrate 120 years on this earth. Settling in, we could see a man in a hat and holding a briefcase talking to others nearby. He seemed to be dismissed by them, but undaunted he approached us with his briefcase marked BM Bank. How would you use money from the bank? he asked. Improvements on the trailer we said. With that he gave $120 and shuffled off. Only later ...Read More
Ill never forget the first time I meet Larry at LA decom in 2011. I was there and my kids were running amuck. Maid Marian Goodell stopped to ask about my kids. I told her that I was a newly single dad and I was raising them in the 10 principles , she brought Larry over to meet us and this is the pic we took. Thank you for all you have done for me and my family. I have been able ...Read More
Larry came up to me one of the first years (of the 13) I attended. I think it was 2000 or 2001, maybe earlier. We were atop a large art piece, looking down, out onto the Playa from above, watching people mill around like ants. He was wearing his hat, of course, and we had an amazing conversation. He spoke to me gracefully and casually about the magnificence of what we all were creating. There were only 5000 or so ...Read More
Over 20 Burns I've had the opportunity to meet Larry Harvey four times that I can remember, My most memorable one was when my vehicle broke down and I was stranded on playa an extra few days. While waiting at Bruno's in Gerlach for a tow truck to take me off playa and to Reno for repair, I was sitting near a pay phone feeling sorry for myself although still reveling from a great Burn, when Larry and the two ...Read More
It was 1997 when a friend invited me to go to this little thing in the desert. I remember being so freaked out, not knowing what I was about to embark on...asking so many questions. The friend just laughed and said "Burning Man is whatever you want it to be." 21 years later, that statement is still truth. I was derailed in the best way, cracked open and changed for the better. 21 years later, an entire community of friends, ...Read More
I interviewed Larry for a feature length article titled The Lost Operas of Burning Man. I asked him if he was involved in the development of the first one, Pepe Ozan's The Return of Empress Zoe, 1996. He replied " I never substitute my vision for an artist's vision." I thought that was very astute and succinct . Larry was an understated intellectual giant. ...Read More
I never got to meet you, and I regret that. I am fascinated by the 10 principles and your creativity is not only refreshing, but above impressive. I can appreciate a beautiful mind as yours even though I have never talked to you. My dream Larry is to go to Burning Man so I too can make a mark and add something special to this world. You may not be on this plane of existence anymore, you have whole dimensions ...Read More
So I showed up in 1997, working as an outdoor recreation planner for BLM-Winnemucca Field Office, having come from New Mexico where special recreation permits were mostly small things - hunter outfitting and guiding - the biggest thing I had done was a horse endurance race with about 200 riders. Very quickly, as no one else in that BLM office wanted anything to do with it, I was handed the mission of processing the Burning Man and Land Speed Record ...Read More
