Oceans

Remembering Zoe Anderson, 1986 – 2010

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ZoeClareAnderson

The TED community is grieving the loss of Zoe Anderson, the 24-year-old daughter of TED Curator Chris Anderson. She died tragically of carbon monoxide poisoning on December 28, 2010. Chris has posted this beautiful tribute to Zoe’s life (including wonderful photos) and her many, many friends have created this Facebook Memorial for her.

A true TEDster, Zoe had attended the conference since 2004, and was an extraordinary polymath herself: She held an MsC in Neuroscience, was a scuba dive-master, a gifted painter and photographer… Also an adventurer, a ring-leader, and a devoted, beloved friend known for her incredible ability to bring people together and joyfully seize the moment. The name “Zoe” means life, and we’re not sure anyone has ever been better named… Zoe had an amazing joie de vivre, an irrepressible spirit. She was beautiful, brilliant, mischievous, luminous. A bright light and a muse. Chris called her his “beautiful, larger-than-life daughter.”

To keep Zoe’s unstoppable spirit alive, Chris and his family have created a fund to preserve a coral reef in her name. It’s a living tribute to her life, and to the underwater wonder that had captured her imagination.

Love and support have been flowing in from across the TED community these past two weeks, and Chris and his family are so grateful to feel this warm support from such an extended network. Our deepest gratitude to all of you for those sentiments — they mean the world — and our deepest sorrow for Chris and his family in the face of this terrible loss.

ZoeDiving