This morning, August 12, 2010 at approximately 8 AM ET, Isaac Bonewits passed away peacefully in his sleep. All his brothers and sisters arrived at his side last night. His family and friends surround him now.
Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949, died August 12, 2010[1]) was an influential Neopagan leader and author. He was a liturgist, speaker, journalist, Neo-druid priest, and a singer, songwriter, and independent recording artist. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits has been heavily involved in occultism since the 1960s.In 1983 Bonewits founded Ar nDraiocht Fein (also known as "A Druid Fellowship" or ADF), which was incorporated in 1990 in the state of Delaware as a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization. He made the organization's first public announcement in 1984, and began the membership sign-up at the first WinterStar Symposium in 1984. Over the years Bonewits has also had varying degrees of involvement with Ordo Templi Orientis, Gardnerian Wicca, the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (a Wiccan organization not to be confused with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) as well as others.[6] Bonewits was a regular presenter at Neopagan festivals in the US.In 1990, Bonewits was diagnosed with Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. Although the illness curtailed many of his activities and travels for a time, he remained Archdruid of ADF until 1996. In that year, he resigned from the position of Archdruid but retains the lifelong title of ADF Archdruid Emeritus.
A songwriter, singer and recording artist, he has produced two CDs of Pagan music and numerous recorded lectures and panel discussions, produced and distributed by the Association for Consciousness Exploration. He lived in Rockland County, New York, and was a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS). On July 23, 2004 he was married in a handfasting ceremony to a former vice-president of the organization, Phaedra Heyman Bonewits, and has a son from a previous marriage to author Deborah Lipp, Arthur Shaffrey Lipp-Bonewits. At the time of the handfasting, the marriage was not yet legal because he had not yet been legally divorced from Ms. Lipp, although they had been separated for several years by that point. Paperwork and legalities caught up on December 31, 2007 making them legally married.
