Freire’s 1997 death left a worldwide activist network to continue his work

Evidence

Paulo Freire died unexpectedly May 2, 1997, at age seventy-five on an operating table in Brazil. The terrible news spread quickly around the globe, shocking and saddening many. For those who knew him or of him, a big hole suddenly opened in the world. When figures of Paulo’s stature pass, the gap they leave behind can’t be filled quickly or simply, though many have stepped up handsomely to the task. — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 44