Robert Hunter (journalist)

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Robert (Bob) Lorne Hunter (October 13, 1941 – May 2, 2005) was a Canadian environmentalist, journalist, author and politician. A member of the Don't Make a Wave Committee in 1969 and co-founder of Greenpeace in 1972 with Patrick Moore and several members, Hunter was a long-time campaigner for environmental causes and helped lead a successful campaign to ban commercial whaling. He was named by Time as one of the ten "eco-heroes" of the 20th century and is charged with coining the terms "mindbomb" and "eco-warrior".

Born in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Hunter's career in journalism began in the 1960s at the Winnipeg Tribune and the Vancouver Sun, where he focused on the counterculture as well as environmental issues. Beginning in 1988, he worked as a commentator and reporter for Toronto's Citytv and, since its launch, its all-news sister channel CP24. He created many documentaries about Canada's north that are still often aired on CP24 in off-peak hours. He was also the longtime "Enviro" columnist in Toronto's eye weekly.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Environmental activism

Robert Hunter was on the first expedition of the Don't Make a Wave Committee in 1971, titled Greenpeace I. This was a halibut seiner by the name of Phyllis Cormack, chartered to travel to Amchitka to attempt to halt the underground nuclear bomb test codenamed Cannikin by the United States military beneath the island of Amchitka, Alaska.

In 1975 Robert Hunter led the Greenpeace expedition against the Soviet Whaling fleet, along with lifelong friend and activist, Paul Watson and Patrick Moore. The expedition chartered the Phyllis Cormack again, and pioneered using inflatable zodiacs as a shield between the harpoon and the whale.

He participated on many Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd campaigns, and was on the advisory board for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for several years. A Sea Shepherd vessel was named for him after his death.

[edit] Politics

Hunter surprised many when he entered politics as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in a 2001 provincial by-election in Beaches--East York. Hunter's environmentalism had led many to assume that his politics were more in line with the New Democratic Party or the Greens, and he had frequently criticized Liberal politicians in his columns. The by-election campaign became bitter in its final days when sections of Hunter's 1988 travelogue On the Sky, were faxed to Hunter's opponents. (The origin of the fax was never confirmed.) The excerpt contained a first-person account of having sex with (possibly underage) prostitutes in Bangkok. Hunter's New Democratic opponents went public with attacks on Hunter's personal integrity. "It says something about [Bob Hunter's] character he could write such nasty, disgusting stuff about young girls in Thailand," said NDP MPP Marilyn Churley. [1]

Hunter launched a libel suit against the Ontario NDP in response. "I'm personally offended, first of all as a writer, that they can't tell the distinction between fiction and non-fiction, and otherwise as a family man," said the 59-year-old grandfather.

Hunter insisted the book was satirical fiction and chastised the NDP for attacking his artistic freedom. Later, a contrite Ms. Churley said: "I do regret saying that. It's up to the voters in Beaches-East York ... to make up their minds. I don't think he's unfit for office. I was very disturbed by the book. I am a feminist ... I found it very revolting."

In the end, Hunter lost by almost 4,000 votes to Michael Prue of the NDP. However, despite these results, Hunter in 2002 called for the Liberals and the Green Party of Ontario to form an electoral alliance.

[edit] Author

Hunter wrote numerous books on environmental subjects. In 1991, he won the Governor General's Award for literature for his book Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past. He also wrote on matters relating to aboriginal rights in Canada and remained in contact with Greenpeace and other environmental groups until his death.

[edit] Death

Hunter was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998. After his doctor told him that his prostate cancer was incurable, Hunter went to Hospital Santa Monica, in Mexico, founded by Kurt Donsbach, an American naturopathic doctor and chiropractor. Hunter started treatment in December 2004, and reported progress, but died in May 2005.[1]

His ashes were scattered in northern Canada near the Arctic on a canoeing trip, at Tortuga Bay in the Galapagos Islands, and on top of an Antarctic iceberg during the 2005/2006 Sea Shepherd campaign against whaling by the Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

He is survived by his wife Bobbi, and his children Emily (at 21, a student at the University of Toronto/ activist who joined Sea Shepherd on their Galapagos 2004 campaign and most-recently on their anti-whaling 2005/2006 Antarctica campaign) and Will (at 27, a member of the Young Liberals who works at Ontario government's Ministry of the Environment in the role of communications assistant). Hunter also has two children from his first marriage: Justine, a political reporter with CBC-TV in Victoria; and Conan, who works on computer integration with the federal government in Ottawa. Hunter had four grandchildren at the time of his death.

[edit] Books by Robert Hunter

  • Hunter, Robert (1968). Erebus. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1970). The Enemies of Anarchy. McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-4293-0. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1971). The Storming Of The Mind. McClelland and Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-4294-9. 
  • Hunter, Robert and Rex Weyler (1978). To Save The Whale: The Voyages of Greenpeace. Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-87701-114-1. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1979). Warriors Of The Rainbow: A Chronicle of the Greenpeace Movement. Henry Holt & Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-03-043741-5. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1980). The Greenpeace Chronicle. ISBN 0-330-25939-3. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1985). Cry Wolf!. Shepherds of the Earth Pub. 
  • Hunter, Robert (1988). On the Sky: Zen and the Art of International Freeloading. ISBN 0-7710-4289-2. 
  • Hunter, Robert (2003). Thermageddon: Countdown to 2030. Arcade Publishing. ISBN 1-55970-667-8. 
  • Hunter, Robert and Robert Keziere (2005). The Greenpeace to Amchitka : An Environmental Odyssey. Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 1-55152-178-4. 

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Not without a fight" Simon Hayter, Toronto Star, Jan. 21, 2005

[edit] External links