Greenpeace History
List of Characters from Greenpeace
Hundreds, thousands of dedicated volunteers contributed significantly to the creation and development of Greenpeace. Thousand more today continue to contribute critical and creative analysis, management, and action around the world.
Irving and Dorothy Stowe: Jewish-American Quaker pacifists; moved to Vancouver in 1966, and co-founded the Don’t Make A Wave Committee. They remained involved through the two Moruroa campaigns until 1973. Dorothy Stowe continues to host Greenpeace campaigners and disarmament meetings at her home in Vancouver. The Stowes were the early elders and visionaries of Greenpeace; Irving was the concensus leader of the Don’t Make A Wave Committee.
Bob Hunter: Writer and journalist from St. Boniface, Manitoba, popular Vancouver Sun columnist in the 1960s, wrote The Enemies of Anarchy in 1969 and The Storming of the Mind, 1970, on media and social action. Hunter coined “Don’t Make a Wave;” discovered and adopted the “Warriors of the Rainbow” mythology; sailed on the first Greenpeace campaign; became president of Greenpeace in 1973, and lead Greenpeace through its transformation into an international ecological navy. Frank Zelko says: “Hunter had the vision and the guts to take the organization in a new direction. Even though he was hardly suited to the managerial aspects of the task, he helped Greenpeace take its first steps toward professional NGO status. He made plenty of mistakes along the way, but he also got many things right.” His combination of media savvy and absolute dedication to ecology was crucial during the first decade.
Ben and Dorothy Metcalfe: International journalists from Winnipeg, Manitoba; managed the media during the first two Greenpeace expeditions. Ben Metcalfe was a brilliant media strategist, mentor to Hunter in this regard, and he became the first Chairman of the Greenpeace Foundation. Dorothy operated a makeshift international wire service from her home in North Vancouver for two years.
Jim and Marie Bohlen: American Quaker pacifists and Sierra Club members. They moved to Canada in 1967; Jim served as a board member of the Don’t Make A Wave Committee, and was a member of the first crew; and Marie conceived the idea to sail a boat into the test zone at Amchitka.
John Cormack: Skipper of the seiner Phyllis Cormack on the first Greenpeace voyage in 1971 and the first whaling campaign in 1975. A huge challenge in 1971 was to find a skipper and boat. Hunter says: “Without Cormack, there’s no Greenpeace.”
Dr. Patrick Moore: From Winter Harbour, BC; earned a Ph.D. in ecology from UBC, sailed on the first Greenpeace voyage, drafted the “Greenpeace Declaration of Interdependence” with Hunter in 1975, and was president of the Greenpeace Foundation, 1977-79, then president of Greenpeace Canada until 1985.
Bill Darnell: Said “Make it a green peace,” at the close of a Don’t Make a Wave Committee meeting, thereby coining the term “Greenpeace,” used as the boat name, and later as the organization itself.
Rod Marining: Vancouver street theatre artist, saved the entrance to Vancouver’s Stanley Park in 1970, and active with Don’t Make a Wave Committee. He joined the first Greenpeace voyage in Kodiak, seeded Greenpeace in London and Paris in 1972, coined the term “Green” as a political constituency, and served on the Greenpeace board throughout the 1970s.
Lyle Thurston: Medical doctor, sailed on the first Greenpeace voyage and subsequent campaigns, and served on the board of the Greenpeace Foundation throughout the 1970s.
Zoe Hunter (Rahim): Member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in London, where she met Bob Hunter and introduced him to the disarmament movement. Played a significant supporting role during the first to anti-nuclear campaigns and remains active in Amnesty International.
Hamish Bruce: Vancouver lawyer envisioned the “Green Panthers” in 1969, became interim President of Greenpeace in 1973, and helped turn Greenpeace to the whale campaign.
Deeno and Dave Birmingham: Dave was engineer on the first campaign, and Deeno had been involved with Don’t Make a Wave Committee, raising money and recruiting members, from the beginning. They were not involved directly after 1971.
Dr. Paul Spong: New Zealand scientist, who trained the first captive Orcinus orca, Skana, at the Vancouver Aquarium; launched a campaign in 1969 to release captive whales, then in 1971 to save the pelagic whales. Merged his campaign with Greenpeace in 1973.
Linda Spong: Undertook the whale campaign with Paul, served on campaigns, on the Greenpeace board, and in fundraising throughout the 1970s.
Paul Watson: Radical among the radicals, courageous and confrontational. He joined the crew of the Edgewater Fortune (Greenpeace II) to Amchitka, launched the first seal campaign in 1976, but split with Greenpeace over power struggles and his proclivity for violent action. With his Sea Shepherd vessel, he rammed the pirate whaler Sierra and put it out of business.
Bob Cummings: Media correspondent during first campaign and thereafter through the 1970s.
Terry Simmons: founder of Sierra Club of BC and crew on first campaign.
Robert Keziere: Photographer on the first campaign and author of an early Greenpeace pamphlet on the potential dangers of nuclear testing at Amchitka.
Paul Cote: University student from West Vancouver, recruited by Jim Bohlen, served as director of Don’t Make a Wave Committee, and found Captain Cormack. Cote had little to do with Greenpeace thereafter.
Paddy Bergthorson: Organizationer, fundraiser, and promotions
Gp II … Others who contributed significantly to the first campaign include Lou Hogan, Hank Johansen, Chris Bergthorson, Jim McCandless, Elizabeth Dunn, Jason & Katerina Halm, Leroy Jensen, Will & Ann Jones, Gerry Dieter, and David Garrick. Bobbie Stowe, and Barbara Stowe were also involved in the first campaign.
David McTaggart was a Canadian real estate developer, semi-retired in the South Pacific, recruited by Ben Metcalfe to sail his ketch into the French bomb-test zone; rammed and beaten by French sailors, won a court case against the French government, first Chairman of Greenpeace International in 1979 and served with Greenpeace until his death in March 2001.
Katerina Halm: Bookkeeper, treasurer, and fundraiser, 1973-1975.
Eileen Chivers: Helped supply and manage the 1975 anti-whaling campaign and remained active in Greenpeace thereafter through 1980 as board member, campaigner, campaign and office manager, and in merchandise and fundraising.
Bobbi Innes: Workflow manager for a cable company, joined Greenpeace in 1973; served as board member and organized the first Greenpeace office and sustained fundraising projects through 1980.
Rex Weyler: American draft resister, photographer, journalist; joined Greenpeace in 1973 and served as board member, editor and publisher of the Greenpeace Chronicles newspaper, and campaigner through 1982.
Bill Gannon: Born in Dublin, Greenpeace accountant 1975-1979, guided Greenpeace through five years of financial turmoil and established first international accounting system.
David Garrick (AKA: Walrus): Anthropologist and historian; involved with early Don’t Make a Wave and SPEC campaigns, co-founder of Greenpeace Chronicles, served on first whale and seal campaigns, and remained involved with Greenpeace through 1979. Formed Sea Shepherd Society with Paul Watson and later served as environmental consultant to Canadian Member of Parliament Jim Fulton.
Taeko Miwa: Japanese translator and headed Japan delegation during first three Greenpeace whale campaigns; fashioned Greenpeace Japanese relations policies and established first Greenpeace presence in Japan.
Bree Drummond: An environmental pioneer who sat in trees to protect them in 1974; an early member of the Stop Ahab Committee and Greenpeace anti-whaling campaigns; a moral force who helped turn Greenpeace toward ecology. Deceased 1994.
Carlie Trueman: Zodiak maintenance expert on the first whale campaign, broke into the male-dominated campaign crews.
Mel Gregory: musician, Greenpeace band.
George Korotva: Czechoslovakian Russian translator during whale campaign; skipper of the James Bay in 1976 and the Ohana Kai in 1977.
Davie Gibbons and Marvin Storrow: Greenpeace lawyers, 1973-1979.
Michael Chechik, Fred Easton, Ron Precious: The primary film crews, 1975-79
The crew and supporters of the Greenpeace III: Nigel Ingram, Gene Horne, Ann-Marie Horne Mabel Hetherington, Grant Davidson, David Moodie, Martini Gotje, Thierry Garby-Lacrouts, Janine Bensasson, Brice Lalonde.
And of course, the list goes on and on: Phyllis Cormack, Kazumi Tanaka, Al Clapp, Al Hewitt, John and Toni Lilly, Joan McIntyre, Farley Mowat, Brian Davies,
Crew of La Flor: Rolf Heimann, skipper of La Flor, “Greenpeace IV,” that sailed to Moruroa in 1974, and crew, Richard Hudson and Rien Achterberg.
And the European Greenpeacers.. Remi Parmentier, Susi Newborn, Denise Bell, Alan Thornton, and so forth..
Fernando Pereira, photographer killed aboard the Rainbow Warrior in 1985. For information about this incident see Eyes of Fire, by David Robie or The Bombing of the Warrior. For an account of the French spies who killed Pereira, see Who Was Responsible.