Waves of Compassion

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Frank Zelko, a historian writing his doctoral dissertation on Greenpeace at the University of Kansas, says 'Unlike Friends of the Earth, for example, which sprung fully formed from the forehead of David Brower, Greenpeace developed in a more evolutionary manner. There was no single founder, but Hunter was significant because he had the vision and the guts to take the organization in a new direction once the anti-nuclear aspects wore thin. He made plenty of mistakes along the way, but he also got many things right. He was the archetypal hippie intellectual/activist but with a knowledge of media and a commitment to ecology. People took a liking to Bob and were willing to put their trust in him.'

'Greenpeace captured the public imagination because it resonated with their own instinctive fears of extinction and hopes for survival,' says Hunter. 'It was reality mythology.'

In the summer of 2000 Thilo Bode, then president of Greenpeace International, invited Hunter to Europe to speak to the young activists. 'They're just like we once were,' he observes proudly, 'sincere and dedicated. But the bureaucracy of Greenpeace is a whole other matter. They showed me their 'Media Protocol Manual.' My god! It was thicker than the Toronto phone book.' Hunter took the media representatives out for a beer and shared with them some of the media secrets of early Greenpeace. 'Chuck out the manuals,' he told them. 'Think for yourselves. The media is not interested in yesterday's hashed-over stories.' And he reminded them:

'In the beginning, there was no protocol.'

Rex Weyler was a director of the Greenpeace Foundation and campaign photographer from 1974-1979. He was publisher of the Greenpeace Chronicles magazine from 1975 to 1979, a cofounder of Greenpeace International, and a director of Greenpeace Canada until 1982. In 1980s he helped draft legislation for BC's new pulp mill effluent regulations, limiting dioxin releases into the Georgia Strait. He is currently the publisher and editor of Shared Vision magazine. He lives in Vancouver with his wife Lisa Gibbons, and has 3 sons.

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