About Bob Hunter

About Bob Hunter

Background:

Many have argued that Bob Hunter was the spiritual

father of Greenpeace. Greenpeace International itself

states, "Perhaps more than anyone else, Bob Hunter

invented Greenpeace." He was the first President of the

Greenpeace Foundation and amongst other things, he

spearheaded a successful campaign to ban commercial

whaling. He was a veteran advocacy columnist,

scriptwriter, author, and lecturer. Bob began his

communications career at the Winnipeg Tribune and

later wrote a regular column for the Vancouver Sun,

which was instrumental in promoting environmental

awareness throughout British Columbia at the time.

After his time with Greenpeace he continued to focus

the public on giving their local and global attention

towards environmental issues as the Ecology

Specialist for City TV; a television news station in

Toronto.

Bob served as both a crewmember and provider of

much-needed media coverage on the original

Greenpeace voyage to stop American nuclear testing

in 1971 near the Aleutian Islands. It was his idea, after

the first voyage, to transform the original organization,

the “Don’t Make a Wave Committee” into an ongoing

“non-violent ecological strike-force” capable of traveling

anywhere in the world. He renamed the organization the

‘Greenpeace Foundation’ in 1972 and this is what

became Greenpeace International by 1979. He steered

the organization away from just an anti-nuclear focus

towards the whale and seal campaigns and gave

Greenpeace its bearing as a broad-based ecological

activist organization. Greenpeace has now become a

large international non-governmental organization with its

headquarters in Amsterdam. Greenpeace has been

Canada’s most important contribution to the global

environmental movement. Bob Hunter served as the first

President and Chairman of the Board of Greenpeace, and

led the organization through its first seven years of growth.

For more information on Greenpeace, please see

greenpeace.org .

Bob was proud of Greenpeace, but he was equally proud of his involvement with, and support of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, headed by his lifelong friend Paul Watson. Bob and Bobbi Hunter gave emotional and material support to Sea Shepherd from its inception in 1977 until Bob’s passing in the spring of 2005. Bobbi and her family continue to respect and support the work of the Sea Shepherd Society and their important marine protection campaigns. Bob and Paul Watson shipped together on many activist voyages after they left Greenpeace, allowing them to continue their direct action involvement, and together they made a huge impact on global awareness of the great oceanic ecological issues. For more information on Sea Shepherd, please see seashepherd.org .

Bob’s later years were spent in Toronto working for City TV as their Ecology Specialist, raising ecological awareness using the power of the media to take his message to people on a broader and more widespread scale. To learn more about City TV Toronto, please see citytv.com/toronto

He was much loved and admired in Toronto and around the world. Since his passing, he has been honoured by many. One notable honour of considerable significance was when the Ontario Liberal government, led by Premier Dalton McGuinty, dedicated a 550 acre park in Bob’s name. This park is called the Bob Hunter Memorial Park and is located in Markham, Ontario. It is proudly supported by our Foundation.

Before Bob passed away from his battle with prostate cancer on May 2nd 2005, he was married for nearly 30 years to the love of his life, Bobbi Hunter, who was also a co-founder of Greenpeace. He had four loving children and four grandchildren who he cherished. From his first marriage his two children are Conan and Justine. Conan Hunter currently works as a computer analyst for the government of Canada and lives in Ottawa, Ontario. He is married to Indrani, and has three children of his own – Alex, Chaz and Dexter. Justine Hunter, a journalist with CBC Television in Victoria, B.C., lives with her partner Darryl and have had their first son, Rhys. From Bob’s second marriage, he had Will and Emily. Will Hunter currently works as a Communications Advisor to the Liberal Caucus in the government of Ontario. He is engaged to Veronica Hart. Emily Hunter is an activist/student at the University of Toronto currently studying journalism. Bobbi, Will and Emily all live in Toronto, Ontario.

Bob Hunter with his four children

(Conan & Justine Hunter on the right and Will & Emily Hunter on the left)

Bob Hunter with Bobbi on their wedding day in 1974.

If you would like to honour Bob Hunter, please support the Bob Hunter Foundation.

Support The Bob Hunter Foundation

Published Works

For information & Resources to Bob Hunter's Books and Other Materials,

see: Books & More

Awards

In 1982 and 1985, Western Magazine Awards (five-time winner) and won Best Western Magazine article

In 1991 awarded the Governor General’s Award for English non-fiction for his book "Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past"

In 1994 Canadian Environmental Award presented by the Governor of Canada

In 1996, Bob received a CanPro Award for his News Special "Eco War on the Grand Banks"

In 1999 he received the Wylund Foundations “Eco Pioneer Award”

In 2000 the Vancouver Sun named him as one of the 100 most influential people to have ever lived in British Columbia

In 2000 Time Magazine listed him as one of the “Heroes of the Century” for his efforts to defend nature along with Jacques Cousteau, Paul Watson, Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall and Theodore Roosevelt