Tompkins Buell co-founded the Esprit clothing and The North Face brand with her first husband, Doug Tompkins whom she met when she picked him up while he was hitchhiking. Mr. Tompkins used his fortune to buy roughly 2.2 million acres through his various conservation groups, Mr. Butler said. In the churning water, Tompkins and Ridgeway capsized. The second best result is Doug W Thompson age 80+ in North Port, FL. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. Douglas Rainsford Tompkins was born on March 20, 1943, in Ohio. Remembering The North Face Founder Douglas Tompkins. With Tompkins at the helm, Esprit ballooned in popularity, eventually reaching $1 billion in sales. [10] They married in 1964 in San Francisco, where Tompkins borrowed $5,000 from a bank to set up The North Face, now a global retailing company. The third result is Doug Lee Thompson age 60s in El Dorado Hills, CA in the Serrano neighborhood. At the time in South America, there was no precedent for private individuals much less foreigners spending gargantuan sums to save wilderness. The path was not always smooth, however. It is an ecocentric view that rejects the idea of inherent human superiority and instead gives equal moral weight to all elements of naturefrom the living to the inanimate. The two began a romance and married. Tompkins' eventual movie, Mountain of Storms, never achieved commercial success, but it inspired a generation of outdoor-adventure road-trippers. Well let you know when more stories drop. Douglas Tompkins, an outdoorsman, environmental activist, conservationist and entrepreneur who co-founded the North Face clothing company in San Francisco, died Tuesday in a kayaking accident in southern Chile. [1], She attended primary school at the Convent School of the Sacred Heart, Ojai Valley School, and Miss Burkes School. By the time the craft had towed the two to shore, Tompkins had been in the water for more than an hour. Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies in kayak accident, Highway threatens Chilean preserve created by S.F. Douglas Tompkins, the entrepreneur and environmentalist who co-founded outdoor equipment giant The North Face almost 50 years ago, has died in a kayaking accident in the Chilean wilderness . It was taboo to advocate for environmental causes, said Langman, who believes Chileans came to embrace Tompkins in the last years of his life. This Walking Pad treadmill made getting 10,000 steps a HOKA dropped a brand new version of their most popular shoe, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). Esprits success in the 1980s fueled much of the conservation work that occupied Mr. Tompkins for much of the rest of his life. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SPOKESPERSON FOR THE TOMPKINS FAMILY, HERNAN MLADINIC, SAYING: We believe that humans have an ethical obligation to share the planet with other species, and that we must reorient our values and activities so that all forms of life can flourish. After purchasing large blocks of wilderness, they worked to create national parks, believing that this governmental designation serves as the best mode of guaranteeing long-term conservation. [1] For high school, she attended Lowell High School in the class of 1960 but she did not graduate. The health service in the Aysn administrative region said Mr. Tompkins was boating with five others on General Carrera Lake when their kayaks capsized in heavy waves. Mr. Tompkins was born in Ohio in 1943 and grew up in Millbrook, N.Y. A ski racer, rock climber and alpinist with several first ascents to his credit, he founded the California Mountaineering Guide Service in 1963. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he and Susie Tompkins Buell, his first wife, co-founded and ran two companies: the outdoor equipment and clothing company The North Face and the Esprit clothing company. In 1991, Mr. Tompkins bought the 42,000-acre Reihu Farm and founded the Pumaln Project, dedicated to the protection of the lands primeval native rain forest, which was being threatened by logging. Doug Thompson. (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PHYSICIAN, CARLOS SALAZAR, SAYING: Zamboni, Tala, Sebastin Di Martino, and Ignacio Jimnez-Prez (2017). U.S. environmentalist and businessman Douglas Tompkins, the founder of outdoor clothing and equipment company The North Face, died on Tuesday during a kayaking trip in Chile, local health . Despite vital signs, and the fact that he had not been resuscitated for a long period, we tried everything possible, thinking we could turn the situation of hypothermia into our favour, but after several hours we realised that the situation was irreversible. Together they founded the North Face as a small ski and backpacking retail shop in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. Rumors now range from the conspiratorial to the phantasmagorical: Tompkins is creating a second Israel in South America; he is siphoning off the worlds last freshwater resources for other American millionaires; he is building bunkers for a pending nuclear war. We want to do something good, but youve got to be very nave and out to lunch to think that certain sectors of society are not going to put up resistance, Mr. Tompkins told The New York Times. Esprit emerged from the buyout so deeply in debt that in less than two years it went into technical default on its outstanding loans. [5] Due to this, he was posthumously naturalized Chilean. Chiles army said that a patrol boat rescued three of the boaters and that a helicopter lifted out the other three. [14], In 2016, Tompkins Buell donated $500,000 to lawyer Lisa Bloom's firm in order to assist women who came forward with sexual harassment and assault allegations against Donald Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election. The retail store named after the coldest, most unforgiving side of a mountain was founded in North Beach as a way to equip mountaineers, explorers and climbers. Tom Butler, editorial projects director for Conservacion Patagonica the land trust founded in 2000 by Tompkins and his second wife described the accident as a total shock to his family and friends. Doug Tompkins in Patagonia National Park. The good he did in the world will not end.. According to a 2012 profile in Earth Island Journal, many Chileans and Argentines worried that his land purchases and outspoken opposition to salmon farming and dam construction threatened their national sovereignty and stunted economic development. A keen conservationist, he bought up huge swathes of land in southern . He was very brave and that was his way of being; he always lived very intense, in that anything could happen. Three members of the group were reportedly rescued by a military patrol boat while a helicopter lifted out the other three. Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by his mother Faith Tompkins and brother John Tompkins, both of Millbrook, N.Y.; daughter Summer Tompkins Walker of San Francisco; and five grandchildren. [3] She is also noted for her close friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton and her status as a Democratic Party mega-donor. He founded the Tompkins Conservation with his second wife, Kristine -- herself a former chief executive of the outdoor clothing company Patagonia -- and poured hundreds of millions of dollars into conservation projects. To have lost his life in a lake and have nature just sort of gobble him up is just shocking.. "We spent 31 days in a snow cave, and that's grim," Chouinard recalls. Need it sooner? Douglas Tompkins shakes hands with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos in 2003. ne irreplaceable piece of writing on Tompkins ideological shift. [20] The Tompkinses' conservation efforts focused on preserving wild landscapes and biodiversity. A military patrol boat rescued three of the boaters, and a helicopter lifted out the other three, according to the army. No one else was seriously injured in the accident. Lake General Carrera is the size of an inland sea, 21 times larger than Manhattan, with temperatures ranging that dip to 4C (39F), even in the summer months. But what he sees as philanthropy, local ranchers . Mr. Tompkins, an experienced kayaker, and his fellow paddlers capsized after being hit by large waves in bad weather, according to reports from the Chilean army. The following year, he married longtime Patagonia CEO Kristine McDivitt, who helped him found the land trust Conservacion Patagonica in 2000. Tompkins, however, had spent nearly two hours in the water by the time he was rescued. Woman Funded Sexual Harassment Cases Against Trump", "Meet one of Hillary Clinton's biggest donors in California. Yvon Chouinard, 77, founder of clothing company Patagonia, was in a kayak with Jib Ellison, founder and CEO of sustainability consulting firm Blu Skye. There wasnt anything we were afraid of, there wasnt anything we couldnt figure out how to do, said Susie Tompkins Buell, who was married to Mr. Tompkins until 1989. He was a passionate advocate for the environment, and his legacy of conservation is one that we hope to help continue in the work we do every day. He was eventually pulled from the water, but died of hypothermia at Coyhaique Regional Hospital. Forecast and Projection . He said that the group was perhaps too confident for the lakes fickle conditions. When he wasnt able to get the right seeds for tree restoration in nearby nurseries, he opened his own. Il surfista cileno, ambasciatore di Patagonia, si batte per proteggere Punta de Lobos e per trasformarla in una riserva naturale per il surf. I remember coming here the first time in 1996, and if you were talking about environmental issues you were looked upon as a radical, almost a communist. Both men described it as the best and most important expedition of their lives. Tompkins, who grew up in Millbrook, New York, is survived by his wife, Kristine, and his two children, Summer Walker and Quincey Imhoff. Two weeks later, they loaded a Ford Econoline with surfboards and climbing gear in Ventura, California, and headed south. Rarely appearing outdoors without a collared shirt or a cashmere sweater, Tompkins seemed determined to prove that no specialty clothing was needed on an adventure. He must have felt the frustration of an environmentalist who heard himself sounding like the very developers he wanted to stand against.. But he lived the life while others sat behind a desk.. People named Doug Thompson. Message and data rates may apply. Tompkins designed tents that were some of the first to avoid a pole in the middle, by using bendable rods threaded through exterior sleeves instead. He had assembled and preserved the land which became the largest gift of private land to any South American government. Select this result to view Doug W Thompson's phone number, address, and more. The two had two daughters and co-founded the Esprit clothing company. Born in 1943 in Conneaut, Ohio, Tompkins displayed an almost intractable restlessness his entire life. Tompkins spent a "considerable amount of time" in 40F (4C) waters. See Photos. [37], In Brazil, the environmentalist Douglas Tompkins was specially honored during the celebrations of 30 years of the Society for the Protection of Wildlife with the video A Natureza do Brasil with images of Haroldo Pallo Jnior and the Brazilian pianist Salete Chiamulera.[38]. Select this result to view Doug W Thompson's phone number, address, and more. Revisiting their work in The Atlantic last year, Diana Saverin wrote of how Tompkins fealty to his ideology kept him a misunderstood figure. Who was Douglas Tompkins, the founder of The North Face, Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered, Creative Commons Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Non opere derivate 4.0 Internazionale. The pair tried repeatedly to right the boat. North Face co-founder and conservation luminary Doug Tompkins, 72, died yesterday in Coyhaique, Chile. That trip had a big influence on both Doug and I, said Chouinard, who five years later founded the Patagonia clothing company, which operates under a mandate to take care of the environment. In the 1990s Tompkins and his second wife, Kris McDivitt Tompkins bought and conserved more than 2million acres (810,000ha) of wilderness in Chile and Argentina, exceeding that of any other private individuals in the region, thus becoming among the largest private land-owners in the world. [24], Led by Tompkins, the Conservation Land Trust acquired 150,000 hectares of old cattle ranches bordering the provincial park, including habitats not then represented in the park. In 1989, Susie bought him out of Esprit for $170 million, and Tompkins turned all of his intensity, and most of his new wealth, toward conservation. On Tuesday the fourth day of the trip wind gusts picked up over the course of the morning until the kayakers were battling 2.5-meter swells in 60kmph winds. VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF THE COYHAIQUE HOSPITAL WHERE NORTHFACE FOUNDER DOUGLAS TOMPKINS WAS TREATED AND PASSED AWAY The Brazilian government has started evicting illegal gold miners, responsible for the health emergency that has hit the Yanomami people. The accident took place in Chile, where Tompkins lived with his wife Kristine McDivitt, whilst he was kayaking with a group of five people. Douglas Tompkins died at the age of 72, on the 8th of December: billionaire, ecologist and co-founder of The North Face, renowned outdoor apparel brand. His daughter, Quincey Tompkins Imhoff, of Healdsburg, remembered a time as a girl when her father landed a small plane on a remote beach in Baja California only to notice later that the tide was rolling in and covering the wheels. In an interview with La Tercera, the co-pilot of the rescue helicopter said the craft had no mechanism to airlift Tompkins directly from the water. [8] In 1963, Tompkins founded the California Mountaineering Guide Service. Buy used, trade in and fix your gear through Worn Wear. But with the case of Douglas Tompkins, the headlines and context dont match up. Around the lake, mountains rise up on all sides forming a highly variable microclimate the weather can turn from sunny and calm to snowing with gale-force winds in a matter of hours. Four years ago, Tompkins and Chouinard made their last first ascent in . Through the Foundation for Deep Ecology, Tompkins published a series of large-format, activist photograph books on environmental issues, including: In addition, The Foundation for Deep Ecology had a long history as a grant-maker in categories such as Biodiversity and Wilderness, Ecological Agriculture, and Megatechnology and Economic Globalization, although in-house publishing is now its main focus. [9] It was during this time he met Susie Russell, a casino employee who gave him a lift while hitch-hiking to Lake Tahoe. [citation needed], Tompkins also was involved in several large environmental campaigns in Chile and Argentina, such as the "Patagonia Sin Represas" campaign, which opposed the construction of dams on two of the largest and wildest rivers in the Patagonia region of Chile. Doug Tompkins passed away doing the very thing he loved, and he will be remembered as one of the most important characters in environmental activism and ecology our generation has ever known. Conservation Finance Network. Esprit, died in the terrain he was devoted to conserving. Get a beanie on orders $125+ for XPLR Pass members. They divorced in 1989. Peter Fimrite is The Chronicle's lead science reporter, covering environmental, atmospheric and ecosystem science. Please remove some items to proceed. He died from hypothermia at a nearby hospital. "It's almost as if we've had a subconscious wish to invite catastrophe so we can try to get out of it. Sign up for exclusive offers, original stories, activism awareness, events and more. We are the space in which education becomes determination, feeling becomes action, the goal becomes solution and result. [4] The Tompkinses were focused on park creation, wildlife recovery, ecological agriculture, and activism, with the goal of saving biodiversity. [17] By 1978, sales topped $100 million a year and the company had formed partnerships in Germany and Hong Kong. Shop The North Face Canada End of Season Sale for winter deals on jackets, backpacks, coats, shoes, hoodies, and other outdoor gear for men, women, and kids. [1], In 1968, Tompkins Buell and Jane Tise co-founded the Plain Jane clothing label. Douglas Tompkins, co-founder of North Face, dies after Chile kayak accident, Patagonias controversial new national park, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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