We Lose Two Outstanding Environmentalists: Jerry Mander and David Kirby

By Mark J. Palmer

Two great friends of the Earth passed away in the past few weeks, a great loss to the environmental movement.

Jerry Mander was a skilled advertising writer, but he grew disillusioned with the superficial application of advertising and joined up with David Brower, the founder of Earth Island Institute, to fight dam development on the Colorado River. Together, when Dave was the first Executive Director of the Sierra Club, they revolutionized conservation advocacy in the 1950s and ‘60s by promoting unique full-page newspaper ads. The Wall Street Journal called Jerry “the Ralph Nader of advertising.”

In 1966, the most famous ad they launched attacked plans to build two dams on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park to provide water and electricity. Proponents of the dam scheme told Congress the resulting reservoir in the famous canyon would bring viewers closer to the beautiful rock walls. Jerry and Dave’s ad headline in the New York Times asked the question: “Should We Also Flood the Sistine Chapel, so Tourists Can Get Nearer to the Ceiling?” The dams were blocked, and a new wave of environmental advocacy was born.

Jerry worked very closely with staff at Friends of the Earth and with many early projects at Earth Island Institute. His collaboration included creating seminal ads with Rainforest Action Network and the International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP).

Just last year, Jerry published a new book, titled, 70 Ads to Change the World; An Illustrated Memoir of Social Change. Many of our campaign ads are featured in it.

Jerry mentored numerous environmentalists for decades. He played a key role at the Public Media Center and was a close friend and collaborator with Doug Tompkins as Tompkins created the Foundation for Deep Ecology and went on to establish major land conservation projects in Chile and Argentina. Jerry's leadership at the International Forum on Globalization gave rise to the anti-corporate movement.

Dave Phillips, IMMP’s Director and co-founder of Earth Island, remembers Jerry as “…always far ahead of his time. He was genius in understanding how to help change public attitudes. He issued early warnings of the threats of technology and globalization, and the hope of Deep Ecology.”

Jerry’s most famous writing was his book, Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television. With his shock of white hair and brilliant mind, he advocated for the Earth for decades. He will be sorely missed.

David Kirby was a writer who exposed the severe damage inflicted on intelligent orcas ripped from their ocean homes and families and confined to small concrete tanks to do tricks for paying audiences.

His book Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity (2012) chronicled the troubling treatment of orcas, which led to tragedy when Tilikum, an adult male orca, killed a SeaWorld trainer. His book looked at the many problems aquariums encounter in trying to maintain healthy orcas, which are clearly unsuited to captivity.

Most captive orcas die young in their 20s in captivity; but in the wild, male orcas can live to be 50 years old and females can reach 90 years or more. There is no record of a wild orca attacking and killing a human; orcas in captivity have killed four people (three trainers) and injured dozens of orca trainers.

Kirby’s writing was an effective antidote to the SeaWorld Corporation’s lies to the public about “thriving” orcas. His book came out a year before the shocking documentary Blackfish was released.

I served on several public panels with David, discussing his book and the problem of keeping orcas in captivity. He was not only a great writer, but an engaging speaker and powerful advocate for orcas as well. He wrote several other books on important social issues, including New York Times bestsellers, and won many awards. His book Animal Factory is an expose of factory farms in the US.

Both Jerry and David made major contributions to protect and heal the Earth. We can all draw inspiration from these friends who utilized their intelligence, creativity, and passion to awaken and activate us all for a better world.

RIP.