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Irving Stowe

Iring Harold Stowe (July 25, 1915 - October 28, 1974) was a Yale lawyer, activist and visionary who has been called "the father of Greenpeace" (answers.com). He was named one of the “BAM 100” (Brown University’s 100 most influential graduates of the 20th century”) (Brown Alumni Monthly Nov/Dec 2000).

Irving Stowe was born Irving Strasmich in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in Economics and Phi Beta Kappa from Yale Law School. He studied Mandarin in the 1930’s, believing it to be the language of the future. He chaired the Legal Advisory Committee of Rhode Island Council for Human Rights, marched in protests against nuclear proliferation, and on his wedding night (an elopement with Dorothy Rabinowitz, a social worker and fellow activist,) both bride and groom attended a benefit dinner for the N.A.A.C.P.

In 1961 Stowe moved with his wife and their two young children to New Zealand, where he taught Admiralty Law at Auckland University. He joined protests against the Vietnam War. Born to Jewish parents, he became an ardent pacifist and changed his religion to Quaker and his surname to Stowe, emulating Quaker author Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1966, Stowe and his family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he became a full-time activist. He drew up the Constitution for a small group trying to stop nuclear testing on Amchitka Island, the Don't Make a Wave Committee. Fellow activists Jim and Marie Bohlen and law student Paul Coté were among the earliest members. At the end of one meeting, Stowe flashed the "V" sign customary in the Sixties and said, "Peace". Bill Darnell responded "Let's make it a green peace", coining the phrase that has become ubiquitous.

An environmental columnist, Stowe understood the symbiotic relationship between the media and activism and recruited gifted journalists to the Amchitka campaign. Always passionate about music, he played classical violin, had his stereo equipment custom built, and to finance the first Greenpeace voyage he organized a benefit concert with Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Phil Ochs and Chilliwack. He was on the executive board of the New Democratic Party of Canada but declined requests to run for office, preferring to work independently as an activist.

In 1972 the Don't Make a Wave Committee officially changed its name to Greenpeace. Stowe died of pancreatic cancer two years later, at the age of 59. After his death, newspaper columnists characterized him as “a man of principle” (Bob Cummings "Earth Loses a Good Friend", The Georgia Straight November 7th 1974), one who "made a substantial impact on this world, perhaps as much of an impact as could possibly sought after outside of the realms of politics, literature and art.” (Bob Hunter, Vancouver Sun'', November 6th, 1974).