Category Archives: People defending the earth

Greenpeace crew member Michael Baily blockades a Russian harpoon ship in a Zodiac. c. 1976.  (Photo by Rex Weyler, courtesy of Greenpeace).

By Bill Kovarik

He was a Greenpeace spokesman, the CNN science unit producer, and publisher of  Environmental Health News.  Peter Dykstra covered a lot of ground in his 67 years.  His death on July 31 in Atlanta, Ga. was a sad end to a life of joyful and spirited service to the environment.

I first met Peter Dykstra when the Rainbow Warrior came to visit Charleston SC in 1982. At the time I was privileged to work for the Charleston Post-Courier newspaper and was assigned to the environment beat. 

The Charleston paper was known at the time for its ultra-conservative editors, and when the Rainbow Warrior docked in town, I was told not to write about the “hippies of the sea,” as they called Greenpeace.     

This seemed unfair. Other coastal US cities like Baltimore and Wilmington were rolling out the red carpet for the Rainbow Warrior.  So when Greenpeace media director Peter Dykstra called me on the phone to ask about our coverage, I told him the situation,  and he came up with a clever solution.  

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