A Wild Idea
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
In 1991, Doug Tompkins abandoned his comfortable life in San Francisco and flew 6,500 miles south to a shack in Patagonia. Instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, Tompkins stared out the window at Volcano Michinmahuida, blanketed in snow and prowled by mountain lions. Shielded by waterfalls and wilderness, the founder of such groundbreaking companies as Esprit and The North Face suddenly regretted the corporate capitalism from which he had profited from years. As a CEO he had caused much pollution and, “made things nobody needed.” Now, he declared, it was time to reverse the damage to the planet, and maybe even himself.
In A Wild Idea, award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jonathan Franklin tells the incredible true story of Douglas Tompkins, who became one of the primary founders of our modern conservation and land protection movement.
Piloting his small plane, Tompkins explored the uninhabited lands of Patagonia and gaped at the singular beauty: active volcanoes, forests never logged, rivers never dammed—all so undisturbed, so exquisitely designed.
Could he protect this wild beauty? For the ensuing quarter century, that dream— that obsession—became his life. Only in death did it become his legacy.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Franklin (438 Days) takes a look at the life and work of American businessman-turned-conservationist Doug Tompkins (1943–2015) in this accessible biography. Admitting that he's "lived many years in awe of Doug Tompkins," Franklin pays tribute to the North Face founder's "love affair with the wild." Franklin describes the office environment Tompkins helped to create during the 1970s and '80s at Esprit headquarters in San Francisco: the company had a rooftop trampoline for fun, for instance, a sign of its eclectic work culture. Much of the account deals with Tompkins's experiences in South America after he divorced and sold his stake in Esprit, netting him approximately $300 million. He donated to wildlife preservation groups and accumulated parcels of land in Chile and Argentina to establish national parks: "He bought entire valleys, purchased volcanoes, acquired stands of old-growth trees with substantial financial contributions from key allies in the U.S. and Europe," Franklin writes. Franklin's admiration for Tompkins is clear, though he gives fair play to the man's many contradictions: "Tompkins was an environmentalist who drove a red Ferrari. A multimillionaire who preferred to sleep on a friend's couch." Readers who love stories of business mavericks will find much to savor.
