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A Wild Idea
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 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.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2021
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November 1, 2022
"Take the chain of seventy-seven national parks in the United States; not one of them was formed without a conflict or a polemic or something. You have to work through this. Some of them took sixty years to form. We did, I have to say, pretty well, in comparison with most of the American national parks. —DOUG TOMPKINS"
You have to appreciate what Tompkins accomplished in South America and particularly for Argentina. His attitude at times needed to be reined in (if he were going to achieve the cooperation necessary for the conservation projects). But, his drive and vision are what took this from dream to reality.
"“You have to convince society that keeping natural ecosystems with integrity—which means keeping big animals that were lost, like bison, or wolves, or tigers, or cougars, or jaguars—makes more sense than other options,” said Jimenez, who worked for years on the rewilding efforts in Iberá. “Once you know that, you use every tale, every story, every myth that you can induce from local and national society. If you use arguments and reasons that only resound with conservationist groups, you’re going to lose. What do people really care about? They care about jobs, they care about pride, they care about hope, they care about culture, they care about patriotism.”"
There is a lot of moment-to-moment description of what were the objectives and challenges that should appeal to those who actually want to put their time into similar projects. The writing could be tighter and I have read documentaries with better style, but this covers the territory very well. I hope it inspires others to take up the challenge and find a location, project and team that can make a difference.
All this said, Tompkins isn’t a very “nice” person and not much of a father to his own children. Maybe people who see themselves as driven to achieve a great goal should give some thought to whether a family is compatible with that.
3.5
You have to appreciate what Tompkins accomplished in South America and particularly for Argentina. His attitude at times needed to be reined in (if he were going to achieve the cooperation necessary for the conservation projects). But, his drive and vision are what took this from dream to reality.
"“You have to convince society that keeping natural ecosystems with integrity—which means keeping big animals that were lost, like bison, or wolves, or tigers, or cougars, or jaguars—makes more sense than other options,” said Jimenez, who worked for years on the rewilding efforts in Iberá. “Once you know that, you use every tale, every story, every myth that you can induce from local and national society. If you use arguments and reasons that only resound with conservationist groups, you’re going to lose. What do people really care about? They care about jobs, they care about pride, they care about hope, they care about culture, they care about patriotism.”"
There is a lot of moment-to-moment description of what were the objectives and challenges that should appeal to those who actually want to put their time into similar projects. The writing could be tighter and I have read documentaries with better style, but this covers the territory very well. I hope it inspires others to take up the challenge and find a location, project and team that can make a difference.
All this said, Tompkins isn’t a very “nice” person and not much of a father to his own children. Maybe people who see themselves as driven to achieve a great goal should give some thought to whether a family is compatible with that.
3.5
October 9, 2021
I'd give this book a higher rating, but that's a bit unfair, since I'm biased by having worked on it for Jonathan Franklin for almost 5 years, doing research and developmental editing. Working on the book was sort of like trying to chop a path through a rainforest with a machete, every time we found a clearing and thought the heart of the story, we'd found Doug's incredibly productive life just led to more and more pathways of adventure. His journey from entreprenuer to conservation activist and park builder should be emulated by a lot more people who have made a fortune.
Hope you enjoy the book, never once in years of research did I ever get bored of digging into Doug Tompkin's life.
Hope you enjoy the book, never once in years of research did I ever get bored of digging into Doug Tompkin's life.
June 13, 2023
Pretty well written book about the life of Doug Tompkins. Doug championed some great causes but didn't seem like the greatest guy.
November 24, 2021
It’s hard not to like what Doug Tompkins has accomplished and his vision for an improved planet. Yet I don’t think I like the man, or at least the way he was portrayed here in this book. Tompkins comes off as arrogant, dismissive and perhaps a narcissist. He had two kids and was barely a father to them, yet it’s said in the book several times how much he loved them, and yes acknowledged he likely did not do enough to express that love to his kids. Really, who leaves his newborn baby and wife when they just started up a company, to go adventuring for six months? And this is way before cell phones!
Tompkins was smart, no doubt about that. He would dive deep into a topic until he knew it very well. He did this with design and ecology, among other topics. He started several very successful businesses: The North Face and Esprit. The Patagonia company is detailed in the book as well, as it was founded by a fellow climbing and adventure buddy.
Tompkins was an all or nothing guy. Once he decided to turn his attention to environmental causes, he sold out of his clothing company. He used that money to fund others, occasionally, but mostly he created his own non-profit and bought a lot of land in the interest of creating a huge park in the Patagonia region. Tompkins wanted to preserve the land. He clashed with the locals and government officials, even though his intentions were noble. It was his way or no way. He led a full life, that’s for certain, but perhaps it was at the cost of those close to him.
Thanks to HarperOne and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. Although I had access to the eBook I ended up listening to the audio book version.
Tompkins was smart, no doubt about that. He would dive deep into a topic until he knew it very well. He did this with design and ecology, among other topics. He started several very successful businesses: The North Face and Esprit. The Patagonia company is detailed in the book as well, as it was founded by a fellow climbing and adventure buddy.
Tompkins was an all or nothing guy. Once he decided to turn his attention to environmental causes, he sold out of his clothing company. He used that money to fund others, occasionally, but mostly he created his own non-profit and bought a lot of land in the interest of creating a huge park in the Patagonia region. Tompkins wanted to preserve the land. He clashed with the locals and government officials, even though his intentions were noble. It was his way or no way. He led a full life, that’s for certain, but perhaps it was at the cost of those close to him.
Thanks to HarperOne and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book. Although I had access to the eBook I ended up listening to the audio book version.
September 11, 2021
Good portrait of an interesting, challenging figure. It has a fairly strong bias, but gives enough information for you to make up your own mind. Tompkins cared greatly about aesthetics and design, and eventually concluded that the best way to add beauty to the world was to conserve nature. He found cost-effective ways of making major changes. He was also sometimes hypocritical and selfish.
> From the first days of dating and through marriage with Susie, he’d always made it very clear that four months a year—sometimes six—he would disappear over the horizon: no permissions asked, no excuses needed. For those four months a year he was not husband, nor father nor CEO. He was just Doug, out in the bush with buddies, experiencing a time when he could test himself and embark on hair-raising trips that most people only read about in magazines. Yvon agreed with his close friend. “If you can’t have three or four months a year for what you really love, you are in the wrong job,” Yvon declared
> Doug and Susie Tompkins, the hippest of the hip in San Francisco, nourished a workplace so employee-centric that some called it a cult. In addition to free Italian classes, kayak excursions, and company-wide Halloween parties, Tompkins pressured his workers to leave town. To go away. To escape. “Frankly, I don’t want to underwrite anything that’s just a vacation,” he said. “Everybody can take a vacation lying on the beach in Hawaii, but how many people will really go rafting in the Himalayas? It’s a win-win situation. The individual will heighten their sensibilities about being alive, and if they are alive and more dynamic, the by-product goes to their organization.”
> From the first days of dating and through marriage with Susie, he’d always made it very clear that four months a year—sometimes six—he would disappear over the horizon: no permissions asked, no excuses needed. For those four months a year he was not husband, nor father nor CEO. He was just Doug, out in the bush with buddies, experiencing a time when he could test himself and embark on hair-raising trips that most people only read about in magazines. Yvon agreed with his close friend. “If you can’t have three or four months a year for what you really love, you are in the wrong job,” Yvon declared
> Doug and Susie Tompkins, the hippest of the hip in San Francisco, nourished a workplace so employee-centric that some called it a cult. In addition to free Italian classes, kayak excursions, and company-wide Halloween parties, Tompkins pressured his workers to leave town. To go away. To escape. “Frankly, I don’t want to underwrite anything that’s just a vacation,” he said. “Everybody can take a vacation lying on the beach in Hawaii, but how many people will really go rafting in the Himalayas? It’s a win-win situation. The individual will heighten their sensibilities about being alive, and if they are alive and more dynamic, the by-product goes to their organization.”
January 24, 2022
This read like a story and was hard to put down. I agreed with a lot of what Doug Tompkins did but he also seemed like a jerk and a hypocrite and a terrible husband and father.
February 4, 2024
I didn’t expect to ball my eyes out - this was a magical book with a devastating ending.
The only other book where I cried this much was A Little Life. If you know, you know.
The only other book where I cried this much was A Little Life. If you know, you know.
September 7, 2022
Inspiring read about a man who discovers what is truly important in life and does an incredible amount of good. Provides hope that more people climbing the destructive ladder of capitalism could also change and put effort towards conserving and not exploiting.
April 17, 2022
Success in conservation often means employing a unique and ever-evolving basket of skills such as passion, dedication, imagination, business sense, political savvy, all while keeping in mind a long-term view.
All those characteristics and more describe entrepreneur and conservationist Douglas Tompkins as he is portrayed in Jonathan Franklin’s new biography: “A Wild Idea; The True Story of Douglas Tompkins—The Greatest Conservationist.” (Harper One, 2021).
A Wild Idea is the story of a man who was a friend, neighbour and political debater with Steve Jobs, a friend and climbing partner to American adventurer and rewilding champion Rick Ridgeway, a life-long friend to Yvon Chouinard, and a contemporary of famed photographer Galen Rowell, conservationist David Brouwer, and Rick Klein, found of Ancient Forests International.
Douglas Rainsford Tompkins was a highly successful yet often controversial entrepreneur who started then moved away from gear manufacturer The North Face, then the clothing company Esprit. Unlike Chouinard, whose Patagonia Inc. still operates on four key values: “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to protect nature, and not bound by convention,” Tompkins realized that he “climbed the wrong mountain” and set out to make a difference not in business but in saving the world from humanity and what he saw as the negative impacts of capitalism.
Tompkins was a study in contrasts, just like his sense that the world was either black or green; to him, you were either a problem or a solution. He drove a red Ferrari yet crashed on friends’ couches. He was an environmentalist and a multi-millionaire. His attention to detail was legendary, but that focus did not appear to have been applied to his own daughters.
As he grew older, Tompkins read everything he could about conservation and ecology, and often quoted Edward Abbey. He discovered Deep Ecology and the work of Arne Naes and George Sessions, and he led weekend ecology think-thanks at his San Francisco home. He took inspiration from young activists, and even participated in an anti-whaling expedition, throwing stink bombs onto the decks of Japanese whaling ships.
However, he often returned to Patagonia and saw its potential.
“We hadn’t known it would be like this. So big! So beautiful! So scary! This was a gigantic Chamonix, a gargantuan Bugaboos. Huge was our only impression…”
Instead of resting on his laurels or the piles of cash he earned by selling The North Face and Esprit, he leveraged the money into a large-scale conservation project unlike anything anyone had done. When he left Esprit, one of the bankers asked him: “So, Doug, what are you going to do with all this money?” Tompkins apparently replied: “try to undo everything you guys are doing.”
“By the mid 1980s, I had slowly come to the realization that I was doing the wrong thing. I was in an apparel company making a lot of stuff that nobody needed, my main work was adding to the environmental crisis rather than help revert it, I realized that I had to do something else.”
It had been a thousands-of-miles, three-and-a-half month road trip to the southern tip of South America in 1968 with friends Lito Tejada-Flores, Dick Dorworth and Yvon Chouinard that left a deep impression on the young Tompkins.
When Tompkins set his sights on Patagonia, he couldn’t be stopped, not by frightened politicians, not by reluctant land-owners, and not by large companies trying to log ancient forests or build large hydroelectric dams on pristine rivers in Chile and Argentina. Despite threats to his life, and despite concerns by South American politicians that a lone American was in Patagonia turning conservation on its head, he began buying up massive parcels of private land, first a grove of Araucaria trees, then entire wild valleys. He removed hundreds of miles of fencing, and he began to talk of bringing jaguars and pumas back to places where they were no longer seen.
Beyond that, Tompkins saw a bigger vision: a linked system of parks running to the southern tip of Patagonia.
By the time Tompkins passed away in a kayak accident in 2015, he had bought and leveraged and partnered with national and regional governments to create what has become known as “The Route of Parks” (“La Ruta de los Parques de Patagonia”). Initially, politicians were skeptical of Tompkins’ claims that he would willingly turn over all his private land to governments if they committed to turning his land and theirs into national parks. But it was only after his death that his vision finally became reality, when politicians scrambled over themselves to be part of something good on a continental scale. His wife Kris carries on his legacy to this day.
Now, “The Route of the Parks” includes 17 national parks (one of which is called Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park) stretching 1700 miles and 28 million acres from Puerto Montt in central Chile to Cape Horn in the south. It protects 24 ecosystems, and is home to 140 species of birds and 46 different kinds of mammals.
What’s most fascinating about Tompkins' large-scale conservation model, at least in this writer’s mind, is that it does not close off these places to humans or the economy. Instead, Tompkins understood that local people had to support the idea, they had to make a living, and they had to see that having these lands in parks was much better – in both the short and long term – than any of the alternatives. The linear string of parks includes ecotourism and adventure tourism -- hiking routes, commercial lodges, and guides and outfitters, and it hosts many forms of sustainable agriculture. It's a destination for thousands of visitors each year, and the parks are largely financially sustainable. It is a model of conservation done thoughtfully, with the long game in mind.
It was Edward Abbey who said that “sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” While Doug Tompkins stepped on many toes during his 71-year life, he was a true embodiment of Abbey’s words.
In "A Wild Idea," Jonathan Franklin, the award-winning public speaker, author and investigative journalist, does a masterful job of telling a fascinating and inspiring story of
a man who -- with passion, conviction and unparalleled vision -- showed the world a whole new way to conserve ecosystems on a grand scale.
“Are you ready to do your part? Everyone is capable taking up their position to use their energy, political influence, financial or other resources, and talents of all kinds to be part of a global movement for ecological and cultural health; all will be useful. There is important and meaningful work to be done. To change everything, everyone is needed.”
Douglas Tompkins
All those characteristics and more describe entrepreneur and conservationist Douglas Tompkins as he is portrayed in Jonathan Franklin’s new biography: “A Wild Idea; The True Story of Douglas Tompkins—The Greatest Conservationist.” (Harper One, 2021).
A Wild Idea is the story of a man who was a friend, neighbour and political debater with Steve Jobs, a friend and climbing partner to American adventurer and rewilding champion Rick Ridgeway, a life-long friend to Yvon Chouinard, and a contemporary of famed photographer Galen Rowell, conservationist David Brouwer, and Rick Klein, found of Ancient Forests International.
Douglas Rainsford Tompkins was a highly successful yet often controversial entrepreneur who started then moved away from gear manufacturer The North Face, then the clothing company Esprit. Unlike Chouinard, whose Patagonia Inc. still operates on four key values: “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to protect nature, and not bound by convention,” Tompkins realized that he “climbed the wrong mountain” and set out to make a difference not in business but in saving the world from humanity and what he saw as the negative impacts of capitalism.
Tompkins was a study in contrasts, just like his sense that the world was either black or green; to him, you were either a problem or a solution. He drove a red Ferrari yet crashed on friends’ couches. He was an environmentalist and a multi-millionaire. His attention to detail was legendary, but that focus did not appear to have been applied to his own daughters.
As he grew older, Tompkins read everything he could about conservation and ecology, and often quoted Edward Abbey. He discovered Deep Ecology and the work of Arne Naes and George Sessions, and he led weekend ecology think-thanks at his San Francisco home. He took inspiration from young activists, and even participated in an anti-whaling expedition, throwing stink bombs onto the decks of Japanese whaling ships.
However, he often returned to Patagonia and saw its potential.
“We hadn’t known it would be like this. So big! So beautiful! So scary! This was a gigantic Chamonix, a gargantuan Bugaboos. Huge was our only impression…”
Instead of resting on his laurels or the piles of cash he earned by selling The North Face and Esprit, he leveraged the money into a large-scale conservation project unlike anything anyone had done. When he left Esprit, one of the bankers asked him: “So, Doug, what are you going to do with all this money?” Tompkins apparently replied: “try to undo everything you guys are doing.”
“By the mid 1980s, I had slowly come to the realization that I was doing the wrong thing. I was in an apparel company making a lot of stuff that nobody needed, my main work was adding to the environmental crisis rather than help revert it, I realized that I had to do something else.”
It had been a thousands-of-miles, three-and-a-half month road trip to the southern tip of South America in 1968 with friends Lito Tejada-Flores, Dick Dorworth and Yvon Chouinard that left a deep impression on the young Tompkins.
When Tompkins set his sights on Patagonia, he couldn’t be stopped, not by frightened politicians, not by reluctant land-owners, and not by large companies trying to log ancient forests or build large hydroelectric dams on pristine rivers in Chile and Argentina. Despite threats to his life, and despite concerns by South American politicians that a lone American was in Patagonia turning conservation on its head, he began buying up massive parcels of private land, first a grove of Araucaria trees, then entire wild valleys. He removed hundreds of miles of fencing, and he began to talk of bringing jaguars and pumas back to places where they were no longer seen.
Beyond that, Tompkins saw a bigger vision: a linked system of parks running to the southern tip of Patagonia.
By the time Tompkins passed away in a kayak accident in 2015, he had bought and leveraged and partnered with national and regional governments to create what has become known as “The Route of Parks” (“La Ruta de los Parques de Patagonia”). Initially, politicians were skeptical of Tompkins’ claims that he would willingly turn over all his private land to governments if they committed to turning his land and theirs into national parks. But it was only after his death that his vision finally became reality, when politicians scrambled over themselves to be part of something good on a continental scale. His wife Kris carries on his legacy to this day.
Now, “The Route of the Parks” includes 17 national parks (one of which is called Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park) stretching 1700 miles and 28 million acres from Puerto Montt in central Chile to Cape Horn in the south. It protects 24 ecosystems, and is home to 140 species of birds and 46 different kinds of mammals.
What’s most fascinating about Tompkins' large-scale conservation model, at least in this writer’s mind, is that it does not close off these places to humans or the economy. Instead, Tompkins understood that local people had to support the idea, they had to make a living, and they had to see that having these lands in parks was much better – in both the short and long term – than any of the alternatives. The linear string of parks includes ecotourism and adventure tourism -- hiking routes, commercial lodges, and guides and outfitters, and it hosts many forms of sustainable agriculture. It's a destination for thousands of visitors each year, and the parks are largely financially sustainable. It is a model of conservation done thoughtfully, with the long game in mind.
It was Edward Abbey who said that “sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” While Doug Tompkins stepped on many toes during his 71-year life, he was a true embodiment of Abbey’s words.
In "A Wild Idea," Jonathan Franklin, the award-winning public speaker, author and investigative journalist, does a masterful job of telling a fascinating and inspiring story of
a man who -- with passion, conviction and unparalleled vision -- showed the world a whole new way to conserve ecosystems on a grand scale.
“Are you ready to do your part? Everyone is capable taking up their position to use their energy, political influence, financial or other resources, and talents of all kinds to be part of a global movement for ecological and cultural health; all will be useful. There is important and meaningful work to be done. To change everything, everyone is needed.”
Douglas Tompkins
July 11, 2021
What an interesting life!! A Wild Idea by Jonathan Franklin is the true accounting of the life of entrepreneur turned conservationist, Douglas Rainsford Tompkins, 1943 – 2015.
Was he a restless spirit or was he an ingenious entrepreneur who lived his wildest dreams? From a high school dropout to later become a renowned adventurer, businessman, and landowner, he did manage to live his wildest dreams. He was an accomplished climber and explorer and often made fun of trendy gear used by those starting out with non-essential gadgets. Starting with such low and wildly varied inventory to sell, his idea was "If you go light, you'll have more fun".
Tomkins was a hardcore climber. He was the fourth time the Salathe Wall at Yosemite was climbed followed by his best friend Yvon Chouinard.
The young days of selling items on the docks of San Francisco to creating the best-known companies such as The North Face and later Esprit. He lived a very fulfilling, adventurous, and eventful life. It wasn't easy but he had innovative ideas and traveled to wilder parts of the world. He and some friends went to Patagonia where they devised a new route on Mount Fitzroy. There was a film, "Fitz Roy- First Ascent of the Southwest Buttress", of the experience made by Lito Tejada-Flores, who accompanied them on the assent.
In his personal life, he had an agreement: four to six months a year he was not a husband, father, or CEO. He would leave for wilderness adventures with his close friends.
The company, Esprit was first called Plane Jane and was designed from very humble beginnings before booming to success. Later in his life, he became an extensive landowner in northern Argentina to southern Chile.
Tomkins became an activist for organic agriculture, environmental activism, and received various honors in America and South America.
On his excursions through the wilderness, whether climbing, flying, or kayaking, he eyed the wildlife with the eyes of a naturalist and the heart of a rebel. At age seventy-two, his death was caused by complications from an unfortunate kayak accident in southern Chile while on an adventure trip with his long-time friend Yvon Chouinard, the business creator and owner of "PATAGONIA", and four others. The cause of his death seemed to have happened in terrifying waves of hope and despair.
He did not actively participate in the lives of his daughters, but he lived it being creative, adventurous, and meeting challenges to protect the wildlands he loved. I wondered if his emotional distance from his daughters was to ensure he would stay a 'wild spirit' and not concede to making decisions based on family or emotional ties?
I enjoyed reading A Wild Idea! Anyone who enjoys wilderness, hiking, climbing, kayaking, and being in nature can appreciate the legacy left by Douglas Tomkins.
Publication Date: August 10, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
Was he a restless spirit or was he an ingenious entrepreneur who lived his wildest dreams? From a high school dropout to later become a renowned adventurer, businessman, and landowner, he did manage to live his wildest dreams. He was an accomplished climber and explorer and often made fun of trendy gear used by those starting out with non-essential gadgets. Starting with such low and wildly varied inventory to sell, his idea was "If you go light, you'll have more fun".
Tomkins was a hardcore climber. He was the fourth time the Salathe Wall at Yosemite was climbed followed by his best friend Yvon Chouinard.
The young days of selling items on the docks of San Francisco to creating the best-known companies such as The North Face and later Esprit. He lived a very fulfilling, adventurous, and eventful life. It wasn't easy but he had innovative ideas and traveled to wilder parts of the world. He and some friends went to Patagonia where they devised a new route on Mount Fitzroy. There was a film, "Fitz Roy- First Ascent of the Southwest Buttress", of the experience made by Lito Tejada-Flores, who accompanied them on the assent.
In his personal life, he had an agreement: four to six months a year he was not a husband, father, or CEO. He would leave for wilderness adventures with his close friends.
The company, Esprit was first called Plane Jane and was designed from very humble beginnings before booming to success. Later in his life, he became an extensive landowner in northern Argentina to southern Chile.
Tomkins became an activist for organic agriculture, environmental activism, and received various honors in America and South America.
On his excursions through the wilderness, whether climbing, flying, or kayaking, he eyed the wildlife with the eyes of a naturalist and the heart of a rebel. At age seventy-two, his death was caused by complications from an unfortunate kayak accident in southern Chile while on an adventure trip with his long-time friend Yvon Chouinard, the business creator and owner of "PATAGONIA", and four others. The cause of his death seemed to have happened in terrifying waves of hope and despair.
He did not actively participate in the lives of his daughters, but he lived it being creative, adventurous, and meeting challenges to protect the wildlands he loved. I wondered if his emotional distance from his daughters was to ensure he would stay a 'wild spirit' and not concede to making decisions based on family or emotional ties?
I enjoyed reading A Wild Idea! Anyone who enjoys wilderness, hiking, climbing, kayaking, and being in nature can appreciate the legacy left by Douglas Tomkins.
Publication Date: August 10, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the opportunity to read this book.
May 21, 2022
With a life as interesting and exciting as this, one could say the job of the biographer is that much easier. I only knew vaguely about the founder of The North Face before reading this, and how Doug Tompkins used his wealth to buy up wild land in Patagonia/Chile for the sake of conservation. The book traced his life from early adulthood, how he founded a small, very niche adventure sports equipment boutique store in San Francisco, which succeeded due to his sheer passion for recreational climbing (and a head for business of course). The man's sheer determination made him amongst the most driven people one would know about, a perfectionist at heart, though full of flaws and controversy in his personal life and relationships with partners, friends and family. The world of nature conservation and environmentalism struck gold with a person like Tompkins, who would turn his significant wealth into what he termed 'nature production' through the creation of vast swathes of protected wild lands that would eventually be turned over to the government as national parks.
Tompkin's untimely demise from a misadventure was tragic, but in a way a fitting death for a man who took huge risks all his life and chased the adrenaline thrill of extreme sports, fast cars and light planes. He died doing what he loved among close friends - one cannot ask for much more I suppose. Never before had one individual contributed so much to the protection of a continent as this larger than life character (the only other person that comes to my mind is Theodore Roosevelt), and his legacy would live on through the successful rewilding projects in Patagonia and Argentina.
Tompkin's untimely demise from a misadventure was tragic, but in a way a fitting death for a man who took huge risks all his life and chased the adrenaline thrill of extreme sports, fast cars and light planes. He died doing what he loved among close friends - one cannot ask for much more I suppose. Never before had one individual contributed so much to the protection of a continent as this larger than life character (the only other person that comes to my mind is Theodore Roosevelt), and his legacy would live on through the successful rewilding projects in Patagonia and Argentina.
January 22, 2022
This book is a biographical portrayal of a super-ego multi-millionaire (previously unknown to me but one much more benevolent than another super-ego character much in the political news of late, another DT). Comparisons kept running through my head as I read this book. Doug Tompkins was a man of kinetic energy. He first made his fortune in San Francisco with a skiing and climbing supplies store, then with a worldwide chain of stores, Esprit, that upended the world of teen fashion. Then he suddenly gave it all up. He transferred his interests to the tip southern end of South America. With his millions he bought thousands of acres in Chile with the goal to transform them into areas of pristine beauty. Chilean “establishment,” often non-supportive of this pugnacious gringo, may not have known that his desire was to eventually give it all away for environmental preservation. But upon his death in a kayaking accident, it happened. Millions of acres of wilderness, roaring rivers and untouched glaciers were given as gifts to the people of Chile and Argentina to be national parks. (I doubt that the other super-ego DT will be so generous upon his death.) The first chapters of this book, describing a road trip from SF to Chile in a Ford Econoline van, were so superficial and lifeless that I almost gave up reading further. At about page 40, with the description of a perilous mountain climb to Mt Fitz Roy in Patagonia, my interest picked up and increased to the end. Doug Tompkins: truly a remarkable and caring guy.
April 8, 2022
Knowing that I love adventure, a friend recommended that I read this book. I'm glad he did. I loved the story of Doug Tompkins. I had not really known much about him, but I was inspired by his story to remember that I'm only on this planet for a short time and I need to be mindful of my impact. The encouragement to consider consumerism, waste, technology and just keeping my eyes open to the efforts made by others to conserve was unexpected, but welcomed.
Doug was not a character I would choose to emulate, but I must say he was a man who stood for his own principles and saw those through to the very end. For that, I can say I was reminded to stand for what I believe in with not just my finances, but my sweat equity.
Doug was not a character I would choose to emulate, but I must say he was a man who stood for his own principles and saw those through to the very end. For that, I can say I was reminded to stand for what I believe in with not just my finances, but my sweat equity.
August 25, 2023
I don’t know how to feel about this.
I’m pissed that the world is on fire because of guys like this. Rich men whose primary concern was making a shitload of money no matter the human cost, then later discovering the error in their ways meanwhile the world is on fire. The chase for money by rich people caused these problems and now only rich people can fix them with MORE money, and yet governments are fucking corrupt. It’s disheartening and tragic and makes me so angry, but this guy (who was still a shitty father and husband to Family Attempt Round One) has made a helluva huge difference in environmental conservation in South America. So.
It’s an interesting book. And I hope every boat and person involved in Japanese whaling fucking sinks and drowns.
I’m pissed that the world is on fire because of guys like this. Rich men whose primary concern was making a shitload of money no matter the human cost, then later discovering the error in their ways meanwhile the world is on fire. The chase for money by rich people caused these problems and now only rich people can fix them with MORE money, and yet governments are fucking corrupt. It’s disheartening and tragic and makes me so angry, but this guy (who was still a shitty father and husband to Family Attempt Round One) has made a helluva huge difference in environmental conservation in South America. So.
It’s an interesting book. And I hope every boat and person involved in Japanese whaling fucking sinks and drowns.
December 30, 2022
I don't know where to begin! When I picked up this book I had no idea who this Doug Tompkins was. As I read early in the book I couldn't help but be struck at what an egotistical, self absorbed risk taker he was. But as he ages and matures I understood that he turned his drive and ambition to a greater good. He continued to "live life Doug's way" but what a legacy he left behind.
Reading Jonathan Franklin's book, I found myself wanting to learn more about Chile Argentina and South America. We should all keep an eye on the "rewilding project" it's a great step towards protecting our planet.
Reading Jonathan Franklin's book, I found myself wanting to learn more about Chile Argentina and South America. We should all keep an eye on the "rewilding project" it's a great step towards protecting our planet.
September 17, 2021
A wonderful biography of a man ahead of times fighting for conservation, a thrill seeker, rebel and pioneer, it was a riveting read.
December 27, 2021
Best biography I’ve read in awhile. Couldn’t put it down.
December 24, 2023
Maravillosa historia de un hombre profundamente apasionado por la naturaleza, que se entrego en espíritu y cuerpo a la conservación ecológica y creación de conciencia por la naturaleza
January 30, 2022
I enjoyed reading about Doug Thompkins, founder and former CEO of North Face and fashion store ESPRIT. The book tells about his passion for adventure and how he explored the world at a manic pace. He was an expert at most things and never one to say no; he climbed the world's tallest mountains, kayaked in dangerous rivers, built two major fashion brands, and created the largest natural private park in the world, to mention a few of his feats.
After his huge success in the corporate world, Thompkins found his true passion is saving the wildlands in Chile and Argentina. And what he goes through to make his dream a reality makes his corporate accomplishments bland in comparison.
A person with so much energy, courage, and vision that he seems to have had the life of ten people.
I am in awe of how he lived his life, with a passion and lust for living that was unstoppable.
He was far from perfect, but it seems his imperfections were needed for him to have accomplished so much.
Highly recommend!
After his huge success in the corporate world, Thompkins found his true passion is saving the wildlands in Chile and Argentina. And what he goes through to make his dream a reality makes his corporate accomplishments bland in comparison.
A person with so much energy, courage, and vision that he seems to have had the life of ten people.
I am in awe of how he lived his life, with a passion and lust for living that was unstoppable.
He was far from perfect, but it seems his imperfections were needed for him to have accomplished so much.
Highly recommend!
August 16, 2022
When I was first getting interested in conservation as a career, I was inspired by the largest land protection achievements of the 2010's: Obama's sweeping declarations of new national monuments, WCS's creation of the first national parks in Afghanistan, and Doug and Kris Tompkins' deal to preserve 11 million acres of land as part of a Route of Parks in Patagonia. Now several years later, the articles that I read about these events have been expanded into books (see: The Snow Leopard Project by Alex Dehgan).
A Wild Idea is easy to read with lots of good quotes and detail. Doug Tompkins may be a little too jagged around the edges to be a clearcut role model to blindly follow, but he is undoubtedly an impressive figure. It's impossible to read about his dedication and results without being inspired to do more yourself to help save species and the landscapes they rely on.
A Wild Idea is easy to read with lots of good quotes and detail. Doug Tompkins may be a little too jagged around the edges to be a clearcut role model to blindly follow, but he is undoubtedly an impressive figure. It's impossible to read about his dedication and results without being inspired to do more yourself to help save species and the landscapes they rely on.
February 27, 2022
Started stronger than it ended but what a moving story about someone it would be hard to be friends with. Egotistical, stubborn, his way or no way, terrible family man, yet he does more for the good of the natural world than most anyone ever has. It seems there are just a few people alive at one time similar to Doug (Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, etc. come to mind) and you can see all of their flaws so obviously, yet it’s like they have to have those certain flaws to accomplish what they have. Respect what he’s done but not the man that he was.
July 26, 2023
Doug Tompkins led an amazing life, and this account of it is fascinating -- one of the best biographies I've ever read!
His creativity as an entrepreneur, his spirit of adventure and commitment to conservation were all exemplary. He didn't take "no" for an answer. He also repeatedly courted danger in pursuing extreme sports, and was sometimes careless in how he treated partners and family members.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in saving wildlife and wilderness, activism, and pursuing dreams that others would consider impossible to achieve.
His creativity as an entrepreneur, his spirit of adventure and commitment to conservation were all exemplary. He didn't take "no" for an answer. He also repeatedly courted danger in pursuing extreme sports, and was sometimes careless in how he treated partners and family members.
Highly recommended to anyone interested in saving wildlife and wilderness, activism, and pursuing dreams that others would consider impossible to achieve.
January 8, 2023
Absolutely beautiful book. Incredibly inspiring and such an engaging story. Doug is truly such a unique and important person to learn about. Franklin is able to incorporate so many different aspects of capitalism, conservation, and cultures and spin them into an exhilarating biography that makes me want to contribute to the bettering of nature in any way possible. I am also itching to go to Patagonia now. It has changed my viewpoint on life and I am so grateful to have read this book. Truly exceptional :)
May 12, 2022
I had heard of Douglas Tompkins, in fact I wrote an essay about him and visited one of the places he helped save: Ibera Wetlands in Argentina. But I learned so much more about his career path and his conservation work in this book. Tompkins was a type triple-A-plus guy who eventually channelled his awesome energy, talent and smarts into saving biodiversity. He accomplished a great deal and did so against enormous odds.
March 2, 2023
A great story about what one man can do.
He wasn’t the nicest guy but he was brilliant. His passion for adventure and the outdoors, his drive, his vision, his forward thinking.
It’s a great story and I’m so glad Jonathan Franklin took the time to write this very well researched but reads like an adventure novel, book.
He wasn’t the nicest guy but he was brilliant. His passion for adventure and the outdoors, his drive, his vision, his forward thinking.
It’s a great story and I’m so glad Jonathan Franklin took the time to write this very well researched but reads like an adventure novel, book.
April 23, 2023
A great story about the grassroots of environmentalism in our lifetime. Doug, the creator of The North Face and Espirit used his fortune to establish countless wildlife areas in South America along with his wife and best friend Yvon (creator of Patagonia clothing co). As admirable his fight was, it was at the cost of his first marriage and relationships with his 2 daughters.
March 21, 2022
This was an enjoyable biography. It felt far-fetched and "legendary", but enough supporting materials and further reading was included to conclude that this is actually an incredible true story. I definitely recommend it if biographies and conservation are things that you enjoy!
September 6, 2022
I almost stopped reading partway in. Was tired of the mountain climbing exploits of a rich guy. I’m glad I gave it another go because I ended up liking it very much once he started his conservation efforts.
March 3, 2023
Wow. Well-written, well-researched, and what a great story. If you are interested in environmentalism, business, or adventure, then this is the book for you. I not only enjoyed reading this book, but I think it has positively contributed to my outlook on life.
March 14, 2023
An amazing story about a man with a single minded passion for conservation sometimes at the expense of others. A true visionary that is inspiring. I look forward to reading more about him, his inspiration, and his wife.
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