Rex Weyler (born September 10, 1947) is an American-Canadian author, journalist and ecologist. He has worked as a writer, editor, and publisher. In the 1970s, Weyler served as a director of the original ''
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
Foundation'', and as campaign photographer and publisher of the ''Greenpeace Chronicles''. He was a cofounder of Greenpeace International in 1979.
Weyler is the author of multiple books about Greenpeace history (''Greenpeace: The Inside Story'') and religious commentary (''The Jesus Sayings: A Quest for His Authentic Message''). In the 1990s, he coauthored a U.S. patent for music tuning software and co-founded Justonic Tuning Inc. with his partner Bill Gannon, to develop and market the product.
Life and education
Weyler attended high school with future first lady
General Tommy Franks
Tommy Ray Franks (born 17 June 1945) is a retired general in the United States Army. His last army post was as the Commander of the United States Central Command, overseeing United States military operations in a 25-country region, including the ...
.)
On April 5, 2005, the Urban Environmental Policy Center on the Occidental College campus awarded Weyler and Dennis Zane, a fellow student organizer, the Alumni Community Action Award.
Weyler has three siblings. He married Glenn Jonathans in Nijmegen, Netherlands in 1971 and immigrated to Canada in 1972. Weyler and Jonathans divorced in 1980. Weyler married Lisa Gibbons in 1991. They now live on Cortes Island B.C., Canada. Lisa Gibbons is an artist and youth educator. Weyler and Gibbons have 3 sons, and been foster parents with the BC Federation of Foster Parents.
Journalism
In 1973, at the age of 26, Weyler received his first journalism position at th North Shore News in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Later that year, he began covering the original Greenpeace whale campaign story, and later, from 1975 to 1980, served as editor and publisher for the ''Greenpeace Chronicles'' newspaper. Â This paper was one of the first international environmental publications, with stories by writers Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Hunter,
Paul Watson
Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental movement, environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine c ...
,
John C. Lilly
John Cunningham Lilly (January 6, 1915 – September 30, 2001)John C. Lilly at
, Kitty Tucker,
Ben Metcalfe
Bennett Metcalfe (October 31, 1919 – October 14, 2003) was a Canadian journalist and first chairman of Greenpeace, which was founded in 1971.
Ben Metcalfe was born in Winnipeg. Later he moved to the United Kingdom and at the age of 16 joined t ...
, and David Garrick, and art and cartoons by cartoonists Ralph Steadman and Ron Cobb.
From 1980 to 1982, Weyler was publisher, contributing editor, and writer for ''New Age Journal'' in Allston, MA. His stories for ''New Age Journal'' about conflicts between the FBI and the American Indian Movement led to a book on that subject, ''Blood of the Land'', Everest House, 1982. Â
From 1998 to 2002, Weyler served as publisher and editor of ''Shared Vision Magazine'' in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He published stories about Greenpeace history and the American Indian Movement in the ''Vancouver Sun'' newspaper and contributed articles to British Columbia’s first major on-line news site, The Tyee.
In 2007, Weyler founded the Institute for Citizen Journalism, and since 2008, Weyler has posted a monthly ecology column, Deep Green, at
Greenpeace International
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to ...
, and has contributed stories t Resilience th Watershed Sentinel and other online magazines.
In 2013, Weyler served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Fraser Valley, in British Columbia, Canada.
Greenpeace
Between 1973 and 1982, Weyler served as a director of the original Greenpeace Foundation, campaign photographer and reporter, and as editor of the Greenpeace Chronicles magazine. He was a co-founder of
Greenpeace International
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to ...
in 1979.
In 1975, Weyler sailed on the first Greenpeace whale campaign, and subsequent whale and seal campaigns. His photographs and news accounts of these campaigns were widely published.
He is the author of a history of the first decade of Greenpeace, ''Greenpeace: The Inside Story'' (Raincoast, Rodale, 2004).
Since leaving Greenpeace in 1982, Weyler has remained active in environmental and peace issues. In 1991, he helped draft dioxin emission levels for pulp mills in British Columbia. In 2006, he served as Program Coordinator for World Peace Forum 2006.
Weyler is featured in the documentary, ''Greenpeace: Making a Stand''.
Books by Rex Weyler
* Weyler, Rex (2008) ''The Jesus Sayings: A Quest for His Authentic Message'' (
House of Anansi Press
House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.
History
Anans ...
, 2008)
* Weyler, Rex (2004) ''Greenpeace: The Inside Story'' (Raincoast Books, Rodale, 2004). Finalist,
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writersâ ...
, 2004.
* Weyler, Rex (2004) ''Greenpeace: An Insider's Account'' (UK);
* Weyler, Rex (2004) ''Greenpeace: How a Group of Ecologists, Journalists, and Visionaries Changed the World'' (US: Rodale), .
* Weyler, Rex with Rick Fields, Peggy Taylor, Rick Ingrasci (1984) ''Chop Wood, Carry Water: Finding Spiritual Fulfillment in Everyday Life'' (Tarcher)
* Weyler, Rex (1982) ''Blood of the Land'' (Everest House, 1982; New Society Publishers, 1992)
* Weyler, Rex with Robert Hunter (1978) ''To Save a Whale'' (Chronicle Books).
* Weyler, Rex with
Daphne Marlatt
Daphne Marlatt, born Buckle, CM (born July 11, 1942 in Melbourne, Australia), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
At a young age her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine they moved to British Columbia, ...
and Robert Minden (1975) ''Steveston Recollected'' (UBC, Provincial Archives, out of print).
Weyler has published articles and essays on the Greenpeace website, his website, and the following anthologies, among other places: ''The Power of the People'', ed. Robert Cooney and Helen Michalowski (New Society Publishers, 1987); ''Beyond Hypnosis'' by Dr. Lee Pulos (Omega Press, San Francisco, 1990); ''Shorelines'' (Kingfisher Press, B.C., 1995); ''Witness, Twenty-five Years on the Environmental Front Line'' (Andre Deutsch, London, 1996); ''Greenpeace: Changing the World'', ed. Conny Boettger, Fouad Hamdan (Rasch & Röhring, 2001); ''The Book of Letters: 150 Years of Private Canadian Correspondence'', by Paul and Audrey Grescoe (Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002).
Awards and honours
*Finalist, Shaughnessy-Cohen Award for Political Writing; 2004.
*Publishers Weekly, "Best Books of 2004," Greenpeace: The Inside Story.
*Finalist, Hubert Evans Award for Non-Fiction, BC Book Awards, 2004.
*Alumni Community Action Award,Urban Environmental Policy Center - Occidental College Urban Environmental Policy Center, Los Angeles, April 2005.