Lowell Thomas Jr. (October 6, 1923 – October 1, 2016) was an American politician and film producer who collaborated with his father, the accomplished

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and author

Lowell Thomas Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, Television presenter, broadcaster, and documentary filmmaker. He authored more than fifty non-fiction books, mostly travel narratives and popular biographies of ex ...

, on several projects before becoming an Alaskan state senator in the early 1970s, and later the third

lieutenant governor of Alaska The lieutenant governor of Alaska ( Iñupiaq: ''Alaskam Kavanaata Ikayuqtiksrautaa'') is the deputy elected official to the governor of the U.S. state of Alaska. Unlike most lieutenant governors in the U.S., the office also maintains the dut ...

from 1974 to 1978. In the 1980s, he owned and operated Talkeetna Air Taxi, an Alaska bush flying service.

Early life

Thomas was born on October 6, 1923, in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was the son of Americans, Lowell Thomas Sr., a prominent writer, broadcaster, and traveler, and Frances "Fran" (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Ryan) Thomas. He graduated from the

Taft School The Taft School is a private coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 9–12. Overview History The school was founded in 1890 as Mr. Taft's School (renamed t ...

in 1942 and went on to

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

, where he was a brother of the

Delta Kappa Epsilon Delta Kappa Epsilon (), commonly known as ''DKE'' or ''Deke'', is one of the oldest Fraternities and sororities, fraternities in the United States, with fifty-six active chapters and five active Colony (fraternity or sorority), colonies across No ...

fraternity (Phi chapter), before joining the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

. In 2011, The Taft School honored him with the Horace D. Taft Alumni Medal and Citation of Merit.

Career

In 1949, Thomas and his father were invited by the Tibetan government to make a film there with the hope that their reports would help persuade the U.S. government to defend Tibet against the Chinese. The trip lasted 400 days, and the father and son were the last Westerners to reach

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

before the Chinese

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

and occupation.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

did not broadcast the resultant film, ''Expedition to Lhasa, Tibet'', until years later, but his book about the expedition, ''Out of This World'', published in 1950 became a bestseller. In 1960, after the

14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...

of Tibet was given refuge in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, he wrote the book ''The Silent War in Tibet''. "Mr. Thomas describes the brutal Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet beginning in 1950..." and about the armed

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

resistance by citizens and lamas which began in the mid-1950s. He told the ''

Anchorage Daily News The ''Anchorage Daily News'' is a daily newspaper published by the Binkley Co., and based in Anchorage, Alaska. It is the most widely read newspaper and news website (adn.com) in the state of Alaska. The newspaper is headquartered in Anchorage, ...

'', "I guess it was the greatest adventure I ever had." In 2006, the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

bestowed the

International Campaign for Tibet The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is a non-profit advocacy group working to promote democratic freedoms for Tibetans, ensure their human rights, and protect Tibetan culture and the environment. Founded in 1988, ICT is the world's larges ...

Light of Truth Award The Light of Truth Award is a human rights award which is presented nearly annually by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an NGO aiming for the promotion of democracy and human rights for the Tibetan people. The award is presented since ...

on Lowell Jr and referred to him as "one of the grandfathers of modern day Tibet." In 1954, Thomas and wife Mary Taylor Pryor, known as "Tay", flew a

Cessna 180 The Cessna 180 Skywagon is a four- or six-seat, fixed conventional gear general aviation airplane which was produced between 1953 and 1981. Though the design is no longer in production, many of these aircraft are still in use as personal airc ...

around much of the world, logging over 50,000 miles. They wrote about it in their book ''Our Flight to Adventure.''

Move to Alaska

The Thomases moved to Alaska in 1958 where they would remain for the remainder of their lives. After his political career, Thomas returned to flying, owning and operating Talkeetna Air Taxi and flying a

Helio Courier The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light Short Take-Off and Landing, STOL cargo aircraft, utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraf ...

for research and documentary work as well as flying climbers to and from Denali's

Kahiltna Glacier Kahiltna Glacier is the longest glacier of the Alaska Range in the U.S. state of Alaska. It starts on the southwest slope of Denali near Kahiltna Pass (elevation ). Its main channel runs almost due south between Mount Foraker to the west and Mo ...

and in the Alaska Range. He remained an active pilot into his 80s. Among other appearances, in 1958 he appeared as a guest challenger on the TV panel show ''

To Tell the Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

''. In 1962, he narrated a children's recording, "The Story of Mr. Globe" which was produced by Replogle Globe, Inc in Chicago, Illinois. From January 1967 until December 1974, he represented District E in the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or reje ...

as a Republican. He left the State Senate to become the 3rd

under Governor

Jay Hammond Jay Sterner Hammond (July 21, 1922 – August 2, 2005) was an American politician of the Republican Party, who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy, New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pi ...

. Long a resident of Alaska, he was known for his interest in the now-defunct Naval Arctic Research Laboratory based in

Barrow, Alaska Utqiagvik ( ; , ), formerly known as Barrow ( ), is the borough seat and largest city of the North Slope Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located north of the Arctic Circle, it is one of the northernmost cities and towns in the world and th ...

, currently the home of

Iḷisaġvik College Iḷisaġvik College () is a public tribal land-grant community college in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska. Operated by the North Slope Borough, a home rule government of the Iñupiat, it is the only tribal college or university in Alask ...

. Much as his father had done he ventured into the harsh environment of the ice islands where research was done by scientists on the Arctic Ocean and its atmosphere including the Auroras. He published his adventure in ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' in 1965 as well as numerous other productions and publications, including a movie on king crab in the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; , "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before Alaska Purchase, 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain ...

Legacy and awards

The Thomases were generous philanthropists, and were involved in the building of the biathlon training facility above Girdwood, the Thomas Planetarium at the

Anchorage Museum The Anchorage Museum is a large art, history, ethnography, ecology and science museum located in a modern building in the heart of Anchorage, Alaska. It is dedicated to studying and exploring the land, peoples, art and history of Alaska. The mu ...

, and the Thomas Center for Senior Living at St. Mary's Episcopal Church where he and Tay were long-time members and supporters. In 1995, he was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the National Parks Conservation Foundation, and in 2004 the Alaska Conservation Foundation awarded him with a lifetime achievement award as well. In 2001, he was awarded the first ever Bruce F. Vento Public Service Award by the National Park Trust.

References

External links

Lowell Thomas
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lowell Jr. 1923 births 2016 deaths Republican Party Alaska state senators American film producers United States Army personnel of World War II Aviators from Alaska Bush pilots Businesspeople from Anchorage, Alaska Dartmouth College alumni Lieutenant governors of Alaska Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska British emigrants to the United States People from Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska Taft School alumni United States Army Air Forces soldiers Military personnel from Alaska Writers from Anchorage, Alaska Tibet Lhasa 14th Dalai Lama 20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature