He first stepped on the world stage when he co-founded the Don't Make a Wave Committee in opposition to nuclear weapons tests in Alaska. The committee "leased the halibut fishing vessel Phyllis Cormack, and, after renaming it Greenpeace, sailed to Alaska." Thus history was made.
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For more on the man's life, consider reading send-offs from Greenpeace, Discovery News, or The New York Times. He will be missed.
Photo of the Don't Make a Wave Committee (Greenpeace, via Treehugger) from left: Jim Bohlen, Paul Cote, and Irving Stowe.