Greenpeace founder Robert Hunter dies

Robert Hunter. Picture / City TV

Greenpeace founder and veteran journalist Robert (Bob) Hunter died on Monday in Toronto. He was 63 and had suffered from prostate cancer.

Born in the central Canadian province of Manitoba, Hunter was one of the protest crew that captured headlines in 1971 when it sailed into the US nuclear test zone around Amchitka Island in the North Pacific.

That ad hoc protest developed into the global environmental organisation Greenpeace, with Hunter becoming its first president in 1973.

Along with close friend Paul Watson, he became known as an eco-warrior for his uncompromising efforts to save whales and seals from slaughter.

He also campaigned against nuclear testing and the dumping of toxic waste at sea.

Time Magazine declared him one of the eco-heroes of the twentieth century.

Beyond his ardent activism, Hunter was an educator who believed that words are weapons on the environmental battlefield. A former newspaper journalist and author of more than a dozen books, he worked for the past 15 years as Ecology Specialist at City-TV in Toronto.

For years "BreakfastTelevision" viewers were treated to "Paper Cuts," his unique, early-morning take on the news in print, which he delivered in a casual manner while wearing his bathrobe.

"This was a man with a great loving heart, a brilliant mind and a massive spirit," said Stephen Hurlbut, Vice-President of News Programming at City TV.

"Bob Hunter changed our world. It a sadder world today, but a better world because of him."

Mr Hunter is survived by his wife, Bobbi and his children Will, Emily, Conan and Justine.