TOW #11

To Those Who Loved Doug

Rick Ridgeway

The Cleanest Line (Blog by Patagonia)

            Doug Tompkins died on December 8, 2015. He was a “force for nature,” known for his founding of The North Face and creation of Conservacion Patagonica, a private nature reserve that covers . This article’s author, Rick Ridgeway is not just a journalist listing off this man’s life achievement he is a longtime friend of Doug. Even more astounding is that they were in the same kayak that capsized ultimately leading to Doug dying of hypothermia. So this is an extremely personal piece and Ridgeway’s writing conveys this. “In the days that have followed—days that seem like years—“survival” has been a theme that every one of us has raised independent of the other.” This shows how Ridgeway is himself still coming to grips with the death of a close friend and the reader feels like this piece is helping him find closure. The organization of the piece is equally as important. It begins with a description of the funeral, goes on to tell the story of the circumstances that led to his death, and finally closes again with the end of the funeral. By coming back to this funeral Ridgeway shows that the death is not the end of Doug Tomkins. For his true love is the national park he has spent his life creating so as long as that continues so does the memory of Doug. This message is easily inferred from his two closing lines, “Patagonia Sin Represas! The torch was still lit and the fire still burning brightly.” That phrase translates to “Patagonia without dams’, Doug’s Message of a wild natural world lives on and has inspired a new generation to pick up the torch.