The RIVERKEEPERS: Two Activists
Fight to Reclaim Our Environment as
a Basic Human Right by Robert
Kennedy
A Monument To Environmental Activism, Struggles And Successes
In the 1960s the Hudson River, under threat from polluters and energy
concerns but beloved by its shoreline residents and local fishermen,
became one of the United States first major environmental battlegrounds.
Out of those early legal wrangles emerged some important environmental
legislation, and also the Soundkeeper organization, with a mandate to
fight for the health of this historic New York river. This book reveals
something about the organization, and even more about the history of the
Hudson and environmentalism in America, from John Winthrop to Newt
Gingrich, and quite a bit, too, about the upbringings--glamorous (whod
have thought keeping a pet seal in your swimming pool would lead to
activism?) and not-so-unusual--of its authors. Promising early chapters
sketch out the exploitation of the river by industry and describe some of its

colorful champions. (One of the most interesting here is Robert H. Boyle,
the writer of a seminal account of the Hudson, The Hudson River: A
Natural and Unnatural History, who comes off as a hero.) A terrific final
section explains in accessible terms the basis for environmental law in the
founding of our country. In between, this book sometimes falters under the
weight of too much information. You cant fault these writers for the work
theyve done, or for the scattered gems of thoughtful information on the
modern environmental movement, which make this book worth reading.
Just be prepared to pick through some irrelevancies (did Bobby Shriver
really bring a leopard tortoise home for Robert Kennedy Jr. from Kenya in
a suitcase?) to get to the heart of this unusual book. --Maria Dolan
Personal Review: The RIVERKEEPERS: Two Activists Fight to
Reclaim Our Environment as a Basic Human Right by Robert
Kennedy
"The Riverkeepers" is one of the most potent calls for environmental
awareness and action I have ever read. It is an inspiration for all those
interested in becoming serious advocates of a clean world. It stands right
along side Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" with it's eye-opening accounts
environmental havoc created by thoughtless, greedy, untreated sewage
spewing municipalities, chemical companies, power generating plants and
manufacturing facilities.
It is the story of how the Hudson River "Riverkeepers" came to be-
spawned from a small group of sport and commercial fishermen, the
Hudson River Fishermen's Association with their ardent yet eloquent
spokesman, Robert H. Boyle, author of "The Hudson River: A natural and
unnatural history" and a contributing writer to "Sports Illustrated", all of
whom were fed-up with the river being used as toxic waste dump,
poisoning the fish, fouling the drinking water and seriously endangering the
health and lives of literally millions of people who live both in the Hudson
Valley where the headwaters begin at Lake Tear in the Adirondack
Mountains and runs South 315 miles down to New York City Harbor where
the river meets the Atlantic Ocean and where most of the pollution is
concentrated. A sad commentary on one of America's most productive
bodies of water.
Significantly and appropriately, this is where the birth of America's first
well organized environmental legal challenges to the desecration of
America's waterways started. It is the personal stories of those who chose
to take a stand and fight seemingly undefeatable corporate giants like
General Electric, Con Ed, et al. By combining forces, such groups as the
NRDC; Pete Seeger's group, Clearwater; Scenic Hudson, et al., have been
able to rectify many wrongs to the environment.
The personal stories of author's John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
are inspiring and heartwarming- their trials, tribulations and success' in
fighting for environmental justice are a profound demonstration of courage
and dedication.

The success of Riverkeepers has replicated itself all over America with
separate, but associated groups under the umbrella of the National
Alliance of River, Sound & Bay Keepers and most every major body of
water in America now has a program.
This is a top choice manual for environmental activism. Highly
recommended!
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