Peter Willcox

2023-07-02T15:44:59Z

2601:742:8001:2D80:9884:5843:8576:1B94: /* Early years */Fixed typo

{{short description|American sea captain (born 1953)}}
{{For|the British bishop|Pete Wilcox}}
{{more footnotes|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Peter Henry Willcox
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|March 6, 1953}}
| birth_place = [[Woodstock, Vermont]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = American
| occupation = Activist
}}
'''Peter Willcox''' (born March 6, 1953) is an American [[sea captain]] best known for his activism with the environmental organization [[Greenpeace]].<ref name="Eells 2014"/> He was on board as captain of the ''[[Rainbow Warrior (1955)|Rainbow Warrior]]'' when it was bombed and sunk by the [[DGSE]] (French intelligence service) in [[New Zealand]] in 1985.

In 2013, he was aboard the [[MV Arctic Sunrise|MV ''Arctic Sunrise'']] when the Russian military boarded it and arrested him and 30 other activists in what became known as the "[[Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship case|Arctic 30]]." He was detained for two months before being released. In 2014, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from ''[[The Guardian]]'' for his environmental activism.

==Early years==
Willcox was born to Eleanor Sharpe of [[Woodstock, Vermont]]. Sharpe, a member of the U.S Ski team at the time, was unmarried and gave the baby up for adoption at the urging of her family. Willcox was adopted by Roger and Elsie Willcox of [[South Norwalk|South Norwalk, Connecticut]].{{citation needed|date=January 2019}} He was raised in [[Village Creek (Norwalk, Connecticut)|Village Creek]]. Willcox's parents were both politically active. Roger, a community organizer specializing in co-ops, was a sailor. Elsie, who died in 1973, was a middle school science teacher in Norwalk and founded an environmental club in the late 1960s.

Both his mother and grandparents, Henry and Anita Willcox, were subpoenaed to testify before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], and their careers were ruined as a result. Elsie, fearful that a subpoena would endanger her chances of adopting another child, took Peter and his brother Michael underground for three months in 1956. After the adoption papers were finalized, they returned to Norwalk, where she did receive a subpoena to testify.

Willcox was taken to many [[civil rights]] demonstrations as a child. These culminated in 1965, when Willcox and his father attended the last day of the [[Selma to Montgomery marches|Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights march]]. The event crystallized his view that non-violent demonstrations or actions can be useful tools for social change.

Willcox attended [[North Country School]], and later [[The Putney School]] in Vermont.

== Clearwater ==
During his senior year at The Putney School, Willcox received the number one position in the 1972 [[Draft lottery (1972)|draft lottery]]. He applied for and received [[conscientious objector]] status. Thanks to the work of Bill Siebert, the previous first mate, the [[Hudson River Sloop Clearwater#Sloop Clearwater|Hudson River Sloop Clearwater]] was approved by a Federal Judge to be acceptable work for conscientious objectors. Although [[Richard Nixon|President Nixon]] declared the [[Vietnam War]] as over in February 1973, and the draft over, Willcox joined Clearwater. He spent the 1973 season as 2nd and 1st mate, and came back in 1976 as captain. While at Clearwater, Willcox met [[Pete Seeger|Pete]] and [[Toshi Seeger]] and saw them as inspirations for activism.

== Greenpeace ==
After spending a year doing [[humpback whale]] research on an old [[square rig]]ger, Willcox saw an ad for mates and engineers on the newly-arrived [[Greenpeace]] ship, the ''[[Rainbow Warrior (1955)|Rainbow Warrior]]''. Given a spot as a possible deckhand, he was promoted to First Mate on his first day. Four months later, when the British captain left the ship to return to his family, he became the skipper. On July 10, 1985, as the ''Rainbow Warrior'' was at [[Auckland Harbour]] preparing to sail in protest French nuclear testing, it was [[Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior|bombed by French intelligence agents]] and sunk. The incident, which killed freelance photographer [[Fernando Pereira]], caused an international scandal.

On September 19, 2013, he was arrested off Russian waters for participating in another Greenpeace campaign.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gerken|first1=James|title=Meet Peter Willcox, The Greenpeace Captain Currently Under Arrest In Russia|publisher=[[The Huffington Post]]|date=September 30, 2013|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/peter-willcox-arrest-greenpeace_n_4003685.html|access-date=2 May 2016}}</ref>

== Notable Greenpeace campaigns ==
'''1981''' <br />
Offshore Oil drilling on Georges Bank.

'''1982''':<br />
Stopping National Lead Industries from dumping a million gallons of sulfuric acid off the [[New Jersey]] beaches every day.

Seal killing in [[Canada]].

Dolphin killing as part of the tuna industry in the Pacific.

Whaling campaign in [[Peru]].

'''1983'''

Seismic surveying off the coast of California.

Driftnet fishing in North Pacific.

Whaling by Russia in [[Bering Sea]].

'''1985'''

Relocating the village of Rongalap in the [[Marshall Islands]] who were victims of the U.S. Atomic Testing program.

''Rainbow Warrior'' was blown up in [[Auckland]] by French military personnel, killing shipmate Fernando Pereira.

Sailed on Vega IV to Mururoa atoll.

'''1987'''

Action with Danish Fisherman against Waste Management Services ship ''Vulcanos''.

'''1988'''

Action on USN destroyer bring nuclear weapons into Denmark.

'''1989'''

First trip on board the second ''Rainbow Warrior''.

Tasman Sea action against drift netters.

Scientific Testing at Mururoa.

'''1993'''

Exposed Russian dumping of nuclear waste in [[Sea of Japan]].

'''1995'''

Sneak into Turkish power plant burning coal with banner.

'''2000'''

Return toxic waste to U.S. embassy in [[Manila]].

'''2001'''

Soldertalje, Sweden action over burning toxic waste to generate electricity.

'''2003 (?)'''

Guns for Logs in Italy, France, Spain and Netherlands.

'''2007'''<br />

Research trip to Bering Sea with two one-man submarines.

'''2009'''

Research trip to [[Greenland]] to document global warming.

'''2013'''

Captains the ''Arctic Sunrise'' in an action against Russia's oil drilling platform in international waters in the Arctic. He and the crew are arrested and held in prison for two months before being granted amnesty. Demonstrations were held all over the world urging Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] to release the Arctic 30.

'''2016'''

Peter captains the second ''Rainbow Warrior'' near [[Fukushima, Japan]] to monitor radiation levels being released into the environment by the damaged nuclear reactors.

== Family life ==
Willcox was married in 1991, just in time for the birth of his first daughter, Anita. His second daughter, Natasha, was born in 1995. He was separated in 2002 and moved from Spain where he had been living back to [[Norwalk, Connecticut]]. His daughters joined him in 2004. In 2013, he married Maggy Aston, whom he had met on the Clearwater in the late 1970s, on [[Islesboro, Maine|Islesboro island in Maine]], where he now lives. He has a step-son named Skylar Purdy. He has nine brothers and sisters, either adopted, biological or step.

== Sailing ==
Willcox grew up sailing. His father Roger was a multiple class national champion, who took his son big boat racing in the early 1960s. Roger continues to be a fair weather frostbite dingy sailor at age 94. Willcox raced for the America's Cup syndicate Freedom – Enterprise in 1979. He has done ten [[Bermuda Race]]s, did eight S.O.R.C.s (Southern Ocean Racing Circuits) in the 1970s and is still active today. He currently races on a boat called Christopher Dragon out of New York.

He estimates he has sailed over 400,000 miles in his professional and recreational career.

He retired from Greenpeace in June 2019. He continues to race, ship out, and sail for a better planet.

== Writing ==
Willcox's memoir ''Greenpeace Captain: My Adventures in Protecting the Future of Our Planet''<ref name="Urquhart 2016"/> was released on April 18, 2016 in the United States and Canada by [[St. Martin's Press]]. In Australia and New Zealand, the book was released by Random House Publishing.

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Eells 2014">{{cite web | last=Eells | first=Josh | title=Observer Ethical Awards 2014 winners: Peter Willcox | website=[[The Guardian]] | date=June 11, 2014 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jun/12/observer-ethical-awards-winners-peter-willcox | access-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Urquhart 2016">{{cite web | last=Urquhart | first=Thomas | title=Book review: 'Greenpeace Captain' tales inspire awe, action | website=[[Portland Press Herald]] | date=May 1, 2016 | url=http://www.pressherald.com/2016/05/01/book-review-greenpeace-captain-tales-inspire-awe-action/ | access-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web | title=American Jailed In Russia For Protesting Climate Change Won't Back Down | author=Sheppard, Kate | website=The Huffington Post | date=November 28, 2013 | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/28/peter-willcox-greenpeace-russia-_n_4352819.html | ref={{sfnref | The Huffington Post | 2013}} | access-date=May 10, 2016}}
* {{cite web | last=Radford | first=Philip | title=Captain Peter Willcox Is a Hero, Not a "Pirate" | website=[[Grist (magazine)|Grist]] | date=September 27, 2013 | url=http://grist.org/article/captain-peter-willcox-is-a-hero-not-a-pirate/ | access-date=May 10, 2016}}
* {{cite web | last=Fidler | first=Richard | title=Greenpeace's Peter Willcox captained the Rainbow Warrior | website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=May 8, 2015 | url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2015/05/08/4231841.htm | access-date=May 10, 2016}}

==External links==
* [http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/04/04/3729758.htm 2013 Audio Interview with Richard Fidler]
*2015 Audio Interview on Soundcloud #016 Water is Wide
*2016 Audio Interview on Soundcloud #139: Adventures in Protecting the Future of our Planet.

{{Greenpeace}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Willcox, Peter}}
[[Category:People from Norwalk, Connecticut]]
[[Category:1953 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People associated with Greenpeace]]
[[Category:Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior]]
[[Category:Sea captains]]
[[Category:The Putney School alumni]]
[[Category:People from Islesboro, Maine]]

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Peter Willcox