Harold Gilliam facts for kids

Harold Gilliam (born in 1918, died in 2016) was a famous writer and journalist from San Francisco. He wrote for big newspapers like the San Francisco Chronicle and the Examiner. Harold Gilliam was also a strong environmentalist. This means he worked hard to protect nature. An award for great environmental reporting is even named after him! It's called the Harold Gilliam Award.

Harold Gilliam's Early Life and Learning

Harold Gilliam was born in Los Angeles. He went to college at UCLA. There, he studied political science, which is about how governments work. Later, he earned another degree from UC Berkeley. He also learned writing from a famous author, Wallace Stegner, at Stanford.

During World War II, Harold Gilliam served in the army. He was part of the 11th Armored Division in Europe.

Harold Gilliam's Journalism Career

Harold Gilliam started his writing career at the Chronicle newspaper. He began as a "copy boy," helping with the news. Soon, he became a reporter.

In 1954, he started working as a freelancer. This means he wrote articles for different places instead of just one newspaper. In 1960, he began writing a special column about the environment for the Examiner.

The next year, he went back to the Chronicle. He continued his environmental column there. It was called "This Land." He wrote this column until he retired in 1995.

Protecting Nature: Harold Gilliam's Environmental Work

Harold Gilliam wrote a very popular book called San Francisco Bay. This book was so popular that it was on The New York Times bestseller list for 19 weeks! Because of this book, he was asked to help start a group called Save the Bay. This group works to protect the San Francisco Bay Area.

Harold Gilliam was one of the first journalists to focus on environmental issues. He helped many people care about saving nature. His writing helped protect many important places in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the 1960s, he helped stop ancient sites in Marin County from being destroyed. He wrote an article and talked to people to make this happen.

He also wrote an important article in 1979 called "The Destruction of Mono Lake Is on Schedule." This article was one of the first to tell people about the problems at Mono Lake. In 1993, he received an award from the Mono Lake Committee for his efforts.

The group The Bay Institute named an award after him, the Harold Gilliam Award. They also gave him their Bay Education Award in 1995.

Harold Gilliam's Family Life

Harold Gilliam was married to Ann. They even wrote a book together about a town called Carmel, California. Ann passed away in 2001. They had two sons. Harold Gilliam passed away in San Francisco in 2016. He was 98 years old.