2009 California Coastal Heroes chosen
Laura Kerscher
Santa Cruz Sentinel
08/30/2009
What turns a person into a hero? Many would say a hero needs to have courage, outstanding abilities or attributes and, of course, must accomplish heroic deeds, such as saving the world. But there is another definition of a hero: A person who stands up unselfishly and "devotes a lot of his or her life" to a cause, says Peter Fish from Sunset magazine.
Sunset magazine and the California Coastal Commission have honored scientist Gary Griggs and Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard among seven others for protecting the oceans, calling them California Coastal Heroes.
The reason for this event is the 25th anniversary of the Coastal Commission, and "hopefully, we will be able to do it again next year. There are so many people that have done terrific work to protect the coast," says Fish.
But the Coastal Heroes were not chosen only as a way to celebrate the commission's 25th anniversary. Sunset and the commission also wanted to call attention to the California coasts and the work needed to save them, Fish says.
This year the editorial staff of the commission and the magazine chose nine honorees, including John Hanke of Google Earth, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, Linda Sheehan of California Coastkeeper Alliance, Serge Dedina of Silcoast, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus and celebrity couple Pierce and Keely Brosnan as well as Griggs and Packard.
The committee wanted to honor people who "did such wonderful things, either in sciences or in making the coast accessible to everybody," Fish says.
"It's a wonderful honor, and I'm in good company," says Griggs, a professor of earth and planetary sciences at UC Santa Cruz, and since 1991, director of the school's Institute of Marine Sciences.
He spent a lifetime studying the Californian coast, "about 40 years," and became an expert in coastal processes and geologic hazards, such as earthquakes and forest fires. He has written many books, including "Living with the Changing California Coast" and his soon-to-be-publish work "Introduction to California's Coast and Beaches."
Griggs earned the hero title for garnering public support for the coast and for his leadership concerning the development of a marine research and education.
