Let My People Go Surfing

As a child, Yvon Chouinard moved with his father, a French Canadian blacksmith, to Southern California with little English and less money. Today his company, Patagonia, earns more than $600 million a year and is a beacon and benchmark for sustainable capitalism. This is the amazing story of a young man who found escape by scaling the world's highest peaks, of an innovator who used his father's blacksmith tools to fashion equipment that changed climbing forever, and of the entrepreneur who brought doing good and having a blast into the heart of a business. Updated throughout and featuring a new chapter about the company's leadership in environmental activism over the last decade, during which Patagonia's business also quadrupled in size, Let My People Go Surfing brings this amazing story of ethical entrepreneurship up to the present day. The new edition, printed on 100% recycled paper, also debuts a new four-color photo insert and a preface from filmmaker and activist Naomi Klein."Wonderful . . . a moving autobiography, the story of a unique business, and a detailed blueprint for hope." -Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and SteelIn this 10th anniversary edition, Yvon Chouinard-legendary climber, businessman, environmentalist, and founder of Patagonia, Inc.-shares the persistence and courage that have gone into being head of one of the most respected and environmentally responsible companies on earth.From his youth as the son of a French Canadian handyman to the thrilling, ambitious climbing expeditions that inspired his innovative designs for the sport's equipment, Let My People Go Surfing is the story of a man who brought doing good and having grand adventures into the heart of his business life-a book that will deeply affect entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

“"Wonderful . . . a moving autobiography, the story of a unique business, and a detailed blueprint for hope." --Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "For everyone who is alternately outraged and depressed by the wave of greed that has been the hallmark of corporate America in the twenty-first century, there is a name that inspires hope: Yvon Chouinard. . . . Unique and compelling." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Chouinard's biography, Let My People Go Surfing , reveals a fascinating and colorful character . . . . For all of our sakes, it seems the responsible thing for companies to do is follow Chouinard's ascent." -- USA Today "No matter what you do, you will find essential guidance and inspiration in Let My People Go Surfing. " -- Dave Foreman, The Rewilding Institute”

"Wonderful . . . a moving autobiography, the story of a unique business, and a detailed blueprint for hope." —Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel

"For everyone who is alternately outraged and depressed by the wave of greed that has been the hallmark of corporate America in the twenty-first century, there is a name that inspires hope: Yvon Chouinard. . . . Unique and compelling." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Chouinard's biography, Let My People Go Surfing, reveals a fascinating and colorful character . . . . For all of our sakes, it seems the responsible thing for companies to do is follow Chouinard's ascent." —USA Today

"No matter what you do, you will find essential guidance and inspiration in Let My People Go Surfing." —Dave Foreman, The Rewilding Institute

Yvon Chouinard is the founder and owner of Patagonia, Inc., based in Ventura, California. He began in business by designing, manufacturing, and distributing rock climbing equipment in the late 1950s. His tinkering led to an improved ice ax that is the basis for modern ice ax design. In 1964 he produced his first mail-order catalog, a one-page mimeographed sheet containing advice not to expect fast delivery during climbing season. In 2001, along with Craig Mathews, owner of West Yellowstone's Blue Ribbon Flies, he started One Percent for the Planet, an alliance of businesses that contribute at least 1 percent of their net annual sales to groups on a list of researched and approved environmental organizations.

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