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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Dennis Puleston
Dennis Puleston, 1905 - 2001
He left the world a better place
Dennis Puleston never forgot a skylark that began singing amidst the terror of the invasion of Normandy. For the rest of his life he repaid that bird. Puleston, the founding chairman of Environmental Defense, died June 8, at 95, having dedicated his life to environmental protection.
An expert naturalist and bird painter, Puleston was a close observer of Long Island's osprey colony. In the 1960s, he noted an alarming decline in osprey chicks because DDT thinned eggshells. He joined other scientists in legal action to stop local DDT spraying, pioneering the use of science and law to protect the environment and spurring the creation of our organization, then called the Environmental Defense Fund. In 1972, DDT was banned nationwide.
An old-style adventurer born in England, Puleston grew up in a fishing village on the Thames estuary, where he developed a love for the natural world and a curiosity about far-away places. In 1931, at 25, he set off in a 31-foot yawl to sail around the world. It took six years and included encounters with cannibals, pirates, buried treasure, a pet boa constrictor and capture by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese war. Puleston's captors were so impressed by a handwritten thank-you note from the emperor, to whom he had given his pet cockatoo, that they released him.
In 1941, Puleston settled on Long Island. He helped design the DUKW amphibious landing craft that brought troops ashore in World War II. For this President Truman gave him the Medal of Freedom .
At an age when most people retire to a rocking chair, Puleston began leading expeditions to acquaint people with the urgent need for international protection of Antarctica. His last environmental victory, over a proposed mall, came last year at age 94.
Nearly 350 people gathered at his home to celebrate his achievements. Many recounted how their lives intertwined with this modest, gentle, and compassionate man. "He persevered," said our executive director Fred Krupp. "He cared so deeply that he inspired others to care."
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Medal History
