Tom Stienstra

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Tom Stienstra
Born
Palo Alto, California, US
OccupationOutdoor writer

Tom Stienstra (born 1954)[1] is an American author, outdoorsman and Outdoors Writer Emeritus for the San Francisco Chronicle.[2][3] He produces a radio feature for KCBS in San Francisco, and hosted and co-produced a television special for PBS on the Tuolumne River. He has written several guide books for California, the Pacific Northwest and America.[4] He has won several awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America.

Early life[edit]

Stienstra grew up in Palo Alto, California, where he graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1972.[5] He received his degree in journalism in 1976 from San Jose State University.[6]

Career[edit]

Stienstra published his first story at age 8, "Searching for a Lost Friend", in the Palo Alto Times,[7] which hired him as sports reporter after his graduation.[6] In 1979, when the Palo Alto Times merged with the Redwood City Tribune to become the Peninsula Times Tribune, Stienstra was promoted to sports columnist.[6] In 1980, he was hired to write about the outdoors for the San Francisco Examiner,[8] which at the time operated jointly with the Chronicle. He is now classified as the "Outdoor Writer Emeritus" for the San Francisco Chronicle.[9]

Since 2000, Stienstra has produced and broadcast a radio feature for KCBS in San Francisco, and appears frequently as a live guest expert; that appearance is presently on hold as he recovers from cancer. [10] He hosted the TV show The Great Outdoors for CBS-CW networks[11] and in 2017 hosted and co-produced with Jim Schlosser a national PBS special, The Mighty T -- The Tuolumne River, from Glacier to Golden Gate.[12]

Books[edit]

Stienstra has written many books, including Moon Pacific Northwest Camping, was listed in the Portland Oregonian as a No. 1 bestseller.[11]

Awards[edit]

In 2021, the Outdoor Writers Association of California awarded Stienstra the "Joan Wolf Enduring Excellence Award" for career achievement. [13] Stienstra's film on the Tuolumne won the 2017 Northern California Area Emmy Award for Health / Science / Environmental Special.[14][15]

In 2022, his book, 52 Weekend Adventures,[16] was awarded second place in America as best outdoor book of the year by the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA).[17]

Stienstra is one of the OWAA's most awarded members. In 2015, he became the first six-time winner of its President's Award as "Best of the Best", when he won best story of the year in the Newspaper/Website division.[18] The winning entry was "Paddling with giants", published in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 5, 2014.[19] To become a finalist for the President's Award, that story won first place in the Outdoor Fun and Adventure Category of the Newspaper/Website Contest.[20] In 2017, when he won the President's Award for best outdoors television show for his PBS special on the Tuolumne, he was the only member to win simultaneous first-place awards in newspaper, radio and television.[15] In 2018, he won 1st Place, Outdoor Recreation Photo of the Year for "A world apart on the marsh".[21] He won the association's highest award, the Enduring Excellence Award, in 2021,[1][22] the first writer from California to do so.[11]

Stienstra was the fourth living member inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.[23]

Personal life[edit]

Stienstra survived a hatchet attack when he was 21, which gave him interest in post-traumatic stress disorder and aspects of being in the outdoors.[24]

In 2015, he married Denese Stienstra, with whom he has two stepsons;[11] they live in Siskiyou County. In August 2021, he was diagnosed with metastasized melanoma and underwent brain surgery.[1]

Brain cancer[edit]

X-rays, MRIs and PET scans found melanoma cancer throughout most of Stienstra's body. Stanford Professor of Neurosurgery, Dr. Steven Chang, and a team of 15 specialists completed six craniotomies to remove brain tumors and additional fluids, and performed another six CyberKnife stereotactic radiosurgery procedures on additional small tumors. Dr. Sunil Reddy, a cutaneous oncology specialist, then directed and scheduled immunology infusions for Stienstra over the past two years. The SF Chronicle published a 5,000-word plus story about him.[25] That story sited heavy exposure to sun at high altitudes as the most likely source of sun cancer.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Stienstra, Tom (February 22, 2023). "Tom Stienstra's tales of survival". San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. ^ "Tom Stienstra bags travel writing award". Sfgate.com. June 10, 2001. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  3. ^ "Tom Stienstra wins Outdoor Journalism Awards at the National Level". Owac.Org. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  4. ^ "Avalon Travel". Travel Matters.com. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  5. ^ "Palo Alto High School Class of 1972 Alumni, Palo Alto, CA".
  6. ^ a b c "Iconic columnist and guidebook author has shared his adventures in California and the West for 30 years". Adventure Sports Journal. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  7. ^ Gauvin, Pete (July 2010). "Tom Stienstra: Ambassador to the Outdoors". Adventure Sports Journal. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  8. ^ Stienstra, Tom (June 30, 2020). "10 life-and-death moments in 40 years in the outdoors". San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. ^ http://www.sfchronicle.com
  10. ^ "Tom Stienstra".
  11. ^ a b c d "About Tom Stienstra". Tom Stienstra Outdoors. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  12. ^ "ViewFinder | the Mighty T - Tuolumne River | Season 22 | Episode 12". PBS.
  13. ^ <https://owaa.org/eea-winners/
  14. ^ "46th Annual Northern California Area Emmy Award Recipients Announced" (PDF) (press release). Emmy Awards San Francisco. June 3, 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Chronicle's Tom Stienstra wins awards". SFGate. July 1, 2017.
  16. ^ Fish, Peter (July 8, 2021) [June 28, 2021]. "Datebook: Tom Stienstra shares favorite spots in '52 Weekend Adventures' just in time for summer fun". San Francisco Chronicle.
  17. ^ "2022 Excellence in Craft Award Winners". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  18. ^ Stienstra, Tom (July 14, 2015). "Chronicle's Tom Stienstra wins top outdoor writing award in nation for record 4th time - Tom Stienstra's Outdoors". Blog.sfgate.com. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  19. ^ Stienstra, Tom (August 5, 2014). "Paddling with giants: Humpback whale spectacle in Monterey Bay". SFGate. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  20. ^ Sadler, Tom (July 24, 2015). "Six OWAA contest winners judged 'best of the best'". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  21. ^ "Stienstra photo named best in the nation by outdoors group". San Francisco Chronicle. June 10, 2018 [June 9, 2018].
  22. ^ "Enduring Excellence Award Winners". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  23. ^ "Welcome". Cal Outdoor Shall Off Fame.Org. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  24. ^ Stienstra, Tom (February 19, 2017). "Dog at your side, peace in your heart". San Francisco Chronicle.
  25. ^ "Tom Stienstra's tales of survival". San Francisco Chronicle. February 22, 2023.

External links[edit]

25 <https://owaa.org/eea-winners/> http://tomstienstra.com Official website]

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