July eBook pages 1-91 (16.1 MB) - Latitude 38
July eBook pages 1-91 (16.1 MB) - Latitude 38
July eBook pages 1-91 (16.1 MB) - Latitude 38
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Afterguard Sailing Academy<br />
www.afterguard.net Oakland CA<br />
Page 70 • <strong>Latitude</strong> <strong>38</strong> • <strong>July</strong>, 2010<br />
(510) 535-1954<br />
Women's Classes<br />
Get ASA certifi ed with Afterguard – Call today<br />
to jump-start a whole new Sailing Lifestyle.<br />
Charter & Cruise Prep<br />
Did/does the person you've sailed with have a square mouth?<br />
Afterguard, the fun, 'No Yelling' School on SF Bay<br />
LOOSE LIPS<br />
Eight bells.<br />
We’ve often observed that the most unassuming people —<br />
those who toot their own horn the least — have actually accomplished<br />
great things in life. That was certainly true of our old<br />
friend Gerry Cunningham. For years we’d known him simply as<br />
a kindly old guy who showed up at boat shows and Baja Ha-Ha<br />
parties offering cruising guides of the Sea of Cortez — but never<br />
with a hard-sell attitude — before realizing that we had a personal<br />
connection to him that went back decades. Turns out he<br />
was the designer and maker of the original internal-frame backpack,<br />
one of which rode on our shoulders twice around Europe,<br />
and all through Central and South America during the ‘70s.<br />
And it wasn’t until<br />
after his passing<br />
on May 15, at age<br />
88, that we learned<br />
his revolutionary,<br />
lightweight, Gerry<br />
brand camping<br />
gear and “leave no<br />
trace” attitude had<br />
been instrumental<br />
in transforming<br />
wilderness camping<br />
into an accessible<br />
family sport.<br />
His mountaineering<br />
gear was also<br />
used on many major<br />
climbing expeditions<br />
during the<br />
‘50s and early ‘60s<br />
including the 1953<br />
American K2 expedition<br />
and the fi rst<br />
successful American<br />
expedition to<br />
Everest in ‘63. He<br />
For many, Gerry Cunningham was the guy selling<br />
great cruising guides at boat shows with his pretty<br />
granddaughter Heather. In reality, he was so much<br />
more, and we'll miss him.<br />
later designed the now-ubiquitous spring-loaded drawstring<br />
clamp found on all sorts of outdoor gear, and a variety of other<br />
gadgets and gear items.<br />
A World War II veteran of the 10th Mountain Division, Gerry<br />
moved to Colorado after the war which kindled his interest in<br />
mountaineering, just as his later move to Arizona sparked his<br />
passion for exploring every anchorage and cove in the nearby<br />
Sea of Cortez. Up until the end, he strove to make his charts<br />
as accurate as possible, and he was the fi rst — we believe — to<br />
offer GPS-corrected versions. His company, Gerry Sea of Cortez<br />
Charts, will continue on, managed by family members.<br />
Even during their early days together at Antioch College,<br />
Gerry and his wife Ann (who passed away last year) were way<br />
ahead of their time in terms of social consciousness. Back then,<br />
they dreamed of building a log cabin and living off the grid.<br />
Together they built four highly energy-effi cient homes in Colorado<br />
and Arizona, mostly by hand. For the past 30 years, they’d<br />
lived comfortably in earth-sheltered concrete domes powered<br />
only by solar electricity. During Governor Bruce Babbit’s administration,<br />
Gerry was appointed Arizona’s director of Energy<br />
Programs.<br />
The affable outdoorsman is survived by three children, fi ve<br />
grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and one great-greatgrandson.<br />
Donations in his memory may be made to the Nature<br />
Conservancy. Gerry was one of a kind, and we’re sure going to<br />
miss him.<br />
— andy<br />
LATITUDE / LADONNA
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