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Tom Stienstra

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Tom Stienstra
Born
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 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

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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

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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

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Stienstra has written many books, including Moon Pacific Northwest Camping, was listed in the Portland Oregonian as a No. 1 bestseller.[11] His current top sellers include "52 Weekend Adventures," "Moon California Camping," "Moon California Hiking (co-authored)" and "West Coast RV".

Awards

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In October of 2024, Tom Stienstra won first place for best feature writing in America in the Adventure Category from the Outdoor Writers of America at its annual conference and featured in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle.[13]. In 2021, the OWAA awarded Stienstra the "Joan Wolf Enduring Excellence Award" for career achievement. [14] Stienstra's film on the Tuolumne won the 2017 Northern California Area Emmy Award for Health / Science / Environmental Special.[15][16]

In 2022, his book, 52 Weekend Adventures,[17] was awarded second place in America as best outdoor book of the year by the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA).[18]

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.[19] The winning entry was "Paddling with giants", published in the San Francisco Chronicle on August 5, 2014.[20] 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.[21] 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.[16] In 2018, he won 1st Place, Outdoor Recreation Photo of the Year for "A world apart on the marsh".[22] He won the association's highest award, the Enduring Excellence Award, in 2021,[1][23] the first writer from California to do so.[11]

Stienstra was the fourth living member inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.[24]

Personal life

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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.[25]

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

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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.[26] That story sited heavy exposure to sun at high altitudes as the most likely source of sun cancer.

References

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  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 [bare URL]
  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://www.sfchronicle.com/about/newsroomnews/article/tom-stienstra-outdoor-writer-19832422.php
  14. ^ <https://owaa.org/eea-winners/
  15. ^ "46th Annual Northern California Area Emmy Award Recipients Announced" (PDF) (press release). Emmy Awards San Francisco. June 3, 2017.
  16. ^ a b "Chronicle's Tom Stienstra wins awards". SFGate. July 1, 2017.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ "2022 Excellence in Craft Award Winners". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Stienstra, Tom (August 5, 2014). "Paddling with giants: Humpback whale spectacle in Monterey Bay". SFGate. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  21. ^ Sadler, Tom (July 24, 2015). "Six OWAA contest winners judged 'best of the best'". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  22. ^ "Stienstra photo named best in the nation by outdoors group". San Francisco Chronicle. June 10, 2018 [June 9, 2018].
  23. ^ "Enduring Excellence Award Winners". Outdoor Writers Association of America. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  24. ^ "Welcome". Cal Outdoor Shall Off Fame.Org. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  25. ^ Stienstra, Tom (February 19, 2017). "Dog at your side, peace in your heart". San Francisco Chronicle.
  26. ^ "Tom Stienstra's tales of survival". San Francisco Chronicle. February 22, 2023.
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25 <https://owaa.org/eea-winners/> http://tomstienstra.com Official website]

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