Goldsmith, Edward (1928-2009), was a French-born English author and environmentalist. In 1970, he founded an influential magazine called The Ecologist and was its first editor until 1989. From 1997, he was co-editor of the magazine with his nephew, Zac Goldsmith. Committed to the preservation of the earth and its diversity of animal and plant life, he wrote or co-edited a series of important books that detailed the damage being done to the earth and warned of the consequences. The books in which he was involved as author, coauthor, or editor include Can Britain Survive? (1971), A Blueprint for Survival (1972), The Earth Report (1988), 5,000 Days to Save the Planet (1990), and The Case Against the Global Economy (1996). He wrote The Way: An Ecological World View in 1992. He also edited three volumes on The Social and Environmental Effects of Large Dams (1984-1992). In 1974, and again in 1979, he ran for a seat in the United Kingdom’s House of Commons as an Ecology Party candidate but failed to win election.
Edward René David Goldsmith was born on Nov. 8, 1928, in Paris and was educated at Oxford University, England. He was the older brother of Sir James Goldsmith, an industrialist. Edward Goldsmith died on Aug. 21, 2009.
