William E. Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Edward Jackson III (1945-02-13)February 13, 1945 (age 81) |
| Education | Canoga Park HS |
| Occupations | Author Ret. Maritime Captain |
| Known for | Greenpeace Activist Author Musician |
| Title | Ret. Captain |
| Political party | Social Democrat |
| Children | Cory Ryan Quinn Enjoli |
| Parent(s) | G. William Marjorie |
William Edward Jackson III (born February 13, 1945 - 2019) served withGreenpeace in its early years, as crew member on the first anti-whaling expedition, and as cofounder of Greenpeace San Francisco (the first GP chapter after Vancouver, BC). A pioneerSerge modular synthesizer builder and player.
Cellar-M was an experimental collective that came out ofCalifornia Institute of the Arts, where, in 1972, as a multimedia artist, Will Jackson won a scholarship to, but allegedly lost it when he offended his mentorAllan Kaprow. Cellar-M was co-founded by Will Jackson,Naut Humon and Rex Probe. In 1974Stefan Weisser (Z'EV) joined the band.
Cellar-M split in 1976 into 2 duets: TO andRhythm & Noise.
In 1973, Will Jackson moved on toSerge Tcherepnin's CalArts synthesizer workshop, under whose supervision he built his own modular synthesizer. He later gave his modular the title ofSerge Modular Music System#1 explaining, in his bookOnce upon a Greenpeace, that "It was in a CalArts workshop that my Serge System syntheser was built, along with eight others. Mine just happened to be the first to make a sound and fly...a year later to land on the deck of the first anti-wahling expedition in history."[1]
As an artist, Will Jackson was invited to board theGreenpeace V as part of the media campaign to demonstrate whale intelligence, and to disrupt Russian whaling. Jackson played his Serge Modular Music System#1 that had been brought onboard, broadcast through underwater speakers, with the intention of communicating with whales through synthesized whale song.[2][3][4] He was one of six persons out of a rotating pool of 35 to remain aboard throughout the expedition. Bob Hunter, cofounder and first president of Greenpeace, credits Jackson with saving him from drowning atTriangle Island.[5]
Following on the success of that voyage, Jackson opened the San Francisco office of Greenpeace. With the assistance ofFund for Animals (Cleveland Amory, Virginia Handley), eco-filmmakerStan Minasian, and commercial pilot Al Johnson. Jackson launched a grassroots media campaign, struggling from aSouth-of-Market condemned hotel to gain volunteers and donations, in preparation for the first anti-sealing expedition, and the follow-up whale expedition of 1976. (Three years after he left, the chapter was embroiled in a lawsuit with Vancouver over a million dollars and rights; the outcome being the formation of today's Greenpeace International). These accounts and others are referenced in Robert Hunter's book,Rex Weyler's Greenpeace (Rodale, 2004), the Hunter-Weyler collaborationTo Save A Whale(Chronicle Books, 1978), andThe Greenpeace Story (Dorling Kindersley, 1989).
Will Jackson's Greenpeace memoirs,Once upon a Greenpeace was published in 2013 (Infinity).
In 1976, he co-founded the band TO with experimental percussionistStefan ''Z'EV'' Weisser, occasionally performing under the nameCenter for Interspecies Communication.
TO's commitment to developing the world's knowledge and preservation of cetaceans would lead them to hold awareness concerts from California to Japan, performing at the Harumi Dome in Tokyo for the “Save the Seas” event against commercial whaling. During this event, TO went on to record more than 12 hours of live concert music in just two days.[6][7]
TO released one album in 1976, which was reissued in 2024.[8]
After TO ceased its activities, he joinedEther Ship, a pionneersonic xenolinguisitcs performance art group created in 1972 in Los Angeles by Willard van de Bogart and Lemon DeGeorge, whom he had met at Calarts.
In the 1980s Will Jackson became interviewer/program producer for Miss Wire Waist ofKPFK'sSounds of Jamaica (L.A.); and publishedJah Guide reggae culture magazine. He recorded, published and broadcast speeches onapartheid byJesse Jackson,Michael Manley, and BishopDesmond Tutu; and interviews withSteel Pulse,Burning Spear,Big Youth,Mutabaruka,Ras Michael andPeter Tosh. Meanwhile, he managed a 25-year career as a maritime seaman, union captain, and then fatherhood. In 2003 he authored the "reggae" novelFlight From Babylon(Infinity).
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