| Title | : | Some Stories: Lessons from the Edge of Business and Sport |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1938340825 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781938340826 |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 464 |
| Publication | : | Published July 1, 2019 |
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.” -- LP Jacks
For nearly 80 years, Yvon Chouinard has followed this advice, pursuing, with equal fervor, sports adventures, business excellence, and environmental activism. Since 1950, he has captured the lessons and revelations he’s learned in articles and books, personal letters and poetry, introductions and eulogies. In this fascinating inside look, Chouinard himself has selected his favorites from years of reflection, all accompanied by illustrative photos, many never published before. The results is both more of Chouinard’s iconoclastic and provocative thinking, his skilled storytelling and sense of humor, and a picture of the evolution of his thoughts and philosophies. With articles on sports, from falconry to fishing and climbing to surfing, with musings on the purpose of business and the importance of environmental activism, this very personal book is like sitting on the couch with this amazing man, flipping through his photo album as he tells the stories of his life. Some Stories is an eclectic portrait of a unique life lived well.
Yet the final pages of the book indicate that Chouinard will continue to challenge people, business, and the world. He presents the company's new simple but direct mission statement, revised for the first time in 27 years: "We are in business to save our home planet." With it he emphasizes the urgency of the climate crisis then entreats every person's obligation to reflect on, commit to, and act on this mission.
Some Stories: Lessons from the Edge of Business and Sport Reviews
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In "Some Stories: Lessons from the Edge of Business and Sport," you get a front row seat with Patagonia-founder Yvon Chouinard. Not only did he start a very successful outdoor gear company, he also believes in the power of nature and the need to protect it for future generations to come. Patagonia as a company has been making waves recently for some of the work that it is doing on topics such as conservation and climate change.
I was drawn to this book because I have really liked following Patagonia's shifts as a company committed to doing better. I really didn't know much about Yvon Chouniard before reading this book and while a flat-out biography of him would have been interesting, it was really great to get to know him through his own words and specifically reading his words on things he really cared about. This is a man that has a very good sense of himself and what he wants to strive towards.
The book contains all sorts of stories that Chouniard wants to tell from both his personal adventures and long career. There are essays on wonderful places and the experiences he had there (my to-travel list is so much longer now). There are ruminations on the problems that plague our natural world and seem insurmountable. There are tributes to those that Chouniard loved and lost. One of my favorite essays in the book is a letter that he writes to his daughter as she goes off to school and to make her own way in the world. The essays throughout the book are passionate and often moving. In addition to some lovely odes to this beautiful world we live in, there is also some pretty amazing photography.
This book made me want to go take a long, beautiful walk somewhere with mountains, trees, lakes, and streams and just think about this wonderful place we call home. This book would be a lovely gift for anyone who loves the great outdoors! -
As a business founder and owner, an outdoorsman, climber and runner, I found this book and how it portrays in a candid way some of Yvon Chouinard's inner world, extremely inspiring. Yvon's values of simplicity, activism through business, and living life well have become part of my aspirational short, medium and long-term goals. Of course I emphatically recommend this great book, even if it's bulky and heavy (perfect for your living room table).
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Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the outdoor brand Patagonia, began as a blacksmith, eventually creating Chouinard Equipment Ltd., which mainly focused on forging climbing pitons. He was a major player during the Golden Age of Climbing in Yosemite, making first ascents of the North America Wall with climbing legends Royal Robbins, Tom Frost, and Chuck Pratt in 1964.
Many decades later he’s published Some Stories: Lessons from the Edge of Business and Sport (Patagonia), a collection of stories curated from a rugged, beautiful, and full life dedicated to nature.
While this collection is filled with gripping stories, perhaps most fascinating is the knowledge Chouinard derived from them, illuminated best in his essay on the importance of ethics and style in modern rock-climbing. Adding a new blurb to the already published essay, Chouinard writes, as if for himself more than anyone else: “It’s embarrassing reading this essay now. Its bombastic statements are from a young climber pretty full of himself. Nevertheless, its prediction of Yosemite techniques being used on big walls all over the world was not overstated.” In this essay, Chouinard goes on to revolutionize the moral code of rock climbing and offers a warning about the possible damage the sport could have on the environment.
The rest of the review:
https://booktrib.com/2019/04/patagoni... -
Makes one want to drop everything, get outside, come back home, sell/give away everything he/she doesn't need, and become a steward of the environment. I have a new appreciation for Patagonia as a company, and I feel like I haven't explored or experienced nearly enough of the ever dwindling wild regions of this planet.
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6 stars
I am not a fan of books about already previously written articles but this one is magnificent. Several periods of Yvon's life and career, described with integrity and a bit of adventure. -
Dit is een echt koffietafelboek, met verhalen die allemaal eerder al gepubliceerd zijn. Geweldig om te doorbladeren, maar als je Yvon en Patagonia volgt, ken je er al heel wat van. Sowieso eerst 'Let my people go surfing' lezen voor je aan deze start.
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Expected more stories about business. A compilation of short stories, letters and articles published in magazines by the author. Interesting pictures made reading the book fun. Mainly stories about the authors hobbies and adventures as well as stories about saving the planet (dams, pollution, grassroots activism). Very much preferred let my people go surfing.
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“It’s easy to be depressed these days, as much of the wild world has been denigrated or destroyed. But I like to remind myself that these things change. You see nothing happening and then all of a sudden, it changes.
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Great short stories of Yvon’s life from a young age through current, he covers it all.
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Love this guy but have read a lot of this before. Didn't realize so much of it would be about climbing.
I think my limited reading time will be better spent on something else. -
I loved "Let My People Go Surfing," but wasn't sure what to expect from this one. Picture more personal stories and essays mixed in with some life lessons and thoughts on the state of the world, economy, and environment. A good read for anyone who loves the outdoors!
