A River Runs Through It: Tribute to Robert Redford

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it”
– Norman Maclean

Robert Redford, acclaimed actor, director, indie film luminary, environmentalist and activist, died today at age 89. Few celebrities have so notably or in such pioneering fashion thrown the weight of their star power into so many just and essential causes.

Those viewing “Earth: One Amazing Day” in 2017 were treated to Redford’s trademark gravelly narration. Passing his passion for the natural world onto children and the child in all of us, this upbeat documentary celebrates observing wild animals within their native environments, something essential to reinforce and remember as their habitats continue to be threatened. This is just one contribution capping a lifetime of environmental and political activism.

For 50 years he was a trustee for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sundance Institute, championing causes such as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act and fighting projects like a Utah coal-fired power plant. Redford co-organized The Hollywood Climate Summit, advocated for the Paris Climate Treaty, and supported initiatives to protect areas like Texas’ Barton Springs. In Austin, Barton Springs is a haven for all Texans and wildlife including several endangered species, and connects to a vast and vital underground aquifer that is essential for all life in the region.

“I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense abroad. Otherwise what is there to defend?” 

– Robert Redford,  Yosemite National Park dedication in 1985, Save the Mission Trails

He had the power and freedom to pick the films he both starred in and directed and his choices reflect a wide ranging vision spanning the person, political, and the environmental. From his academy-award winning directorial debut, Ordinary People, exploring loss and grief, and how they  can tear families apart, to All the President’s Men, about the Watergate scandal, an event that ripped at the fabric of our nation, and brought down President Nixon, the man who ironically inaugurated the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Plus my personal favorite, the lyrical A River Runs Through It. Based on Norman Maclean’s masterpiece, at once idyllic and brutally honest, Redford’s film contrasts the enduring power of nature with the corruption of human forces. Redford courted Maclean by going fly fishing with him, a story told to me by my college mentor, Joel Snyder, who provided the historical photos in the film. Redford voiced the narration for the film himself, and with his choices we get a glimpse directly into the heart of the man, as he expresses his love for the natural world and analyzes the tragic human corruption and greed that threatens it.

“Dear President Oden, My friend Paul Newman tells me that you told him I could not make a gripping movie from the book A River Runs Through It. I think I did. Yours, Robert Redford.”

– Robert Redford, Summer, 2022, Issue of The American Fly Fisher

Robert Redford was the forerunner of Leonardo Dicaprio and others of later generations who embraced environmental activism. Like Earth Day itself, his legacy stretches back to the roots of the modern environmental movement. There will never be another like him, one of the last great stars of the old Hollywood system, using the full weight of the power available only at that time and place in support of saving the fragile ecosystems of our one and only planet.

May we be inspired by his memory and the gifts he gave us in so many forms to continue the fight and to remember that the river will continue long after we’re gone, as long as we steer clear of our worst tendencies and extend our generosity to future generations and all the world’s creatures.