ARLIE SCHARDT

SCHARDT Arlie W. Schardt Longtime journalist and public interest activist., died at home in Washington, DC on May 25, 2020. He was 87 years old. The cause of death was prostate cancer. In his journalistic career, Schardt wrote and reported for United Press International, Sports Illustrated, and Time, where he covered the civil rights movement in the South. He traveled with Dr. Martin Luther King, covering the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama and witnessed the beating of now-Congressman John Lewis. In June 1966, he followed the Meredith March Against Fear that began in Memphis, Tennessee and ended in Jackson, Mississippi, after Meredith was shot, and witnessed Stokely Carmichael's invocation of "Black Power." He contributed to Time cover stories on the 1968 Presidential campaign of Alabama Governor George Wallace and Federal Judge Frank Johnson. He has been cited in books by Congressman Lewis, author David Halberstam and former New York Times editor Eugene Roberts as one of the best journalists to cover the southern civil rights movement. Schardt also profiled prominent entertain-ment figures such as Aretha Franklin and Muhammed Ali. His entertainment stories for the Los Angeles Times included profiles of Janis Joplin, the Band, and Jimi Hendrix. Schardt left Time to become associate Washington legislative director for the ACLU, where he helped organize a national campaign to impeach Richard Nixon, leaving in 1974 to serve as executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). During his tenure, he erased the debt that threatened the organization's survival, established a reserve fund, and created EDF's programs in communications, legislation and wildlife. Returning to journalism, Schardt served as News Media editor at Newsweek and editor of Foundation News magazine. He has contributed to three books on politics and national issues, including "Investigating the FBI" and "Amnesty, the Unsettled Question of Vietnam," which went through three printings and was a factor in President Jimmy Carter's granting amnesty to hundreds of thousands of Vietnam war resisters. In 1987-88, he served as national press secretary for then Senator Al Gore's presidential campaign. Schardt later founded Environmental Media Services, a pioneering non-profit dedicated to improving the quantity and quality of environmental journalism. EMS offered reporters access to the latest information on public health issues and climate change, provided media training to scientists, and offered a counterpoint to the corporately funded public relations campaigns employed by oil and chemical companies. Schardt retired in 2004. He served as Chairman of the Board of Friends of the Earth from 2009-2019. Schardt is survived by his wife, Bonnie Nelson Schwartz, a sister Constance Searcy, two daughters, Karen and Kristin Schardt, four stepchildren and 13 grandchildren. A Memorial Service will be scheduled later. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to Friends of the Earth. Memorial Service will be scheduled later. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to Friends of the Earth. www.foe.org