"Narratives: Tales of Exploration and Adventure"
A member of The Explorers Club since 1973, Captain Joel S. Fogel was recognized as "Explorer of the Year" in 2004 for a lifetime of exploration, including significant work in evaluating water quality around the world.
A native of the Jersey Shore, Fogel studied marine zoology at the University of Hawaii on Oahu, where he became involved with Jacques Cousteau¹s CONSHELF: Man in the Sea project. He also single-handedly sailed a 30-foot Danish folkboat from Hawaii throughout the South Pacific, detailing his journeys in the book South Sea Odyssey. In 1969, during a 10,000-mile motorcycle trip from Alaska to South America, he met his wife, Coty.
In this, his second album, "Narratives: Tales of Exploration and Adventure", Captain Fogel verbally captures the original stories of his travels and experiences as well as the legends which have surrounded him.
He begins his adventures with his brief autobiography which appreared in the award winning book by Canadian novelist, Jason Schoonover, "A Life Well Lived" which descibes his beginnings as an explorer.
"The Unwilling Bride", details Fogel's motorcycle ride from Alaska to South America and how he met his wife, Coty, of 40 years after an accident in the Sierra Madres Mountains.
In "One Man's Journey", Captain Fogel tells of his meeting with Mexican artist and sculptor, Javier Silva, and his struggles to live his dreams and create his art.
Catching a 50+ pound drum fish with his bare hands is a tale which he tells his Grandson, Andrew in "The Story of the Fish".
Living with a Stone Age tribe in Ethiopia and marrying "The Chief's Daughter", deals with his Omo River exploration for the Smithsonian Institute.
"The Gift: A Christmas Story", tells of what happened one cold Christmas Eve, after saving a woman whose car went off a bridge into ice water. Fogel was awarded a commendation from President Reagan and was nominated for the Carnegie Hero Award for his efforts, along with his son, William and two other rescuers.
A 12-foot dingy with a 40-foot wing and a 60 h.p. snowmobile engine is the subject of "The Flying Boat" which tells about the magical sensations of ultra light flight over the ocean and bays of South Jersey.
And finally, in an ode to an old writer friend, "Christopher Cook Gilmore", who died of a brain tumor, Captain Fogel describes the special life and death of this creative artist.
Eric Hirsch, Professor of Arts and Music, University of Colima, Mexico
CAPTAIN JOEL S. FOGEL OF SOMERS POINT, N.J., IS FEATURED IN A NEW BOOK ON EXPLORATION WHICH HAS BEEN PUBLISHED BY ROCKY MOUNTAIN PRESS. CAPTAIN FOGEL WAS AWARDED "EXPLORER OF THE YEAR" IN 2004 BY THE PHILADELPHIA CHAPTER OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB.
(Note: Chronological Resume follows below BIO. For additional information, please visit the following websites: www.captainfogel.com and www.waterwatchinternational.org )
TORONTO, Canada (Sept. 20, 2007) In an anthology by Canadian writer, Jason Schoonover, entitled:
"Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives: Today’s Explorers Recall the Youthful Dream Launching their Remarkable Lives"
Capt. Joel S. Fogel, 62, of Somers Point, N.J. has been included in a Blue Ribbon, Who’s Who of 120 international living adventurer/explorers as they recall the indelible moment or event which launched their lives’ exciting courses. The anthology which was published by Rocky Mountain Press, was launched in Toronto, Canada on September 26, 2007.
Other writers in the book include contributors who have appeared in National Geographic: Robert Ballard (discoverer of the TITANIC), Buzz Al drin (first man to walk on the moon), Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, Hugh Downs, Louise and Meave Leakey (discovered oldest living human), Don “Lucy” Johanson, Bradford Washburn, Thom “Mallory’s remains” Pollard, Wade Davis, Jack Horner, Jean-Michel Cousteau, Philip Currie, Sue “T.Rex” Hendrickson, Don “Trieste” Walsh, Wong How Man, Gene “Feathered Serpent” Savoy, Bob “tectonics plates” and Richard Fisher, Gerry and George “father of underwater archaeology” Bass, Eugenie “Shark Lady” Clark, Sir Chris Bonington, Lee Talbot, Helen Thayer, Ann Doubilet, Johns Loret, Nicholson, Hare, Allen (Biosphere II) and Blashford-Snell, Michael Brown, Gary Ziegler, Edward Migdalski, Karol Mysliwiec, Stan Spielman, Ingrid “Orca” Viss er, Marek Kaminski, Eugene Buchanan, Paul Gossamer Albatross MacCready and Milbry Polk.
Others include 99 year old 1928 Byrd Expedition dog handler Norman Vaughan; Nobel Laureate Charles “laser” Townes; Capt. Norm Baker, Thor Heyerdahl’s first mate on Ra, Ra II and Tigris—plus six who have appeared in The Guinness Book of World Records: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, “World’s greatest explorer”; Rosaly Lopez, for discovering the most volcanoes, on Jupiter’s Io; Yurek Majcherczyk, first to shoot Peru’s Colca Canyon, then believed to be the world’s deepest; Richard Fisher, the first to measure the true deepest, the Yarlung in Tibet; and Hugh Downs, for having the most hours of network television on-air time.
A member of The Explorers Club since 1973, Fogel was recognized as "Explorer of the Year" in 2004 for a lifetime of exploration, including significant work in evaluating water quality and promoting clean water, as well as his tireless support of exploration.
"It's a great honor to be recognized by colleagues and associates who know
what the passion of exploration is about," said Fogel. "Whether undersea, in
outer space, down the river, up the mountain or into innerspace pursuits
like medicine, genetics and psychiatry, our members have excelled in all of
these fields and more. Knowing them has enriched my life."
He continued, "In an age when people are taught to value security and avoid
risk at all costs, The exploring teaches you to be a poet of action, to
take calculated risks for the benefit of science and to gather knowledge
that will enhance various fields of study. It is important to have an
org anization su ch as The Explorers Club that places a value on these endeavors and supports them."
Fogel is head of the Environmental Affairs for the Philadelphia Chapter of
The Explorers Club. He also is co-chairman of the Eco-Tourism Committee of the
Greater Atlantic City Regional Tourism Council and sits on the ground water advisory committee for the Atlantic County Utilities Authority.
A native of the Jersey Shore, Fogel studied marine zoology at the University
of Hawaii on Oahu, where he became involved with Jacques Cousteau¹s
CONSHELF: Man in the Sea project. He also single-handedly sailed a 30-foot
Danish folkboat from Hawaii throughout the South Pacific, detailing his
journeys in the book South Sea Odyssey. In 1969, during a 10,000-mile
motorcycle trip from Alaska to South America, he met his wife, Coty.
In 1970, Fogel founded WaterWatch International, a non-profit volunteer
water monitoring organizat ion, of which he is president and executive
director. He was nominated to The Explorers Club after kayaking from New
York to Miami to film and document water pollution.
Since the 1970s, he has led nearly two dozen major expeditions around the
world, working with the Smithsonian Institute, National Geographic and The
Explorers Club. He carried The Explorers Club flag on a 1973 expedition to
Ethiopia's Omo River to film tribal groups for the documentary A Voyage to
the Stone Age; on a 1986 archaeological survey along the Maroni River in the
Amazon Basin; and on the 1987 Yangtze River Geological Expedition in China,
which was documented in the book Riding the Dragon¹s Back.
He has led expeditions to monitor water quality on Russia's Volga River, on
the Mississippi and along the U.S. west coast, and he has received three
Presidential commendations for his environmental work.
Fogel is a 100-ton U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain, an offi cer in the
Merchant Marines, a licensed pilot and a certified basic flight instructor.
He lives in Somers Point with Coty, his wife of 38 years. They have a son,
four daughters and six grandchildren.
For more information about exploration, visit the website at www.explorers.org.
Founded in 1904 by a group of the world's leading explorers, The Explorers
Club is a multidisciplinary professional society dedicated to the
advancement of field research, scientific exploration and the ideal that it
is vital to preserve the instinct to explore.
To receive notification of upcoming lectures and events sponsored by The
Philadelphia Chapter of the Explorers' Club, e-mail requests to cathiecush@comcast.net
and include "Explorers Club" in the message header.
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Photos of Capt. Fogel are available upon request.
Biography Joel S. Fogel
1963-2000 - WORKED FOR THE FOGEL/JORDON COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATOR COMPANY (WWW.FOGEL-GROUP.COM). FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS AS VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING, I ESTABLISHED LICENSING AND JOINT VENTURE MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS IN EUROPE, SOUTH AMERICA, ASIA AND RUSSIA.
1966 - Sailed a 30-foot Folkboat sloop single-handed through the South Pacific.
1968 - Motorcycled from Alaska to South America for one year.
1970 - Paddled a kayak from NY to Miami to film water pollution on the Intra Coastal Waterway. Wrote "Forty Days and Forty Nights: The Destruction of Our Eastern Seaboard". Lobbied for the Clean Water Act. Wrote 5-part series, "Our Polluted Waterways" for the North American Newspaper Alliance which appeared in newspapers throughout the U.S.
1971 - Toured the Rhine and Rhone Rivers through Germany and France by kayak to report on water conditions in Europe.
1972 - Kayaked through the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River to report on water conditions and lobby for controls on outfitters.
1973 - Discovered and lived with Stone Age tribe on the Omo River in Ethiopia. Carried the Explorer's Club flag on this expedition made in cooperation with Smithsonian Institute.
1975 - Explored underwater caves and caverns of Rio Camuy in Puerto Rico.
1979 - Filmed and wrote about the Nicaraguan Civil War for the New York Times New Syndicate after living with the Sandinistas for three months. Wrote "NOTES FROM THE FRONT, a 3-part series."
1986 - Led Maroni River expedition to film and study the Guyana tribes i n the Amazon Basin for film documentary,"Twilight of the Primitive". Carried the Explorer's Club flag.
1986 - Saved the life of a young woman whose car went off a bridge into 40 feet of ice water on Christmas Eve. Awarded commendation from President Reagan. Nominated for the Carnegie Hero Award.
1987 - Explored by kayak the Great Bend and Triger Leap Gorges on the Yangtze River in China. Carried the Explorer's Club flag on this Sino-American expedition to site a hydro-electric power plant. Contributed to book: "Riding the Dragon's Back: Down the Yangtze River".
1990 - Paddled kayak from NY to FLA to sruvey and review water quality conditions along the East Coast. Lobbied for the Beach Bill requiring uniform water quality standards across the U.S.
1991 - Paddled kayak from Seattle to San Diego to survey and review water quality c onditions along the West Coast.
1992 - Paddled kayak from St. Paul, MO to New Orleans, LA on the Mississippi River for two months to survey and review water quality conditions.
1993 - Awarded the Audubon Society's Golden Osprey Award for environmental awareness.
1994 - Participated in Academy of Natural Science study of the Zebra Mussel on the Volga River, Russia.
1995 - 2000 Worked as a Screen Actors Guild Actor in 10 major motion pictures including Rocky V, Dead Poets Soceity, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Passenger 57.
2000 -Supported Delaware University ANTARCTIC Expedition to study genetic effects of Crill in cold water environments.
2001 -Supported Yukon River Expedition from Whitehall to the Bering Sea for the purpose of studying water quality.
2002 - Attended Sea School and Coast Guard training to recieve 100-TON Merchant Marine License. PRESENTLY UPGRADING LICENSE TO "ALL SEAS" AND INCREASING SEA TIME ABOARD CRUISE SHIPS FOR POSITION AS CAPTAIN.
2003 - Acquired pilot's license and became a Basic Flight Instructor. TRAINED OVER 300 STUDENTS IN THE FLYING INFLATABLE BOAT.
2004 - Awarded the Explorer of the Year Award from the Philadelphia Chapter. Currently sit on Board of Directors as Chairman of Environmental Affairs and Global Water Quality.
2005 - Gold Medal Winner of the USLA (United States Lifesaving Association's) Mid-Atlantic Regional Lifeguard Championships: 2 KM Beach Run, Ocean Swim, Surfboat Race and Paddle Board Competition. Silver Medal Winner of USLA National Lifeguard Championships: American Iron Man and the Surfboat Race.
200 6 -INVITED TO COMPETE IN THE INTERNATIONAL LIFESAVING COMPETITIONS AT MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, REPRESENTING THE USA IN THE IRONMAN Race, Won the Gold in the National Lifeguard Championships in Huntington Beach, CA for the Surfboat Competition and the American Ironman.
A Life Well Lived
In 1987, I was first to explore the Upper Yangtze River in China by kayak through the Great Bend Gorge. We were 17 men and one woman, composed of topographers, geologists and professional river-runners. The story was told in Riding the Dragon’s Back: Down the Yangtze River.
My desire to explore first hit me in two places, at school and at work. I was about 10, listening to the teacher drone on, pointing to a map. Outside, a typical nor’easter blew off the sea in Atlantic City, NJ. Casinos hadn’t arrived yet. It was 1954.
“Pay attention, Mr. Fogel,” the authoritative figure yelped, slapping his pointer against the blackboard. “If you ever want to learn anything, you must stop daydreaming!”
The rain pounded against the window, but I was off, mentally traveling down some dark jungle river which the map showed only as a green curving line. That day taught me that we must first dream in order to live our dreams. My teacher was wrong. The dream would someday lead me to a reality which I could never have imagined.
Two years later, I was sitting in my father’s office. He manufactured commercial refrigerators in Philadelphia. On the weekend, I would travel to the factory to be “exposed to the family business.” On top of his large wooden desk sat a catalogue of dealers and salesmen.
The bright fluorescent lighting glared down on black-and-white photographs of face after autonomous face staring back at me. They were all smiling and suddenly I was lost in a maze of men in grey flannel suits. Something clicked...I was determined at that moment that I only wanted one thing: to live an interesting life.
Later, after many adventures and expeditions, I would articulate my feelings in a documentary done about me called Challenging China’s Yangtze: “If you’re lucky, you are only going to live 100 years. There is a lot to see. I already know what my place and people are like. Now I want to know what the rest of the world is like.”
The sea was my first turning point. My grandfather, a commercial fisherman, took me in his vessel, The Bluefish, for days on end. I was only 5 or 6. I used to get really sick, and complain that I wanted to go home. “The sea is your home,” grizzled old Captain Joe Broome would chuckle. “She’s your Home and your Mother...so learn to love Her and stop squallin’.”
In school, sitting at my cramped wooden desk, I would dream. At work in my father’s factory, sweeping the floor, I would dream more.
Later, when I was about 16, I became a lifeguard on the Margate City Beach Patrol. That was great...saving people from the sea and being admired by pretty girls. That job nearly spoiled me for life.
At the University of Hawaii, where I studied Marine Zoology and worked as an assistant curator at the Sea Life Park on Oahu, I met Mr. Jacques Cousteau while working on the Conshelf Project. I was assigned to him as a “runner”—running for gas, food and coffee for him and his Navy divers. Captain Cousteau taught me a lot. He gave me a deep respect for Mother Ocean and all that She does for us.
“Remember,” he said, “the Ocean has given us everything! We are from Her.”
In 1970, with his encouragement, I paddled a kayak from New York to Florida to film and report on water pollution. This was the beginning of WATERWATCH International, a non-profit worldwide water monitoring group which I founded to educate the public about the need for clean water. And it led to Lowell Thomas sponsoring me into The Explorers Club.
Exploration is the poetry of life and explorers are the poets of action.
* * *
CAPTAIN JOEL FOGEL, a 100-ton Coast Guard captain, was born in 1944 and has led nearly two dozen major expeditions, everything from living with an Ethiopian stone age tribe, to exploring underwater caves in Puerto Rico to documenting, in Twilight of the Primitive, an Amazon tribe, to studying Volga mussels.
He worked for the Fogel/Jordan Commercial Refrigerator Co. for nearly 40 years as VP of International Marketing, but eschewed gray flannel. A holder of the Audubon Society’s Golden Osprey Award for environmental awareness, he’s kayaked the Grand Canyon, the Mississippi, and the lengths of both US coasts reporting on water quality. He’s appeared in 10 movies, including Rocky V and Dead Poet’s Society.
After saving a woman whose car went off a bridge into ice water he was awarded a commendation from President Reagan and was nominated for the Carnegie Hero Award.
Joel and Coty have Sandy, William, Ellen, Anna and Jolina, and six grandchildren. They split their year between homes in Somers Point, New Jersey, and Manzanillo, Mexico.
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