The Fox

The Fox - Environmentalist & Activist

Could you believe the roots of eco-radicalism started right here in Chicago? In the early 1970's an anonymous man, who called himself "The Fox" went around the Chicagoland area, plugging sewer pipes, leaving skunks at the front doors of executives, and posting signs around the city in attack against United States Steel saying, ''Making steel is my business, murdering your environment is my sideline.'' He even once collected 50 lbs of sewage  that a company had sunk into Lake Michigan and dumped it into the company's reception room.

"He was featured in the pages of Time, Newsweek and Life magazines, and a television special, "Profit the Earth" — all anonymously. He spoke via telephone to the U.S. secretary of state’s Committee on Human Environment, a group preparing for the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment."

Much of the Fox's discourse was against the law and the police were never able to catch him or make charges against him. He later went on to work as a field inspector for the Kane County Environmental Department and started the Fox River Conservation Foundation. He was finally able to use his passion for the environment in a positive light.

The Fox was later identified as James Phillips. He died in 2001, at the age of 70.

Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/22/us/james-phillips-70-environmentalist-who-was-called-the-fox.html

http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/bitstreams/9471.pdf

http://www.chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring2002/fox.html