Early life and education
Stienstra grew up in Palo Alto, California, where he graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1972. [2] He was editor of the Sentinel at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills [1] and received his degree in journalism in 1976 from San Jose State University. [3]
In 1975, when he was 21, Stienstra was in college and working alone at night at a gas station in Menlo Park when he received a severe head wound from a hatchet during an attempted robbery. [1] [4] Later treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, he adopted a dog he named Rebel and began to spend as much time as possible in the remote outdoors, frequently hiking into wilderness areas of California and beyond. [1] He also obtained a pilot's license. After Rebel's death, he adopted several more dogs as hiking companions. [5]
Career
Stienstra published his first story at age 8, "Searching for a Lost Friend" in the Palo Alto Times, [6] which hired him as sports reporter after his graduation. [3] In 1979, when the Palo Alto Times merged with the Redwood City Tribune to become the Peninsula Times Tribune , Stienstra was promoted to sports columnist. [3] In 1980, he was hired to write about the outdoors for the San Francisco Examiner , [7] which at the time operated jointly with the Chronicle. He is now the Chronicle's "outdoor writer emeritus". [8]
Since 2000, Stienstra has produced and broadcast a radio feature for KCBS in San Francisco, and has appeared frequently as a live guest expert. [9] He hosted the TV show The Great Outdoors for the CBS and CW networks [10] and in 2017 hosted and co-produced with Jim Schlosser a national PBS special, The Mighty T — The Tuolumne River, from Glacier to Golden Gate. [11]
Books
Stienstra has written many wilderness hiking and camping guidebooks, [12] including 52 Weekend Adventures, [4] Moon California Camping, and Moon Pacific Northwest Camping, which have received No. 1 sales rankings. [13]
Awards
Stienstra has won a number of awards from the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). [8] [14] [15] [16] [17] In 2015, he became the first four-time winner of the OWAA President's Award as "Best of the Best" when he won best story of the year in the Newspaper/Website division for "Paddling with Giants". [18] [19] In 2017, when he won the President's Award for best outdoors television show for his PBS special on the Tuolumne River, he was the only member to win simultaneous first-place awards in newspaper, photography and television. [20] In 2021, he became the first OWAA writer from California to receive the OWAA's Joan Wulff Enduring Excellence Award for career achievement. [10] [21]
Stienstra's film on the Tuolumne also won the 2017 Northern California Area Emmy Award for Health / Science / Environmental Special. [20] [22]
Stienstra was inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame in 2003. [23]
Personal life
Stienstra was formerly married to Stephani Cruickshank. [24] In 2015, he married Denese Stienstra, with whom he has two stepsons. [10] [25]
In August 2021, Stienstra was diagnosed with metastasized melanoma, presumed to be caused by heavy sun exposure at high altitudes, and underwent brain surgery. [1] In 2025, scans found his cancer to be in remission. [26]
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