We were sad to hear of the passing of Doug McConnell, host of the beloved Bay Area television series Bay Area Backroads and OpenRoad with Doug McConnell.

Doug took his passion for travel and conservation beyond the Bay Area when he joined a Seacology trip to the South Pacific. On an episode of Backroads in 2008, Doug showcased several Seacology projects in Fiji, including a marine conservation area near Waisomo Village and a rainforest near Nadogo Village. He loved meeting the villagers and sharing their dedication and culture with the world. 

Doug and Seacology Executive Director Duane Silverstein became good friends, and Duane remembers lots of adventurous travel together.

I had the good fortune to fly to Seacology projects in Samoa, Fiji, and Palau with Doug. In addition to being an excellent journalist, Doug was a wonderful person who had an upbeat personality and was dedicated to protecting nature. 

Despite his fame in the San Francisco area, Doug was incredibly modest. Many years ago he and I went to a meeting with the president of the tiny Pacific nation of Palau. When we checked in with the secretary, she looked like she had seen a ghost. She was stammering when she spoke with Doug. It turned out that in those days Palau did not have any locally produced television. Instead, they showed programming from the Bay Area, which was flown in on cassettes. One of the regular programs on their one television station was Bay Area Backroads. So when Doug walked in, it was as if Paul McCartney or Taylor Swift had arrived. In typical fashion, Doug thought this was hilarious and couldn’t have been nicer to the president’s staff. 

I will greatly miss Doug McConnell.

View the full “Seacology in Fiji” episode of Bay Area Backroads below.