Skip to content

Beat the Heat with these Cool Reads from Goldman Prize Winners

August 6, 2014

Nothing beats the dog days of summer like a good read, which is why we are pleased to present two new titles from Goldman Prize winners for you to check out:

“Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action,” provides a glimpse into 1990 Goldman Prize winner Bob Brown’s life since retiring from Australian Parliament in 2012. It focuses on Brown’s experiences, big and small, and illustrates why he remains optimistic about the future.

“It is a fortunate life if a person feels more optimistic than ever before. That’s me,” Brown said.

2011 Goldman Prize winner Hilton Kelley’s new autobiography, “A Lethal Dose of Smoke and Mirrors,” describes Kelley’s journey to becoming an environmental activist and seeks to inspire young people to take risks to make a difference in the world.

Kelley describes his own journey to becoming an environmental activist as one of having the “audacity” to believe that he could take on the oil and gas industry in his hometown. He hopes to help other young leaders believe they too can take on these giants in their own communities.

These titles are available for purchase online, follow the links below for more information:

“Optimism: Reflections on a Life of Action” by Bob Brown

“A Lethal Dose of Smoke and Mirrors” by Hilton Kelley

Recent Posts

The Green Transition Cannot Be Built on Poisoned Rivers 


June 15, 2026 – By Pianporn (Pai) Deetes

The following piece is a guest post by Pianporn Deetes, Executive Director of Rivers and Rights.  For six days, I walked alongside monks, Indigenous communities, women, youth, artists, and river defenders along the Kok River, a tributary of the Mekong in northern Thailand near the borders of Myanmar and Laos. We carried out this Peace Walk because people…

Read more

How Women Past and Present Drive the Environmental Movement


June 9, 2026

This year, for the first time ever, all six recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize are women. The 2026 Goldman Prize winners—Iroro Tanshi (Nigeria), Borim Kim (South Korea), Sarah Finch (United Kingdom), Theonila Roka Matbob (Papua New Guinea), Alannah Acaq Hurley (United States), and Yuvelis Morales Blanco (Colombia)—represent a powerful group of environmental leaders. Their…

Read more

A Q&A with Sarah Finch on Reshaping Climate Policy in the UK


May 19, 2026

When asked what it’s like to have a major climate ruling named after her, Sarah Finch responded, “It’s really cool!” A writer and editor from southeastern England, Sarah is now a well-known name in environmental circles thanks to the “Finch ruling,” a 2024 decision by the UK Supreme Court that requires environmental assessments to consider the downstream impacts that fossil fuels will have on the global climate, in addition to local…

Read more