Activist David Bale had commitment to Africa

By Mary Rourke
Los Angeles Times

	DAN STEINBERG / AP FILE PHOTO, 2003 David Bale and Gloria Steinem met at a political benefit in 1999 and were married a year later.
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Mr. Bale, husband of feminist activist and author Gloria Steinem and father of actor Christian Bale, was a humanitarian with a long-time commitment to Africa.

He served on the board of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International and of World Education for adult-learning programs in developing countries. He also was a board member of Ark Trust for raising public awareness for animal protection and rights.

"He saw gorillas as icons for their rain-forest habitat," Clare Richardson, president of the Gorilla fund, told the Los Angeles Times on Friday. "He was concerned about preserving the gorillas and their natural home."

Born in South Africa, the only child of a Royal Air Force captain who later worked as a consultant to airlines, Mr. Bale was reared primarily in England. He worked as a commercial pilot for British Airways and ran a commuter airline in England for a time. He also imported skateboards and jeans from Asia for sale in England.

His interest in endangered species began in childhood, Steinem said. "As a boy growing up in England he was sent to boarding schools. He felt abandoned," she said. "After that he always identified with others who were vulnerable or in need of help."

Friends recalled Mr. Bale organizing his neighbors in New York to provide water for the city's birds during heat waves. In Manhattan Beach, Calif., he worked to prevent the destruction of trees that were being torn down along with old houses in the face of real-estate development.

Mr. Bale met Steinem, co-founder of Ms. Magazine, at a political benefit in Los Angeles in 1999. They married in 2000, in a Cherokee ceremony near Tahlequah, Okla. The service was held at sunrise in a friend's yard where the air was scented by cedar smoke. The ceremony was conducted in English and Cherokee.

Mr. Bale, who considered himself a feminist and reared his four children as a single parent, had no problem with Steinem's visible public role.

He often traveled with Steinem when she lectured on college campuses. "Young people loved to talk to David," she said. "They would listen to him and see that it is possible to be yourself and have a relationship."

In addition to Steinem, his third wife, and actor Christian Bale, Mr. Bale is survived by three other children from his first two marriages; Louise Bale, Sharon Bale and Erin Kreunen. He also is survived by four grandchildren.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company