Lars-Eric Lindblad was born in 1927 in
Solna north of
Stockholm,
Sweden. He immigrated to the
United States in 1951 and later became an American citizen. Lindblad pioneered cruising to the
Arctic,
Tierra del Fuego, the
Falkland Islands, but also to places such as the
Seychelles and the islands east of
Bali. In 1984, he led the first voyage by a tourist ship through the
Northwest Passage from
Newfoundland over the American continent and via
Bering Strait to
Yokohama,
Japan. The voyage took 40 days and a distance of and the adventure was covered by most news media in North America and Europe. Lindblad was president and chief executive officer of Lindblad Travel in
Westport,
Connecticut, for more than 30 years. The company introduced tourism in some of the most exotic parts of the globe including cruises to Antarctica, in 1966; to
Easter Island and the
Galápagos Islands, in 1967, and along the coast of
China and
Bhutan in 1978. Many of these places had no facilities for visitors in the late 1950s and early 60s, when Lindblad Travel was in its infancy. In 1972, one of his company's ships, the MV
Explorer, ran aground in Antarctica – its passengers, including Lars-Eric Lindblad, were rescued by the
Chilean Navy. Lindblad Travel ceased operations in 1989. In that year, the company was penalized more than $75,000 for violating
United States trade embargoes against
Vietnam and
Cambodia by offering tours there. Lars-Eric Lindblad later said the penalties and legal fees incurred in his dispute with the U.S. Government contributed to the company's going out of business. In an interview in the
New York Times when the penalties were levied, Lindblad said he had intentionally violated the sanctions. "I would do it again," he said. "Travel in my opinion is not ordinary trade. Travel is a way of communication. To embargo travel is like burning books or imprisoning journalists." His autobiography,
Passport to Anywhere with an introduction by the
ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson, describes his many adventurous travel experiences. Lars-Eric Lindblad lived for many years in
Wilton,
Connecticut. He died of a sudden
heart attack in 1994, while on vacation in
Stockholm. ==See also==