Burt’s Bees Cofounder Dead: Bearded Burt Shavitz Gone

The cofounder and namesake of Burt’s Bees, Burt Shavitz, died Sunday of respiratory complications in Bangor, Maine, reported the Associated Press. He was 80 years old.

“We remember him as a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land,” said a statement on the Burt’s Bees website. “Above all, he taught us to never lose sight of our relationship with nature.”

Shavitz was a U.S. Army veteran and a photojournalist in New York City in the 1960s (where he captured the decade’s key moments in the civil rights and environmental movements, beat poets and artists) before becoming a beekeeper who sold honey at a roadside stand in Maine.

That’s where he met hitchhiker Roxanne Quimby in 1984. Shavitz, driving a bright yellow Datsun pickup truck, helped her out. They hit it off and she began making candles from his beeswax. “They made $200 at their first craft fair," said Burt's Bees. "Within a year, they’d make $20,000.”

Burt’s Bees is known for using raw, natural ingredients in all of their products. The company also uses 30-60 percent of post-consumer recycled content for its packaging.

The company’s famous Beeswax Lip Balm was born in 1991 after Quimby found a recipe in a 19th century farmer’s journal, according to the Burt’s Bees website. It has continuously remained a best seller.

In 1994, with the business booming, Quimby relocated Burt’s Bees from Maine to North Carolina. Shavitz claimed he was forced out of the company at this time because he was having an affair with an employee, according to Fox News. He received an undisclosed settlement and 37 acres of land in Maine. However, he decided to still make appearances on behalf of the company.

In 2007, Clorox purchased Burt’s Bees for $925 million, reported the Associated Press.

To this day, Shavitz’s face—including his untamed beard—adorns the labels of many of the company’s products.

Shavitz lived a “full life, the way he wanted to live it,” according to Burt’s Bees. “Burt was always Burt—an uncompromising individual of his own invention—shaped by the moment and his curiosities rather than his ambitions or someone else’s grand plan. Burt never set out to change the world, but he was a pioneer who found himself always on the precipice of progress."

“As an icon and namesake, he was and still is the inspiration for Burt’s Bees—our natural products that many around the world have grown to love, the sustainability practices we all champion, and the offbeat, cheerful personality that shines through that ‘school bus’ yellow he loved so much,” continued the company.

“As we mourn his loss in the days and weeks to come, we will be exploring how to honor and celebrate his remarkable life, to ensure that his legacy and timely ethos are tangible in each of us as individuals, in the brand we so passionately steward, and in our collective impact on our shared home and future generations.”

Burt’s Bees is asking for “stories, thoughts or condolences” about Shavitz to be emailed to BurtLivesOn@gmail.com or shared on social media using the hashtag #BurtLivesOn.

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