An avid traveler & environmentalist who made it possible for thousands of older Americans to pursue the love of learning & travel through Elderhostel, a nonprofit organization that he helped found in 1975. He was 88. "He was like a big old hippie and he stayed that way" a friend was quoted as stating.
His death was confirmed by David Bianco, who founded Elderhostel with Mr. Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton, known as Marty, started thinking about new approaches to adult education when he was the director of the American Youth Hostel at the University of New Hampshire. While backpacking through Europe in the early 1970s, he had developed an admiration for the youth hostel system & the Scandinavian tradition of residential "folk schools" for adults. He & Bianco, who ran the university's dormitories & dining halls, developed an experimental summer program in which people over 55 could, for a modest fee, stay in a college dormitory & take courses in subjects as varied as the geography of the White Mountains, weaving & early American music. The company Elderhostel, offered at five New Hampshire colleges to 220 participants in its first year was a runaway success. After five years, it had an enrollment of 20,000 & programs in all 50 states. "In the 1970s, people really did feel that when they got into their 60s, there was not much left, and certainly not school," said James A. Moses, the current president & C.E.O. of Elderhostel. "He changed the way people thought about themselves, & that changed the way everyone else saw this time of life." Knowlton dropped out of college in 1940 to volunteer as an ambulance driver with the Free French Forces in the Middle East, where he was wounded & awarded the Croix de Guerre. He joined the Army in 1942 & while serving in the Pacific as a medic, was wounded again & awarded a Silver Star. After the war, he earned a degree in history from Birmingham-Southern College & a master's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina.
Ever restless, he later moved in the 90's to California & started "Gatekeepers to the Future," a activism group through which the elderly could motivate the government to save the planet via environmental change. It failed to gather momentum & he reorganized it as the "Center for the Study of the Future," an educational organization based in Ventura. "He just didn't care about any of the things that most people care about, like houses or money," said Mr. Moses, C.E.O. of Elderhostel. By the time of his death, Elderhostel offered 8,000 programs across the United States & in 90 countries.
His two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by two daughters, Peggy & Kathy, of Portland, Oregon & a grandchild.
His death was confirmed by David Bianco, who founded Elderhostel with Mr. Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton, known as Marty, started thinking about new approaches to adult education when he was the director of the American Youth Hostel at the University of New Hampshire. While backpacking through Europe in the early 1970s, he had developed an admiration for the youth hostel system & the Scandinavian tradition of residential "folk schools" for adults. He & Bianco, who ran the university's dormitories & dining halls, developed an experimental summer program in which people over 55 could, for a modest fee, stay in a college dormitory & take courses in subjects as varied as the geography of the White Mountains, weaving & early American music. The company Elderhostel, offered at five New Hampshire colleges to 220 participants in its first year was a runaway success. After five years, it had an enrollment of 20,000 & programs in all 50 states. "In the 1970s, people really did feel that when they got into their 60s, there was not much left, and certainly not school," said James A. Moses, the current president & C.E.O. of Elderhostel. "He changed the way people thought about themselves, & that changed the way everyone else saw this time of life." Knowlton dropped out of college in 1940 to volunteer as an ambulance driver with the Free French Forces in the Middle East, where he was wounded & awarded the Croix de Guerre. He joined the Army in 1942 & while serving in the Pacific as a medic, was wounded again & awarded a Silver Star. After the war, he earned a degree in history from Birmingham-Southern College & a master's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina.
Ever restless, he later moved in the 90's to California & started "Gatekeepers to the Future," a activism group through which the elderly could motivate the government to save the planet via environmental change. It failed to gather momentum & he reorganized it as the "Center for the Study of the Future," an educational organization based in Ventura. "He just didn't care about any of the things that most people care about, like houses or money," said Mr. Moses, C.E.O. of Elderhostel. By the time of his death, Elderhostel offered 8,000 programs across the United States & in 90 countries.
His two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by two daughters, Peggy & Kathy, of Portland, Oregon & a grandchild.
An avid traveler & environmentalist who made it possible for thousands of older Americans to pursue the love of learning & travel through Elderhostel, a nonprofit organization that he helped found in 1975. He was 88. "He was like a big old hippie and he stayed that way" a friend was quoted as stating.
His death was confirmed by David Bianco, who founded Elderhostel with Mr. Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton, known as Marty, started thinking about new approaches to adult education when he was the director of the American Youth Hostel at the University of New Hampshire. While backpacking through Europe in the early 1970s, he had developed an admiration for the youth hostel system & the Scandinavian tradition of residential "folk schools" for adults. He & Bianco, who ran the university's dormitories & dining halls, developed an experimental summer program in which people over 55 could, for a modest fee, stay in a college dormitory & take courses in subjects as varied as the geography of the White Mountains, weaving & early American music. The company Elderhostel, offered at five New Hampshire colleges to 220 participants in its first year was a runaway success. After five years, it had an enrollment of 20,000 & programs in all 50 states. "In the 1970s, people really did feel that when they got into their 60s, there was not much left, and certainly not school," said James A. Moses, the current president & C.E.O. of Elderhostel. "He changed the way people thought about themselves, & that changed the way everyone else saw this time of life." Knowlton dropped out of college in 1940 to volunteer as an ambulance driver with the Free French Forces in the Middle East, where he was wounded & awarded the Croix de Guerre. He joined the Army in 1942 & while serving in the Pacific as a medic, was wounded again & awarded a Silver Star. After the war, he earned a degree in history from Birmingham-Southern College & a master's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina.
Ever restless, he later moved in the 90's to California & started "Gatekeepers to the Future," a activism group through which the elderly could motivate the government to save the planet via environmental change. It failed to gather momentum & he reorganized it as the "Center for the Study of the Future," an educational organization based in Ventura. "He just didn't care about any of the things that most people care about, like houses or money," said Mr. Moses, C.E.O. of Elderhostel. By the time of his death, Elderhostel offered 8,000 programs across the United States & in 90 countries.
His two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by two daughters, Peggy & Kathy, of Portland, Oregon & a grandchild.
His death was confirmed by David Bianco, who founded Elderhostel with Mr. Knowlton. Mr. Knowlton, known as Marty, started thinking about new approaches to adult education when he was the director of the American Youth Hostel at the University of New Hampshire. While backpacking through Europe in the early 1970s, he had developed an admiration for the youth hostel system & the Scandinavian tradition of residential "folk schools" for adults. He & Bianco, who ran the university's dormitories & dining halls, developed an experimental summer program in which people over 55 could, for a modest fee, stay in a college dormitory & take courses in subjects as varied as the geography of the White Mountains, weaving & early American music. The company Elderhostel, offered at five New Hampshire colleges to 220 participants in its first year was a runaway success. After five years, it had an enrollment of 20,000 & programs in all 50 states. "In the 1970s, people really did feel that when they got into their 60s, there was not much left, and certainly not school," said James A. Moses, the current president & C.E.O. of Elderhostel. "He changed the way people thought about themselves, & that changed the way everyone else saw this time of life." Knowlton dropped out of college in 1940 to volunteer as an ambulance driver with the Free French Forces in the Middle East, where he was wounded & awarded the Croix de Guerre. He joined the Army in 1942 & while serving in the Pacific as a medic, was wounded again & awarded a Silver Star. After the war, he earned a degree in history from Birmingham-Southern College & a master's degree in political science from the University of North Carolina.
Ever restless, he later moved in the 90's to California & started "Gatekeepers to the Future," a activism group through which the elderly could motivate the government to save the planet via environmental change. It failed to gather momentum & he reorganized it as the "Center for the Study of the Future," an educational organization based in Ventura. "He just didn't care about any of the things that most people care about, like houses or money," said Mr. Moses, C.E.O. of Elderhostel. By the time of his death, Elderhostel offered 8,000 programs across the United States & in 90 countries.
His two marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by two daughters, Peggy & Kathy, of Portland, Oregon & a grandchild.
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