1945–2026
Douglas Gene McConnell, of Corte Madera, California, died on January 13, 2026, at age 80, from complications following a 2022 stroke.
Born in 1945 in Santa Monica, California, and raised in the Central Valley, McConnell spent many happy weekends visiting the state and national parks with his family, where he developed his love for the outdoors. His lifelong curiosity and optimism shaped a career that intertwined storytelling, the environment and public service. At Pomona College, he was freshman class president, quarterbacked his fraternity’s champion intramural flag football team and was student body president in his senior year. After Pomona, he earned a master’s degree in political science from the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and briefly worked in Pomona’s admissions office recruiting students for the Class of 1973.
In 1969, McConnell’s growing interest in media led him into television “to find out who was deciding what was news and what wasn’t.” Working briefly in the mailroom at KTLA in Los Angeles, he was soon offered the position of production assistant for the late night news, gaining his first experience producing broadcast stories.
Environmental and public interest themes soon became the throughline of his life’s work. After leaving KTLA in late 1969, McConnell joined classmate Jim Chard and others in developing an environment-focused proposal for the U.S. Bicentennial Celebration. He was director of communications for the first International Youth Conference on the Human Environment in 1971 and helped prepare delegates for the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
in Stockholm.
From late 1973 to 1981, McConnell lived in Alaska, applying television and public dialogue to civic life. When, in 1974, newly elected Alaska Governor Jay Hammond said he wanted to hear from “all Alaskans” about the important issues facing the state, Doug created the Alaska Public Forum. He served President Jimmy Carter as field survey director for the President’s Commission on Coal and produced the photojournalistic report The American Coal Miner: A Report on Community and Living Conditions in the Coalfields.
Television eventually became his most visible platform. McConnell developed and hosted programs for Discovery Channel, PBS and local stations, earning multiple regional Emmy Awards. In the 1980s and early 1990s, he was a familiar face on San Francisco’s KPIXTV, where he hosted the popular series Mac & Mutley, sharing the screen with his canine co-host, who McConnell maintained was the real star. His warmth, curiosity and boundless enthusiasm made him instantly recognizable, and his sons came to think it was normal for strangers to start talking to their dad in public.
In 1993, McConnell took the helm of Bay Area Backroads on KRON-TV, which ran until 2008, and, with Open Road with Doug McConnell, which he launched in 2015, inspired generations of Bay Area residents to explore the region’s scenic landscapes, small towns, winding waterways and public lands, and introduced viewers to the organizations working to protect them
Colleagues remember McConnell’s generosity and authenticity—he was the same person off camera as on, unfailingly kind, curious and sincere. His upbeat spirit and genuine affection for both landscapes and people gave his programs a rare sincerity. He freely lent his time as a volunteer emcee for nonprofit galas and environmental fundraisers, helping to elevate the causes
he championed.
McConnell played an outsized role in promoting the region’s parks and natural areas and he made the work behind creating and caring for these places understandable to the public. For the professionals he profiled, he was a friend and tireless champion.
Beyond broadcasting, McConnell was honored by many environmental organizations. He was especially pleased to have been named an honorary ranger by both the California State Parks and the National Park Service.
With his rugged good looks, easy manner and perpetual positivity, McConnell embodied the joyful spirit of exploration he encouraged in others. His television legacy endures in the countless viewers he inspired to get outside, discover the beauty of their surroundings and care deeply for the places that make the West unique. His friends remember him as a storyteller par excellence. He could turn a brief sighting of a mountain lion while hiking into a rollicking story of “man meets savage beast in the California wilds.”
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Kathy Taft, sons Nicolas and Patrick and two granddaughters.
—Don Hoyt ’67, P’00, P’04