In My Third Act: Sterling Bobbitt on Loving and Defending the Earth

In October's edition of In My Third Act, Jane Fleishman talks to Sterling Bobbitt about his lifelong commitment to the planet, as evidenced by his work for the National Park Service, invaluable contributions to the Third Act DigiComms team as a National Volunteer, and his favorite spot: in his Mayan hammock down by the river near his home in Connecticut.

Sterling Bobbitt fell in love with the natural world at a young age. “As a kid my mother was desperate to have me do some kind of after school activity—band, chorus or whatever,” says Sterling Bobbitt of Third Act Connecticut. “But all I wanted to do was get back home and play in the woods behind our house.”

Sterling was lucky enough to grow up in Mansfield, CT, where his family’s home sat on the edge of a large forested watershed district. His adventures in the woods motivated him to earn a bachelor’s degree in forestry from West Virginia University. After graduation he landed a job with the National Park Service in its Resource Management Division at Grand Canyon. His assignment was to survey backcountry hikers at the Park about all the aircraft buzzing overhead. In the process of interviewing subjects, he logged 300 miles hiking in the canyon, as well as a rafting trip on the Colorado River. “That was a good gig,” says Sterling. Another fortuitous assignment took him to a training event at Lake Mead where he met a Park Service employee who would later become his wife and with whom he’d move to San Francisco.

Sterling’s career eventually shifted to Information Technology, mainly focused on learning systems for federal employees. This work required that he spend a lot of time in Washington, D.C. but he still managed to find time to be outdoors, often with his two sons. Both boys were Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and Sterling was actively involved in scouting activities with them, including camping in northern New Mexico and canoeing in the Boundary Waters. His lifelong experience cross country skiing and winter camping allowed him to train adult scout leaders in Winter Survival Skills in the High Sierras. Family vacations were spent snorkeling in the Hawaiian islands.

Sterling’s first activist experience was in defense of the earth, marching with friends on what he thinks was the very first Earth Day in 1970. A summer internship with the National Parks and Conservation Association in Washington D.C opened his eyes to the politics of environmental activism and the role activist groups can play in defining options for government action.

In his second act, Sterling spent six years as volunteer webmaster for Citizens for a Better Environment (now Communities for a Better Environment). When he learned of Greta Thunberg’s Skolstrejk för Klimatet (School Strike for Climate), he began standing on a public corner weekly with signage identifying him as striking for climate and wearing the old gas mask he wore to Earth Day as a teenager. During this time, he also started his weekly Strike for Climate in California and has continued it in Storrs, Connecticut, where he now lives with his wife and younger son.

Sterling first learned of Third Act when he heard Jane Fonda talk about it on a news show. “Third Act fit my demographic and my desire to volunteer and it has been a real blessing,” he says. He initially joined Third Act California but is now active with Third Act Connecticut.  During the year he’s been back in Connecticut he’s written 100 postcards to voters, canvassed for the Harris campaign, and joined several protests, including 2024 Summer of Heat actions in New York City and one in Hartford, CT aimed at curtailing public utilities’ use of fossil fuels during hours of peak demand.

Sterling makes his considerable I.T. skills available to the climate movement by volunteering to support Third Act web editors in Third Act Working Groups around the country. As a member of the Third Act Digital Communications team he provides one on one coaching, writes help articles, and assists with devising solutions for the various I.T. dilemmas that arise in the growing Third Act network.  

On the Digi-Comms team Sterling is known not only for his I.T. expertise but also for his gentle good humor and relaxed vibe, always appearing in Zoom meetings reclining in one of his prized Mayan hammocks.  Sterling discovered colorful, woven Mayan hammocks when he was a teenager and admits to being “obsessed with them.” To occupy himself during the pandemic he even wrote an ebook about them. “If I have a sweet spot in life,” says Sterling, “it’s in a hammock down by the river that runs behind my house.”

Sterling is inspired and heartened by the huge potential he sees in Third Act. “There are millions of people over the age of 60—an army of people—who care deeply, have lots of life experience and have the potential to add huge intellect and drive to the environmental movement,” says Sterling. “We have a great big beautiful biome but if we don’t take care of it that’s not what we’ll be passing on to our children. I love my boys and I want to give them the healthiest planet possible.”

Jane Fleishman

Jane Fleishman is a Third Actor residing in Nashville, TN who is regularly pulled to NYC where her first grandchild lives and to the Southwest where so many of her other family members live. She is retired from a social work career mainly focused on creating and promoting volunteer and civic leadership opportunities for youth in their First Act.

Sterling Bobbitt

Sterling Bobbitt is retired from a career in Learning Management Systems, much of it in the government sector.  For more than 30 years he was affiliated with the Graduate School USA (formerly the Graduate School USDA) in San Francisco, including as the Director of the school’s Western and Pacific Training Center. Earlier in his career he managed network and computer operations for the San Francisco Regional Training Center of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Sterling has a Masters degree in Management from Thomas Edison University and a B.S. in Forestry from West Virginia University. After graduating, he was employed with the National Park Service at Grand Canyon, Arizona. His work for the Park Service inspired the writing of his second e-book, Above the Rim.

Sterling’s resume as a volunteer is extensive, including 6 years as volunteer webmaster for Citizens for a Better Environment, several years onboarding all Special Olympics volunteers in the northern California region (his son is an athlete), working as a Friendly Visitor for Meals on Wheels, and training BSA Scoutmasters in Winter Survival Skills in the high Sierras. In retirement, Sterling volunteers on Third Act’s Digital Communications team as a Web Coach, and is an active member of Third Act Connecticut.  

Sterling grew up in Connecticut and is retired there with his wife and youngest son, living in a passive solar house built by his parents. His eldest son lives in California, is a dedicated vegan, and works for the National Park Service in Yosemite.