Author-activist, Thevenin dies

An author, a conservationist, a musician, an athlete, a mother and a homemaker -- Tine Thevenin was all of these things and her life was marked by numerous successes and accomplishments.

Thevenin, 68, died Monday in her rural Lake City home.

Friends and family say she'll be remembered for her sharp, analytic mind, her high-energy approach to life and her devotion to causes she believed in.

"Her life's focus has been on protecting those who cannot protect themselves: children, animals, the environment," Thevenin's husband, Dag Knudson, said.

She is perhaps best known locally for her work as a conservationist and an advocate of the organic food movement.

Friend Bruce Ause said he met Thevenin while the two were working with the Hiawatha Valley Partnership, a local group that sought to protect and raise awareness about natural resources.

"She was without a doubt the leader of the group. She was highly energetic," Ause said. "I often wondered how she had the energy to do all the things she did. But she did everything with gusto."

Thevenin gave her time to numerous local organizations. Friend Ralph Lentz said, "She was a very generous, giving person."

Her accomplishments stretched well beyond local circles. She was the author of two successful books: "The Family Bed: An Age Old Concept in Child Rearing" and "Mothering and Fathering."

Thevenin's work was chronicled in the London Times, New York Times and Parent's Magazine, according to Knudson. She was also invited to appear on both the "Oprah Winfrey Show" and "Phil Donahue Show."

Born in 1941 in the occupied Netherlands, Thevenin moved to the United States and graduated from Crystal Lake Community High School and in 1965 graduated from American Conservatory of Music with the bachelor's degree in music. She was a flutist with the Florida Symphony Orchestra.

She was also an athlete. Already an accomplished tri-athlete, at 43 Thevenin became first woman to solo the grueling 500-mile, four-day-long, Minnesota Border-to-Border Triathlon, Knudson said.

Knudson met Thevenin in 1986. The two married in 1990. Knudson said Thevenin had an amazing mind and that she was an organized, methodical, critical thinker.

The two of them enjoyed backpacking, which they did in both North America and Europe, he said.

More than anything else, including her many public causes, Knudson said Thevenin, a mother of two daughters, was most proud of her work as a parent and a homemaker.

An informal memorial gathering will be held in the Lake City City Hall ballroom from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursday. For Thevenin's full obituary, see page 6A.

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