Harold Gilliam is a San Francisco based writer, newspaperman and environmentalist, graduate of UC Berkeley, author of many books and former columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. The "Harold Gilliam Award for Excellence in Environmental Reporting", given by the Bay Institute of San Francisco, is named in his honor. Gilliam’s article, "The Destruction of Mono Lake Is on Schedule" appeared in the Examiner’s Sunday edition in March, 1979, and was one of the first articles to draw attention to Mono Lake’s plight. He has authored a dozen environmental books.