
Aton Edwards (b. c. 1962)
is an American expert in the fields of emergency preparedness, self-reliance and
sustainable living
Sustainable living describes a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbo ...
. He is also an author, inventor, and environmental/social activist. He founded the International Preparedness Network (I.P.N.) in 1989 and serves as executive director.
Early life and education
Edwards was born in New York about 1962 and grew up in the Bronx,
attending public schools. He credits seeing the movie ''
Deliverance
''Deliverance'' is a 1972 American thriller film directed and produced by John Boorman from a screenplay by James Dickey, who adapted it from his own Deliverance (novel), 1970 novel. It follows four businessmen from Atlanta who venture into th ...
'' (1972) at the age of 10 with inspiring his interest in survivor's skills.
Entertainment career
When he was in his 20s, in the mid- to late 1980s, Edwards worked as a political stand-up comedian called "Badd Guy." He performed on
Showtime. In the 1985 re-opening of the
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater (formerly the Hurtig & Seamon's New Theatre; also Apollo Theatre or 125th Street Apollo Theatre) is a multi-use Theater (structure), theater at 253 125th Street (Manhattan), West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of U ...
in Harlem, Edwards was selected by Ralph Cooper Sr. as the first house comic; he had won the amateur night competition during NBC's special "Motown's 50th anniversary salute to the Apollo theater", starring
Bill Cosby
William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...
.
Career
Gradually Edwards became more interested in issues of disaster preparedness and how to train for self-reliance. In 1989 he and several friends founded what they later called the International Preparedness Network (IPN). In the early 21st century, it has become a training group to teach civilians how to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural, technological, environmental, civil, cyber, economic disasters. It specializes in the development of survival strategies for catastrophic emergencies such as global geophysical events, pandemics and nuclear, biological or chemical warfare. In 1993, they adopted the current name.
Edwards has created a preparedness/response/self-reliance system called "ia"
(pronounced Eye-Aay), short for Improvisational Adaptation. "ia" combines the full range of activities related to preparedness, outdoor survival, sustainable living, personal health, and self-defense into a discipline similar to a martial art.
By the turn of the 21st century, Edwards began to use his stand-up comedy to highlight his views about preparedness. In 2002 he appeared on ''
The Greg Giraldo Show'' on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
. In 2007, he appeared in a Current TV short called "Aton's Top Ten".
He was increasingly consulted for TV programs about preparedness. In 2009, he appeared in the
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...
special, ''6-Degrees''. In 2010, Edwards hosted the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience.
It init ...
documentary special ''Track Me If You Can''. In 2011 he was interviewed by
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
. He has also been featured on MSNBC news and the
Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'') is an American morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television ...
as a contributor on disaster preparedness, self-reliance & security.
"U.S. not prepared for nuclear crisis"
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
On September 18, 2011, Edwards was featured in the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience.
It init ...
special, ''How Will The World End'', starring Samuel L. Jackson.
Personal life
Edwards was once married to actress/comedian Kim Coles
Kimberly Coles (born January 11, 1962) is an American actress, comedian and game show host. Coles is known for her roles as an original cast member on the variety show ''In Living Color'' (1990–1991) and as Synclaire James-Jones on the sitcom '' ...
. He later entered into a common-law marriage
Common-law marriage, also known as non-ceremonial marriage, marriage, informal marriage, de facto marriage, more uxorio or marriage by habit and repute, is a marriage that results from the parties' agreement to consider themselves married, follo ...
with Ginger Davis.[
]
See also
* Emergency management
Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...
* Earthquake preparedness
Preparations for earthquakes can consist of survival measures, preparation that will improve survival in the event of an earthquake, or mitigating measures, that seek to minimise the effect of an earthquake. Common survival measures include storin ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Aton
Disaster preparedness
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Appropriate technology advocates