Burt Shavitz, co-founder of Burt's Bees, dies at 80

Burt Shavitz.
(Image credit: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

Burt Shavitz, the co-founder of Burt's Bees whose face appeared on the company's packaging, has died. He was 80.

"We remember him as a bearded, free-spirited Maine man, a beekeeper, a wisecracker, a lover of golden retrievers and his land," the company said on its Facebook page. "Above all, he taught us to never lose sight of our relationship with nature." Shavitz co-founded Burt's Bees in 1984 with Roxanne Quimby, an art school graduate he met while hitchhiking. Quimby used his beeswax to make candles that she sold at fairs, and during their first year in business, the company earned $20,000, NBC News reports. Their most famous product, lip balm, was introduced in 1991.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.