Burt Shavitz, the Burt Behind Burt's Bees, Dies at 80

The reclusive beekeeper who co-founded Burt's Bees, and whose face and wild beard appeared on labels for the natural cosmetics, died on Sunday. Burt Shavitz was 80.
A spokeswoman for Burt's Bees said in an emailed statement Shavtiz died of respiratory complications in Bangor, Maine, surrounded by family and friends.
Shavitz was a hippie making a living by selling honey when his life was altered by a chance encounter with a hitchhiking Roxanne Quimby. She was a single mother and a back-to-the-lander who impressed Shavitz with her ingenuity and self-sufficiency.
In the 1980s she began making products from his beeswax, and they became partners.
The business partnership ended after Quimby moved the company to North Carolina in 1994. The company continued to expand, but Shavitz moved back to Maine. He has said he was forced out after having an affair with an employee. In 2007, Clorox purchased Burt's Bees for $925 million.