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Stewart Brand conceived of the Whole Earth Catalog in early 1968 and officially launched the first edition in the fall of that year. The publication originated in Menlo Park, California, where Brand established the Whole Earth Truck Store and worked alongside the Portola Institute, a nonprofit educational organization that served as the catalog's original publisher. While Brand was the primary creative force and editor who famously used NASA photographs of Earth on the covers, he was supported by a small team that included his then-wife Lois Jennings and collaborators like Lloyd Kahn. The catalog became a definitive resource for the late 1960s back-to-the-land movement, promoting self-sufficiency, ecology, and DIY technology through its signature slogan, access to tools.