Robert Praetzel, a World War II veteran and UC Berkeley graduate, was the Marin County lawyer responsible for stopping Gulf Oil's Marincello real estate development in the late 1960s, which helped preserved part of the Marin Headlands area in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Praetzel was born on December 18, 1925 in San Francisco and attended grammar school and high school in Marin County. In 1942, Praetzel enlisted and served in the US Navy hauling high-octane aviation fuel throughout the Pacific. He completed his General Educational Development (GED) at sea and, after the war, enrolled at Marin Junior College (now College of Marin). Praetzel transferred to UC Berkeley in 1948, joined the fraternity Kappa Delta Rho, and graduated in 1950. In 1953, he earned his law degree from UC Hastings College of the Law and soon developed a wide-ranging legal practice in Marin County before specializing in estate and tax planning. In 1957, Praetzel married fellow UC Berkeley alumnus Nancy Donnelly. They have four children. In 1966, Praetzel joined a pro bono legal effort to stop the massive Marincello real estate development project in the Marin Headlands. In 1970, Praetzel's lawsuits successfully ended the Marincello project, which eventually enabled that area of the Marin Headlands to join the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, one of the most visited National Park Service areas in the United States. In this interview, Praetzel discusses all of the above topics with particular detail on his legal efforts against the Marincello development.