Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence. PDF
Preview Planetwalker: 22 Years of Walking. 17 Years of Silence.
planet 17 years of silence. walker 22 years of walking. john Ph.D. , ? **» •^-^-•*^ ^. *«s .«*** N m, - *» 4_.*.«j-sex* J*&..*-\~•'n-T-iTstr.t.v,'' >.«*&^ ii*^r^ ><*# mwmm' Text and Illustrations by 1 NATIONALCEOCRAPHU: 'Aswafflft Copyright © 2005, 2008John Francis, Ph.D. All rights reserved. Reproduction ofthewhole oranypartofthe contents withoutwritten permission from the publisher is prohibited. Originallypublished in 2005 byElephantMountain Press. Published in 2008 byNational Geographic Books byarrangementwith the author. ISBN: 978-1-4262-0275-9 Founded in 1888, theNational Geographic Societyis oneofthelargest nonprofitscientific and educational organizations in theworld. Itreaches more than 285 million peopleworldwideeach month through its official journal, NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC, andits fourothermagazines; the National GeographicChannel; television documentaries; radio programs; films; books; videos and DVDs; maps; and interactive media. National Geographichas funded more than 8,000 scientificresearch projects and supports an education program combatinggeographic illiteracy. Formore information, please call 1-800-NGS LINE (647-5463) orwrite to the followingaddress: National Geographic Society 1145 17th StreetN.W. Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A. Visitus online atwww.nationalgeographic.com/books Forinformation aboutspecial discounts forbulkpurchases, pleasecontact National Geographic Books Special Sales: [email protected] Forrights orpermissions inquiries, pleasecontactNational Geographic Books SubsidiaryRights: [email protected] Excerpts are used in this bookfromNewSeedsofContemplation by Thomas Merton, copyright © 1961 byTheAbbeyofGethsemani, Inc. Reprintedbypermission ofNewDirections PublishingCorp. Interiordesign: Susan Pinkerton Printed in U.S.A. ForJohn andLaJava HJI* ?[UMSTWM,KIIf3 First, I would like to thank mywife, Martha, and sons, Samuel and Luke, for their support, interest, and encouragement during this project; mymother, LaJava, forher quiet faith andwatchful eye; my father,John, forsharingmyjourney; mybrother, Dwayne,forkeeping the lights burning; my cousins Shep for the music and Ed and Dorothyfortheirsupportandaplacetocallhome; LynandMartyfor theirfaithandforwelcomingmeintotheirfamily Iwanttothankthe communities of Point Reyes, California; Ashland, Oregon; Port Townsend, Washington; Missoula, Montana; Watertown, South Dakota; Madison,Wisconsin; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; CapeMay, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C., and all the other communities acrossthecountrythatwelcomedmeintotheirmidstasapilgrimand oneoftheirownsons. Iwantto thankLoti, fortravelingso fartovisit herpapi, and RayGatchalian forhis lifeofinspiration. My gratitude also goes to my teachers, both formal and informal, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, the University of Montana-Missoula, and Southern Oregon State University, especially John Steinhart, Gretchen Schoff, Ron Erickson, Mary Birch, Roger Dunsmore, Paul Lauren, Dexter Roberts, Tom Birch, Frank Lang, Lawson Inada, Ben Kimmelman, Akbar Ally, Ray Lincoln, Peace Pilgrim, Roderick Nash, Lynton Caldwell, and Seyyed Nasr. I especially would like to thank my editors, Alan Berolzheimer andAnn Bartz, and book designer, Susan Pinkerton, fortheirtirelessefforts, aswellasCatCowlesandSandyDuveen for typing and proofing my manuscript. In anyjourney, whether it passes through a cityor a desert, one encounters a number of people whose meetings also help create the human landscape. Some I know by name, others only by their spirit. I am grateful to all people whose spirits are a part ofmyjourney. Thank you. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Finally, this bookcould nothave been producedwithout the support ofthe following friends, companies, and organizations: Benedikt Wobmann, Rishi Schweig, Rikki and Dulany Hill, Gary Ray, Paul Korhummel, Charlotte Zieve, Tracy Gary, Dede Sampson, Murray and Roberta Suid, Peter Barnes, Hathaway Barry, Stephen Straus, Deborah Hicks, Chris Boyes, Point Reyes Books, Building Supply, Horizon Cable, West Marin Fitness, the Bovine Bakery,IndianPeachFoods,TheStationHouse,ServiceArgosInc.,and theTimberland Shoe Company And finally, a special thanks goes to Ruth Chamblee for her friendship and hard work over the years in championingPlanetwalkeratNG. Oinrftir©dte Thegeographicalpilgrimage is thesymbolicactingoutofan innerjourney. The innerjourney is the interpolation ofthe meaningandsigns ofthe outerpilgrimage, one can haveone withou—tthe other. Its bestto have both. ThomasMerton, 1964 ©n January 17, 1971, I witnessed a crude oil spill ofnearly a half-million gallons in the waters near the Golden Gate Bridge. The oil spill was my first experience with a major environmental insult. As I drove mycaroverthe Golden Gate I felt some responsibility for the mess washing up onto the shore. It was nearly a year afterwards, still feeling this responsibility, that I gave up the use ofmotorizedvehicles and startedwalking. My community took note. Then to end the almost constant bickering and arguments with my friends as to the question of iN|ff^ whether one person walking could make a difference, I stopped speaking and spent a day in silence. My life altered. As that day of silencestretchedoutbeforeme, I realized I hadbegun apilgrimage, an outer and innerjourney, walking and sailing around-the-world, as part of my education dedicated to raise environmental consciousness, and promote earth stewardship andworld peace. During the first century A.D., a Greek teacher and philosopher, Apollonius ofTyana, embarked on a silent journey, which reportedlylastedforfiveyears. Whilesomeconsiderhim the first person to use silence as a discipline, given the breadth of human history, that distinction may be difficult to believe. Nevertheless, he at least gained some notoriety as he wandered
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