LarZ
New member
I am continually surprised when people haven't heard of him, and I wondered if it was the same in such a community as StP.
John Francis is a man living in Point Reyes Station, CA. He wrote a book called Planetwalker (I know, who'd have guessed?) and it is amazing. In 2007 when the oil spill shocked San Francisco, he vowed to not participate in the consumption of oil and stopped using motor transportation of any kind. [yes, the food he ate and the clothes he wore were still transported via motor, and he realized this, but the protest still holds weight] Several months later, he had a day of silence for his birthday, and then didn't speak for 17 years.
He lost his job obviously, gave up life as our society knows it, and became a "Peace Pilgrim" in his own words. He learned traditional native american sign language, taught himself to play the banjo, made daily watercolor paintings, and walked everywhere. He earned a B.A. in Ashland, OR, completed a masters program at the University of Montana, and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He founded Planetwalk, a nonprofit environmental education organization and is developing Planetlines, an environmental studies curriculum based on his walking pilgrimage, designed for K-12 and for use in universities.
All of this was accomplished without the use of his voice and with only his feet to carry him.
This post is partly to spread the word to those who haven't heard of him, but also to hear all of your opinions about it.
So, what do y'all think?
John Francis is a man living in Point Reyes Station, CA. He wrote a book called Planetwalker (I know, who'd have guessed?) and it is amazing. In 2007 when the oil spill shocked San Francisco, he vowed to not participate in the consumption of oil and stopped using motor transportation of any kind. [yes, the food he ate and the clothes he wore were still transported via motor, and he realized this, but the protest still holds weight] Several months later, he had a day of silence for his birthday, and then didn't speak for 17 years.
He lost his job obviously, gave up life as our society knows it, and became a "Peace Pilgrim" in his own words. He learned traditional native american sign language, taught himself to play the banjo, made daily watercolor paintings, and walked everywhere. He earned a B.A. in Ashland, OR, completed a masters program at the University of Montana, and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He founded Planetwalk, a nonprofit environmental education organization and is developing Planetlines, an environmental studies curriculum based on his walking pilgrimage, designed for K-12 and for use in universities.
All of this was accomplished without the use of his voice and with only his feet to carry him.
This post is partly to spread the word to those who haven't heard of him, but also to hear all of your opinions about it.
So, what do y'all think?
