A Walking Environmentalist

John Francis, Ph.D.

John Francis wrote a book entitled Planetwalker based on his experience living for 22 years without riding in any motorized vehicles. My son Dylan and I had the opportunity to meet him on Sunday when he signed our book. On our way to the lecture we hopped a ride on a golf cart across Temple University's Ambler campus. In my focus on trying to arrive on time, I did not realize the irony of our choice until we arrived at our destination.

While I'm not giving up motorized vehicles anytime soon, I am inspired. This man's deliberate choices to walk and to remain silent for 17 years teach me about humanity. I'm glad he now tells his story to share the humor and the wisdom of his experiences. And, guess what. He not only plays the banjo, he paints too!

The heart of his message is that the environment is about how we treat each other. There is a lot to unpack in that statement and I find that the idea is already affecting my work in an insightful way. Thank you, John Francis.

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