The Ragged Edge of Silence

March 15, 2011
Francis is founder and director of the environmental-education organization Planetwalk and author of Planetwalker (2005). In response to the terrible 1971 oil spill in San Francisco Bay, he gave up motorized transportation. I had to devote myself to promoting peace, living in harmony with the environment, and striving to the highest realization of myself and all my relations. He stopped speaking, remained in silence for the next 17 years, and walked thousands of miles on a vision quest. Here he shares excerpts from his journals, outlines devotional practices related to pilgrimage and meditation, and discusses his personal growth in light of his extraordinary peregrinations and accomplishments. (He earned a PhD while maintaining his vows.) Venturing into self-help, Francis offers a lesson in silence in each chapter as well as exercises meant to help the reader appreciate silence and find his or her own pathless path.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)