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Chris Higgins
John Francis: Silent All These Years
by Chris Higgins - November 21, 2008 - 4:23 PM

In 1971, John Francis witnessed a terrible oil spill. Seeing the destruction caused by the oil industry, Francis stopped traveling in motorized vehicles. Instead, he walked. In 1973, he stopped talking. Instead, he listened. While he was walking, and while he was silent, Francis traveled on foot across the entire continental US, walked to South America, and even earned a Ph.D. in Land Management. He remained out of motorized vehicles for 22 years, and silent for 17.

Now Francis is talking. What does he have to say about his life’s work for the environment? What did he see during his travels? Did walking and not talking make a difference? Listen:

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Comments (5)

  1. what great timing! I just finished his book and John Francis is coming to speak at my school on Monday. This is great stuff.

    posted by Nick on 11-21-2008 at 6:04 pm

  2. I just watched this TED talk the other day. Inspiring stuff, I actually texted my old teacher, who the next day incorporated it into her speech and debate class, and said she’d like everyone to try and stop talking until they met again in class the next day.

    Great story.

    posted by Catherine on 11-21-2008 at 10:24 pm

  3. Awesome - thanks for posting.

    posted by dawn on 11-21-2008 at 10:36 pm

  4. How did he take his orals for his PhD?

    posted by Nathan on 11-22-2008 at 7:28 pm

  5. Really Cool!
    My pal doesn’t speak - I’m going to show it to him!

    posted by Jules Andre-Brown on 11-25-2008 at 1:21 pm

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