Top 10 Heroes

Frederick Franck was a "real" human being. Starting out as a dentist (and working with Albert Schweitzer, one of his heroes) he was also a sculptor, painter, drawer, and author of more than 30 books. His work revolved around one basic theme - what it means to be human. My favorite Frederick Franck quote, which guides my photography and life is "The meaning of life is to see."

Frederick Franck's work is spiritual and reflects his great respect for all faith traditions, especially Catholicism and Buddhism. Besides Albert Schweitzer, his two other mentors were Pope John XXIII and Japanese Buddhist Daisetz T. Suzuki.

On his property near Warwick, NY he created a "transreligious" sanctuary called Pacem in Terris, after Pope John's encyclical of the same name. The grounds next to his home contain his sculptures, gardens, a creek, and a sacred building where non-sectarian services and musical performances are held. I had the honor of visiting there in 2007 with six close friends and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Franck had died the previous year at the age of 97 but we were able to meet his wife, Claske.

His most famous book is called "The Zen of Seeing," a book about drawing as meditation.

Articles on Frederick Franck
Remembering Spiritual Masters
Wikipedia Entry

My religious foundation is Catholicism and Trappist monk Thomas Merton first made a connection with me through his autobiographical classic, "The Seven Storey Mountain," written about his own conversion in 1949. While he lived much of his life at a monastery near Louisville, Kentucky, he also traveled the world and explored Eastern spiritual traditions and mysticism. He died in 1968 of accidental electrocution while in Bangkok for an East-West monastic dialogue.

Of course, he was also a photographer and lover of nature, which explains some of my connection to him. Here is an excerpt from his writings.

"At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or the brutalities of our will. This little point of nothingness and of absolute poverty is the pure glory of God in us... It is like a pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven. It is in everybody, and if we could see it we would see these billions of points of light coming together in the face and blaze of a sun that would make all the darkness and cruelty of life vanish completely... I have no program for this seeing. It is only given. But the gate of heaven is everywhere."

Learn more about Thomas Merton at:
The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University
Merton Institute for Contemplative Living

In 2008, I completed a Masters program in Earth Literacy, which opened my eyes to the depth of our environmental problems and the need for a new worldview regarding human responsibility for our planet. Two of the most influential writers I studied during my program were the Berrys (no relation), Thomas and Wendell.

Thomas Berry is a Passionist priest from Greensboro, North Carolina, born in 1914, died June 1, 2009. He calls himself a geologian because he is a historian of Earth and evolutionary processes as well as a theologian. One of his most quoted sayings is "The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects."

Learn more about Thomas Berry at these websites.
Thomas Berry
Thomas Berry and the Earth Community
A profile of Thomas Berry by Matthew Fox

Wendell Berry (born August 5, 1934, Henry County, Kentucky) is a prolific writer, teacher, cultural and economic critic, and farmer. Educated in Kentucky, he left to partake in a creative writing program at Stanford University, and then spent time in Italy and France under a Guggenheim Fellowship. For a few years in the early 60's, he taught English in the Bronx at NYU's University College. Returning to Kentucky to teach at the University there, he farms his 125 acres of land and writes many books, articles, and essays.

A quote from 'Sex. Ecology, Freedom and Community' - pg. 13
"The true source and analogue of our economic life is the economy of plants, which never exceeds natural limits, never grows beyond the power of its place to support it, produces no waste, and enriches and preserves itself by death and decay. We must learn to grow like a tree, not like a fire."

Learn more about Wendell Berry at this website.
Mr. Wendell Berry of Kentucky

Love them or not, they both live(d) according to their true natures and gifts. Music has a way of connecting soul to soul and both of these artists have the ability to do that.

Frank Sinatra knew what he wanted to do from a very early age. According to Frank, when he wanted to quit school to sing, his father said "Do you want to get a real job or be a bum?" Well, Frank knew himself. His music will live on to touch millions more long past his death in 1998. I have to thank my father for playing Frank at night when we kids were going to sleep. By age 16, I was hooked all on my own. When I listen to Frank, it is as if he and the musicians and me are all one (crazy mystical, huh?)

For a complete discography, visit this Squidoo lens.

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Bono loves Frank too. While I wasn't a huge U2 fan early on, it was his social activism that turned me on to him. Then, I realized how much his music reflected his beliefs (duh!) What I love about Bono is that he doesn't judge people, he just says what needs to be done to whoever will listen. He tries to understand all points of view. Plus, he is amazingly cool, just like his hero Frank.

Bono is a very poetic writer and I have so many favorite quotes. Here is one from the guy known for his sunglasses: "Coolness might help in your negotiation with people through the world, maybe, but it is impossible to meet God with sunglasses on. It is impossible to meet God without abandon, without exposing yourself, being raw."

For an in-depth look at Bono, visit this great Squidoo lens.

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Before I took my first photography class, I was inspired not only by Ansel Adam's photography but by the life he led. Do you see the theme in these heroes? They all found their passion and followed through on it. They were not only doing what they loved to do, but doing it with integrity.

Before moving to Indianapolis, my family took a trip to Ansel's beloved Yosemite National Park, the place that was most inspiring to him. As soon as I moved to Indy, I signed up for my first darkroom photography class. The teacher, Mike Bowman, had worked as an assistant to Ansel Adams.

One of the first assignments I had to do for my Masters program was about an environmentalist that had made an impact on me. I chose to write about Ansel Adams (1902-1984) and opened by saying that he was a photographer, musician, author, teacher, conservationist, political activist, ambassador, and family man but, most of all, a communicator. John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club was one of his heroes and Ansel went on to use his photography to help preserve many wild places in this country. In 1950, he wrote, "The great wilderness areas, designated for perpetuation of the intangible qualities of Nature, must be given appropriate use and interpretation, and complete protection. Perhaps one of the most positive ways of achieving this objective is to encourage writers, artists and photographers to utilize these profoundly beautiful areas as sources of inspiration and interpretation to the fullest possible extent."

You can find out more about Ansel Adams at the following links.
The Ansel Adams Gallery
Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club
Squidoo lens on Ansel Adams Posters, Prints Photography

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Here is one of my favorites:






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Donella Meadows was a scientist, systems thinker, teacher, writer, and PEW Scholar in Conservation and Environment. She taught at Dartmouth College for 29 years and wrote a weekly column called "The Global Citizen", on world events from a systems perspective. She died prematurely at the age of 60. A long-term member of the Club of Rome, an award was instituted in her memory.

She was one talented woman, but the reason she is in my top 10 heroes is because of one article she wrote that is my favorite of all time. It still makes me weep. It begins "The Earth was formed whole and continuous in the Universe, without lines." You can download it as part of Timeline Magazine's PDF #1 found here.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh is the widow of famous aviator and conservationist Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. She was also the daughter of a U.S. Senator and a poet. She became known in her own right through the kidnapping and death of one of her six children and through her many writings. She was also the first licensed woman glider pilot in the United States.

My best friend, Carolyn, and I bonded over Anne's letters and journals while in college. We laughed and cried with her as she dealt with the death of her son, the joys and tribulations of being a mother, and being married to such a famous husband. Her most well-known book was "Gift from the Sea" an inspirational piece of work, but we loved her five volumes of diaries and letters from the years 1922-1944. Anne Morrow Lindbergh died February 7, 2001 at her second home in Vermont.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh quote: "After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood."

You can read more about her at this link but she is best discovered through her books. Charles LIndbergh Webpage

Designing the future. William McDonough does not think like ordinary people. He began as an architect and is now an internationally renowned designer and proposer of 'The Next Industrial Revolution.' Time magazine recognized him in 1999 as a 'Hero for the Planet', and again recognized Mr. McDonough and Michael Braungart as "Heroes of the Environment" in October 2007.

I was introduced to him through the video "The Next Industrial Revolution" and then later through his fantastic book "Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things." Prepare to be inspired.

McDonough asks us to look beyond green design to good design. He says, "Today, with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect a new spirit. In fact, when designers employ the intelligence of natural systems-the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the sun's energy-they can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist."

Here is a link to his website: Bill McDonough Webpage

Michelle Kaufmann is an architect too, designing modular green homes. Growing up in Iowa, she has a deep understanding of the relationship between humankind and the environment. She believes that what we build, and how we build, should improve the environment rather than harm it. Her goal is to make thoughtful, sustainable design accessible to all.

Poetic in every way. I discovered John O'Donohue in January 2008 only weeks after he died in his sleep at the age of 52. Since then I have read most of his books and visited his gravesite in Fanore, County Clare, Ireland.

O'Donohue was an Irish poet, philosopher, and former Catholic priest who lived in the solitude of a cottage in his beloved Ireland. His website says that "Readers say his work puts words on things they have felt for years but never found expressed." His writing is beautiful in every way and reflects his Celtic spirituality. At his death, he was working on a post-doctoral dissertation on the 13th Century mystic and philosopher Meister Eckhart.

In his book "Beauty" he says "Each of us is responsible for how we see, and how we see determines what we see. When we beautify our gaze, the grace of hidden beauty becomes our joy and our sanctuary."

Read more about John O'Donohue at the following links.
John O'Donohue Website
Huffington Post article on John O'Donohue
John O'Donohue on YouTube

Mary Oliver is also a poet who has a way of getting to the heart of the human-nature connection. Her poems "Wild Geese", "The Summer Day" and "The Journey" are three of my favorites. Read more about her at poets.org.

Kenneth Wilber is an American author who writes on psychology, philosophy, mysticism, ecology, and spiritual evolution. His work outlines an integral theory of consciousness. He is founder of the Integral Institute and his work can be explored online at: kenwilber.com, Integral Institute and Integral Life.

I discovered his philosophy after reading "A Brief HIstory of Everything", a fascinating book that attempts to integrate philosophical and psychological thought, as well as mystical experiences throughout the ages. He tries to find common ground and create an integral theory of consciousness. It's not easy to explain, so if you're interested, start with one of the websites below or a Ken Wilber book.

Here are some other lenses on Ken Wilber and creating an integral life:
Best Ken Wilber Books
Integral LIfe Practice