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No Vehicles for 17 Years: ‘Planetwalker’ Spreads Peace and Ecology Message

By Jack Fichter

WEST CAPE MAY — To earn the title “Planetwalker,” a man would have to cover a lot of ground on foot.
John Francis traveled enough miles to wear out a set of tires on a car but instead went through the equivalent amount of shoe leather.
Francis, who has moved to the borough from Point Reyes, Calif., has walked least 30,000 miles.
Planetwalker is also the name of a book by Francis and an upcoming movie. He is also developing environmental studies curriculum that uses walking for the National Geographic Society.
He stopped riding in any type of vehicle in 1972, walking everywhere for 22 years including a trip across the U.S. and walking the length of South America. He also stopped talking for 17 years.
Francis resumed riding in vehicles when he realized he needed to spread his message and he wanted see his parents In Philadelphia while they were alive.
Is Francis a guru? No, he likes coffee and jazz and was a part of the rock music scene of Marin County in the late 60s.
Francis grew up in Philadelphia and spent summers in Cape May. He journeyed to California in 1969 and went to rural Inverness, next to Point Reyes National Seashore.
“I was a hippie and did all those things that hippies did,” said Francis. “I wanted to see the war end, I wanted to get back to the earth.”
He said he wasn’t really sure what that meant at that time.
An oil spill off San Francisco encouraged him to shun anything that moved with power of a motor. The death of a close friend, a deputy sheriff who drowned in a boating accident, further encouraged him to only walk, not ride.
He said his friend seemed to be living the American dream “but just like that, he’s gone.”
“It just made me feel that there really aren’t any promises that you’re going to make it to tomorrow,” said Francis.
Following his friend’s death, Francis and his girlfriend walked a considerable distance to a concert by the Youngbloods (Get Together) and refused a ride home from the band. On the walk home, he decided he wanted to make a difference in the world.
“The only way that I could see of doing that would be not to ride in cars,” said Francis.
He said avoiding vehicles was more involved than he first thought with cars being deeply ingrained into our culture and social structure.
“I thought if I did that, everyone would follow me, they were just waiting for someone to do it,” said Francis.
He stopped speaking about six months into his walking experience. It was also easier not to talk rather than to argue with folks about his decision not to ride in vehicles, he said.
“I started learning about how I hadn’t been listening before,” said Francis.
He was managing a band when he stopped riding in vehicles which ended that gig. Francis also had to give up being a volunteer fireman because he wouldn’t ride on that fire truck although he said he could have run to fires in tiny Inverness as quickly as the truck traveled.
When Francis finally spoke his first word after 17 years of silence, he said he did not recognize his own voice. He said the physiology of speaking is a miracle, forming language in our minds and using muscles and vocal chords to speak to each other.
Having the choice of remaining silent for 17 years is a freedom that may not be available in another country, said Francis.
Without speaking or using any vehicles, he earned a B.A. at Southern Oregon State College, an M.S. in Environmental Studies the University of Montana and a PhD in Land Resources at the University of Wisconsin, having walked from California to attend both schools. As a fellow, he was being paid to go to college.
“They respected what I was doing enough to feel that this was really an important action and they should help me,” said Francis. “I didn’t understand that right away.”
Through his life he said he had a habit of “shooting himself in the foot,” with the thought he did not deserve good things when they came into his life. He also used the phrase, “I surely can’t do that,” because people were not supportive of whom he was. Francis said he reached that point in his second year at the University of Wisconsin.
“Because I was silent and more reflective, I could see myself doing that,” he said.
He said he realized many people had faith in him and that he could earn his doctorate.
Now in his 60s, Francis’ earlier activities have received recognition. He is working with a studio to cast a movie of his life. He wrote oil pollution regulations for the U.S. Coast Guard and takes speaking engagements to give his unique perspective on the environment and how each of us can make a difference in the world.
He said he understood that pollution, climate change and loss of habitat are items we must work on but he realized if people are part of the environment, “how we treat each other is our first opportunity to treat the environment in a positive way.”
If we are oppressing each other or stealing from one another, that will manifest through us into the physical environment causing a number of issues,” said Francis.
“Environment also had to be about human rights and civil rights and economic equity and gender equality and all the ways humans relate to each other,” he said.
He said we also need to look at war and what it means.
“I think that war is going to have to be obsolete,” said Francis. “I think that how we do things that oppress other people for our benefit is going to have to change.”
He said peace will require lots of work and strength from all of us. The Internet will play a part said Francis.
“We have to change inside,” he said.

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