Walker Treads for Environmental Awareness, Once Silent, Earth Day Broke the Stillness

WEST CAPE MAY – Readers may have heard the general recommendation of walking 10,000 steps, or about five miles, a day for health benefits.
One resident has taken this quite a bit further in logging about 36,000 miles – or more than 76 million steps – in his effort to promote environmental education and responsibility and a vision of world peace and cooperation.
John Francis, Ph.D., 71, started walking as a young man after witnessing the effects of an oil spill while living in California. 
Oil Spill’s Effect
“I hope we never see anything like what I witnessed,” the Philadelphia native said about his current hometown, West Cape May.
“The devastation to the beaches, which are our pride and joy, the birds and other wildlife, was just incredible. I gave up driving after that spill and started walking everywhere.”
That was 1972.
“I started walking as a statement about pollution,” he continued. “I used to get into a lot of arguments with people about the effect one person could have. People thought I was making a statement about the way they were living their lives, and I guess I was. I didn’t mean to, but that’s what it was. I got tired of defending myself to everyone.”
So at 26, he stopped talking as well. For 17 years.
Like a Monk
“I grew up going to Catholic schools, and I remember when we visited a monastery of Trappist monks,” Francis said. “The priest told us the Trappists take a code of silence. I love to talk and thought I could never be silent like them. But I did it.”
Francis said he learned to listen better. “I used it as an opportunity to learn and move ahead,” he said about his vow of silence.
Every year on his birthday he would assess whether he had anything he wanted to say. If not, he continued with his silence.
Silence Ends
On the 20th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22, 1990) he determined he had something to say and began speaking again.
“I chose Earth Day because I wanted to remind myself that we speak for the environment,” he said. “The environment is more than just saving trees. It’s about how we treat each other, and gender and economic equality and civil rights. If we, as human beings, are an integral part of the environment, then how we treat each other and ourselves, directly and indirectly, affects the physical environment.”
When Francis began walking across the nation, he initially would look for “green spots” on the map. He would stay in an area for a period, learning a trade or working along the way. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees in environmental studies. His first walk lasted seven years and one day.
“I actually made it to Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day,” he recalled, “which was really nice for my parents. It took another day for me to dip my toe in the water in Cape May.”
Banjo Worried Folks
His parents were naturally concerned about their son’s journey. “They told me that a black man couldn’t walk across the U.S. with his banjo,” he said. “It just didn’t happen back then. They were concerned about my safety. But the opposite happened. I met people from all walks of life, religions, and politics. People thought there was something special about what I was doing and wanted to help me.”
Besides playing banjo, he painted and kept journals of his travels, and eventually wrote two books, “Planetwalker: 17 Years of Silence, 22 Years of Walking” and “The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World.”
Hired by Coast Guard
His first job when he returned was being hired by the Coast Guard to write oil spill regulations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90). That established the first comprehensive and interactive oil spill and marine casualty database. He received a civilian commendation in 1992, recognizing his work on the OPA 90 and his “enlightened leadership as liaison between the staff, environmental groups, and industry.”
He also founded Planetwalk, a non-profit environmental awareness organization with a core mission to develop and coordinate a global network of planetwalkers. Francis, who also has walked through Asia, China, South America, and the Netherlands, continues to sponsor walks nationally and internationally.
Heads Foundation
He recently spoke at a fundraiser locally for the William J. Moore Scholarship Foundation, of which he serves as president.
Moore was an African-American educator and first tennis pro in Cape May. The foundation provides college scholarships to students from Cape May County.
He is a visiting associate professor at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he is teaching both graduate and undergraduate seminars in environmental studies.
First Education Fellow
Francis is also the first education fellow at the National Geographic Society, partners in developing the Planetlines curriculum based on his walking experience that lasted over two decades.
“My favorite place is where I am,” Francis said as he reflected about his walks. “I love West Cape May, and I love being able to continue walking, meeting people and learning along the way.
“At 26, I could walk easily,” said Francis, the father of two boys who started walking with their father when they turned 9.
“Now at 71, I’m happy to keep walking and not stop. Davy Crockett said to be sure you are right, then go ahead. Who would think that something I watched as a kid would still impact me today?”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.