Here are some remarkable people who generously took part in My Favorite Place on Earth:
PATAGONIA/YVON CHOUINARD
This innovative company rewrote the rules of American business by keeping the big picture in mind. Their mission statement: Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
The company makes clothes for climbing, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, fly fishing, paddling, and trail running. “These are all silent sports. None requires a motor; none delivers the cheers of a crowd. In each sport, reward comes in the form of hard-won grace and moments of connection between us and nature.”
In My Favorite Place on Earth, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard talks about Wyoming’s Wind River Range. To read Patagonia’s excellent blog, go to The Cleanest Line.
WORLD BUSINESS ACADEMY/RINALDO BRUTOCO
The World Business Academy is a non-profit think tank devoted to rekindling the human spirit in business. “Core areas of the Academy’s research and work include sustainable business strategies, the challenge of values-driven leadership, development of the human potential at work, global reconstruction, and understanding ‘best practices’ within new business paradigms.” Academy Fellows are a Who’s Who of world-class thinkers.
“As the founder and president of the World Business Academy, Rinaldo Brutoco has provided a platform for harnessing the creativity and compassion of some of the best minds in the world to create a vision of the future of socially and ecologically responsible business.” -- Deepak Chopra
Learn more about the World Business Academy at www.worldbusiness.org.
In My Favorite Place on Earth, Rinaldo Brutoco tells the story of discovering and preserving a piece of sacred ground in Hawaii.
JOHN DAU
A “Lost Boy of Sudan” and genocide survivor, John Dau now works from Syracuse, New York, to help provide healthcare in the war-torn region of South Sudan. To learn more, visit the John Dau Sudan Foundation.
LANCE BURTON
Master magician Lance Burton (favorite place: Las Vegas) blends classics of sleight-of-hand with eye-popping stage illusions -- and without the corny shtick and overblown poses that make many magicians ripe for satire. Lance is the real thing -- a magical artist. Catch his show at Las Vegas’s Monte Carlo Resort & Casino (www.lanceburton.com).
CLIVE CUSSLER
Fans of Clive Cussler (favorite place: his own house, which is rigged with some amazing gizmos) should check out two websites:
The Cussler Society helps enthusiasts learn about Cussler projects and reach other fans and collectors worldwide. It holds a Cussler Convention (this year: San Diego, Sept. 18-20) and sponsors a competition for unpublished adventure writers with a $1,000 prize.
Cusslermen is run for collectors of Clive Cussler books and memorabilia, and is loaded with information about the action-adventure writer.
NAT GEO BLOG
I’m a guest blogger at National Geographic’s fine Intelligent Travel blog, which is crammed with travel news both large (Holocaust commemorations in Krakow, Poland) and small (New Zealand’s Penguathalon, with the little critters competing in soccer, surfing, and waddle racing). Check out the blog here.
