Books—Inspiring stories; practical tools

Sit Down Young Stranger—One man's search for meaning

John Graham's new memoir, Sit Down Young Stranger, is an often intense,sometimes funny, always honest exploration of the most importantquestions for any of us—what is the path to a meaningful life? How do Ifind the courage and skill to walk it? This book is the story of onelife—and of the challenges facing every life.

John Graham shipped out on a freighter when he was sixteen, took part in the first (and only) ascent of Mt. McKinley’s North Wall at twenty, and hitchhiked around the world at twenty-two, covering every war he found along the way as a stringer for the Boston Globe. A Foreign Service Officer for fifteen years, he was in the middle of the revolution in Libya and the war in Vietnam.

To the young Graham, adventure was everything, and each brush with death only pushed him to up the ante—and to bury ever deeper the emotional life needed to make him whole.

Then it changed, sometimes slowly, sometimes dramatically, including during one tragic night at the height of a battle in Vietnam. Over the last quarter century, Graham has been actively involved in peace-building initiatives all over the world. He’s helped end apartheid in South Africa, avert a major strike in Canada, save what’s left of the Everglades, settle a war in the Sudan and find long-term environmental solutions in the Pacific Northwest. Over the last few years he's been working with several international organizations to build bridges between the Muslim world and the West. His articles on current events appear in major publications and on the Internet. 

John Graham is a leader of the Giraffe Heroes Project, www.giraffe.org, an international nonprofit organization moving people to stick their necks out for the common good. The Project’s work has included everything from supporting the transformation of the Soviet Union to helping a quarter-million young people lead lives as courageous and compassionate citizens.

Graham's speeches bring people to their feet and into action, inspiring them to solve the public problems that concern them most. His workshops are street-smart trainings in the nuts and bolts of getting the job done.

Graham lives with the love of his life down a dirt road on Whidbey Island Washington, on the end of a ridge overlooking the Olympic Mountains and the shipping channel into Seattle.