The author was born in a small town in southeastern Washington. After spending a summer in Argentina while in high school and another in Europe during college, he studied law at the University of California at Berkeley where he became committed to social action and nonviolence. After work as a lawyer in the War on Poverty and several years' private practice in Walla Walla, he established a pioneering mediation project in the state of Colorado. In 1978 he began travelling among peasant communities in Central America. This experience led to the founding of Peace Brigades International, a Gandhian human rights organization nominated for the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He has also cofounded and led a variety of community organizations focusing on environmental values, local history, music and dance, diversity, neighborhoods, community recreation, and other interests. These memoirs tell the story of those efforts.
