20141121_ted_01.mp3?orgId=1&topicId=1129&p=57&story=364150411&t=progseg&e=357846020&seg=1&ft=nprml&f=364150411

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Quiet . Listen to second part of this story here .

About John Francis's TED Talk

For almost three decades, John Francis has been a planetwalker, traveling the globe by foot and sail with a silent message of environmental respect and responsibility. For 17 of those years he didn't speak a word.

About John Francis

One day in 1983, John Francis stepped out on a walk. For the next 22 years, he trekked and sailed around North and South America, carrying a message of respect for the Earth — for 17 of those years, without speaking. During his monumental, silent trek, he earned an MA in environmental studies and a Ph.D. in land resources.

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