Press Coverage

The Livingston (Montana) Enterprise sent Mark York to interview me in the first days of August. In my apartment we spent an hour plus discussing the TPUM march and my involvement with the march. For those in my home area, the hard copy of 12AUG has more photos.
Thank you Mark York and Amy and editor, Steve Matlow of the Enterprise staff.
I apologize to fellow Western support marchers Maryla Cross, Tripp Cowin and Xavier Moucq because the paper did not print the photo attributes I gave them. To them I am always grateful!
ONE WORLD, ONE DREAM, FREE TIBET!!

FREE TIBET: Unity in Spirit

When I had to depart Baspatan camp in late May, I vowed to the 300 Tibetan marchers I left behind that I would continue to work for a Free Tibet, that I would never forget. I found it much easier to express my sentiments surrounded by my heroic Tibetan friends while on the march in India. There was a certain anonymity even being a tall, bald white guy in a sea of brown beautiful faces.
Now back in the US, in Montana, it is harder to stand alone in front of the post office and remind people of the Tibetan fight for human dignity. I have lived in this area for over 25 years and so my face is known to many. I wore my Tibetan Peoples Uprising Movement cap (tu ju chay, Pemala), a Students-For-A-Free-Tibet T-shirt and my Dehra arrest pants with the torn right knee. I displayed the brilliant Tibetan flag, which fluttered in the gentle wind and the pure sunshine. I imagined how beautiful it would look flying near the Potala one day in the future. I rang my meditation bell over and over again from 9am to 5pm. All those rings and even at the end of nearly eight hours, probably around 10,000 rings, each ring had to represent over 100 Tibetans who have died in the cause of their struggle for freedom.
There was some interest, some questions and comments. There was the occasional taunt to try to raise anger, which ends up only raising my compassion for those who still don't see the need to speak truth to power (to those, I send my thanks for helping me with my difficult lessons of understanding and patience). Some strangers came and offered support and gratitude for bearing witness to this 50-year-long fight to secure freedom for Tibetan people and the preservation of their culture. Dear friends greeted me. Jim, who I met through Nancy, bought me an iced mocha and a woman with a kind smile offered some fresh-squeezed lemonade noting the heat of the day. How I wished that refreshment could be directed to those more in need in Tibet. I thank those who donated money to me that day. I assured them that I was not there to solicit funds, but they gave to help the cause. I guess I owe thanks to the Christmas efforts of the Salvation Army who have "trained" the American public to donate when they hear the bell ringing. I have sent those funds to the march movement so deeply in financial debt.
As I left Baspatan, I told my friends that I would send my energy to them to help them continue their noble struggle. Now I know that that transmission of energy is not one way. It is a loop of love and peace and friendship. I felt that energy from half way around the world, from all my Tibetan friends. I stood taller when I felt that flow. I was not alone on Thursday in front of the post office. I was among my Tibetan family. Pala will never give up! BHOD GYALO!!!!!!!! BHOD RANGZEN!!!!!!!!!!!!