Sit Down Young Stranger: One Man's Search for Meaning

What an inspirational, enlightening and captivating autobiography. I couldn't put it down.-Steve Cambridge, entrepreneur, former VP of AtriCure, Inc. Sit Down Young Stranger is an often intense, sometimes funny, always honest exploration of the most important questions for any of us-what is the path to a meaningful life? How do I find the courage and skill to walk it? This book is the story of one life-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. 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. Today he works with international donor organizations to promote ethical, accountable and effective leadership worldwide.John Graham has been a leader in the global work 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.