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2-27-07 - A great article on Stewart Brand, the visionary et al of Whole Earth Catalogue fame, in the NY Times today with this photo of him with one of the 10,000 year clocks his Long Now Foundation is making. These clocks are, incidentally, being put together with great skill and care by Chris Rand, son of Suzuki student and Buddhist (and beyond) teacher Yvonne Rand of Goat-in-the-Road. On the web site of the Long Now Foundation, you'll see on the staff page a photo of Chris who is identified as "machinist and fabricator" with a bit more on him. Hi Chris. Back to SB. I remember meeting Stewart at Tassajara in 1967 when we were first getting the Zen Mt. Center thing going. I have the memory of him being with some Native Americans but maybe that was another time. I ran the dining room and took care of guests. There weren't many other guests then - maybe it was not during a guest season - because I remember not being busy and sitting with him at a table by a window and him telling me of an idea he had to start a magazine that featured the tools and ideas that would serve us all best or something like that. Sounded good, but I didn't get a clear image and I heard so many new, interesting, far out, etc ideas from people passing through at that time that I didn't think much of it. It wasn't long before the Whole Earth Catalogue came out and Tassajara got an ecology or something award for the way that we put the wash water from cleaning our eating bowls in the garden. That was only in the case of the formal, ceremonial oryoki meals taken in the zendo. I have kept being on the edge and running into him and his activities and creations (like The Well) and am certainly filled with admiration for the man. The story of Stewart Brand, of the Whole Earth publications and his many creative ideas, and the story of the Zen Center have been neighborly histories. He's been a very good neighbor. Wikipedia on Stewart Brand.  - DC

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