George Lakey

This summer, I had the great opportunity to meet George Lakey, someone who is renowned in the peace and justice community for his lifetime of activism and his teachings. George and I were both speakers at the 2008 Seabeck conference in the Seattle, Washington, area. He had just been announced as the awardee for this year's Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace Prize, so there was a special connection when we met, and just a few weeks later we reconnected via the phone to talk more about his work through the years.

Eagle flies over the Hood Canal (photos: Robert Whitlock)

Earlier this month, I had the great opportunity to attend and speak at the 50th annual Seabeck conference -- a gathering of FOR members in the Pacific Northwest in early July each year. It was an honor to be one of the three national speakers at this "golden anniversary" event, with some 200 peace and justice activists present.

It's the start of June, which not only means that summer is around the corner, but in Fellowship of Reconciliation terminology means that the annual FOR Pacific Northwest conference is coming up. This year's Seabeck conference (named after the conference center 90 minutes west of Seattle, where the gathering is held each year) will be the 50th annual!

I'm delighted to be one of the guest speakers at the July 3-6 conference, "Persevering for Justice and Peace," one of two representing FOR's national staff. My friend and colleague Maryrose Dolezal, co-director of FOR's Youth & Militarism program, will also be traveling to Seabeck from her base in Minnesota to speak and lead workshop's on organizing young people for social change (including information about the Nonviolent Youth Collective).