Brief Biography
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I am an environmental writer editor
and photographer,
and the founder and president of the
World Pantheist
Movement.
I was born in Oldham, Lancashire,United Kingdom,
in 1945, and schooled at Manchester Grammar School.
After a gap year working with disadvantaged and
handicapped children in Germany, I studied European
languages and literature at Cambridge, spent a year
at the University of Pisa on a Council of Europe
scholarship, and did a Masters in political sociology
at the London School of Economics.
In 1968-9 I lectured on French language and literature
at the University of Ife in Nigeria. Somewhat later in life,
in 1995, I got my Ph. D. from Cambridge in Earth Sciences
and Geography.
For most of my life, I have been a writer on environment
and Third-World development. I trained as a journalist
on the Western Mail in Wales, and worked for three years
with the social affairs magazine NewSociety in London.
In 1975 I went freelance and since I was always travel-
crazy, I specialized in writing and photography about
poverty and environment in developing countries.
My best known books are Inside the Third World (1979)
and The Third Revolution (1993) (on population and
environment). I also wrote The Greening of Africa
(1987)
about sustainable development for Africa, and
Inside the Inner City (1983) about inner city poverty in
East
London. My pocket handbook on pantheism, Elements of Pantheism,
was published by Element Books in 1999.
I have edited the flagship reports of UN agencies such as the Food
and Agriculture Organization, UN Population Fund and the UN
Environment Programme, and travelled to many Third-World countries
in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In 1988 I received a UN
Environment Programme Global 500 award for my writings on
environment and in 1992 a Population Institute Global Media Award. I
was editor-in-chief for the Independent Commission on Population and
Quality of Life’s report Caring for the Future (1996).
In 2001 I was the lead author of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science’s Atlas of Population and Environment.
Since 2004 I have edited the United Nations Environment Programme’s
Geo Yearbook.
In July1996 I posted the first page of what became the
scientific
pantheism site, and in 1997 I started the mailing list that grew
into the
World Pantheist Movement.
I lived for most of my adult life in Hampstead, London, close to
Hampstead Heath. Since 2002 I have lived in the beautiful Santa
Monica Mountains in California. I have two sons, Alex and Sam.
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Writings
Since around the age of ten
or eleven, I have always been writing.
I focus primarily on non-fiction, because of my love affair
with reality.
For me, reality is so rich and deep, and the problems we
face so vast and challenging,
that I am fully satisfied writing about the actuality around
me.
My earliest non-fiction was journalism, first news, then
features. My focus was always on
poverty, injustice and marginalization: I specialized in
talking to the poorest and most
oppressed people, first in Britain, then in the developing
world. More recently I shifted to
writing about nature and spirituality. Since environmental
problems are the greatest
challenge we face, I keep my hand in with environmental
writing and editing.
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My Blog
This site
My
Websites
Pantheism – history, theory, practice
World Pantheism
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My
Books
The following links lead to Amazon sellers
of my books.
If they are not available at Amazon.com, or if you live in the UK,
try Amazon.co.uk.
Inside the Third World (Penguin 1993)
Overview of the major problems of poverty in developing
countries
The Third World Tomorrow (Penguin 1980)
Overview of the most promising solutions to poverty in
developing
countries
Inside the Inner City (Penguin 1983)
The realities of poverty and marginalization in East London
The Greening of Africa (Paladin 1987)
Low-cost environmentally-friendly solutions to Africa’s food and
energy crisis
The Third Revolution (Penguin 1992)
Overview of major environmental problems and their links to
population issues.
Elements of
Pantheism (1999)
Handbook of pantheist theory, history and practice
AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment (2001)
Online version
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Poetry
The Fire Codes
Poems on death
Photo poems at Tabblo
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Photography
I have been taking
professional photographs for 32 years now, alongside my
writing. It has always been another channel through which to
explore reality.
Photography explores reality directly and sensually, without
the intervention
of words which can so often obscure reality rather than
illuminate.
Photography is a part of my religious practice: it allows me
to focus intensely
on the beauty that surrounds us, enables me to see things
that are too fleeting
for my eye or brain to perceive, and when I am back home
permits me to study
the finer details and forms.
I started with social documentary photos of poverty in
Britain. Then I moved on to
Third World countries, especially rural areas where people
had a closer connection to nature.
As I took shots of people in their natural environment, I
also took straight pictures
of their environment. As the years passed I gradually became
more and more sensitive to
people’s feelings about being photographed, and gradually I
lost that bravado you need
to just charge in and shoot regardless.
Nowadays I mostly focus on
nature photography, wherever I happen to be.
I am fascinated by natural form, especially abstract,
dynamic and chaotic forms
such as volcanic rocks, ocean waves, tree bark, the play of
light on creeks. I am also fascinated
by the diversity of plants and animals. I go on a nature
hike almost every morning, and
love to watch and record animals’ intelligent and responsive
behavior from day to day.
I never cease to be amazed how impressively animals and
plants are adapted to their
environment, and how beautiful and skilled they are.
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Individual Images
My Nature galleries at Zenfolio
These are hi-res photos that are most suitable for photo
prints, at sizes up to 24" x 36"
They are also available as photo gifts: T-shirts, mugs, mouse
mats and so on.
RSS gallery feed
The newest images from each of my galleries.
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Photography in developing countries
Many of the photos from my Third World travels are available
online at Still Pictures.
Enter my name in the search box and click the "search" button.
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Layouts
with text
Tabblo
Tabblo is the best photo storage
site for creating artistic
layouts of images and text. The images can be purchased individually
or as posters of the whole layouts. I am gradually adding more
layouts.
[When buying posters, choose the "shrink to fit" option]
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Favorites
Certain authors have had a
strong positive influence on my personal development and
all of them were pantheists. The first or these, in my
teens, was probably D. H. Lawrence,
with his strong endorsement of the goodness of the body.
Next, in my twenties,
came Heraclitus, for whom the Universe was an ever-changing
fire, and Chuang Tzu,
with some of the same sentiment but tempered with calm
wisdom and profound meditation.
Here I offer my selections of good books, art and other
visual materials.
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Posters
My selection ofnature photography, nature art,
science and life inspiration, at Allposters
You can also buy prints and posters
of my own photos
at
Tabblo and at Zenfolio
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Books
My selection on science, religion and philosophy,
from Amazon Books
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