The Robert Pirsig Association announces an online Chautauqua:
“Pirsig the Sailor” – Sunday, October 5th – 12pm EST/9am Pacific,
October’s RPA Chautauqua features:
Paul F. Johnston, Curator Emeritus, the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, and
Wendy K. Pirsig, Robert M. Pirsig’s wife and co-pilot on their sailboat Areté,
followed by Q & A. (A live Zoom Webinar session with recording available afterwards via YouTube.)
This year marks fifty years since Robert M. Pirsig set sail from the Great Lakes in 1975 on his transatlantic adventures, the Hudson river section of which features in his second novel Lila: An Inquiry in Morals (1991). Just as the action of Lila takes place in October, join us this October to mark the anniversary, and learn more about Robert Pirsig the sailor. This hour-long educational, interactive online event is free and open to the public.
(Zoom Link is https://zoom.us/j/91098426299
And the date for your diary is Sunday, October 5th – 12pm EST/9am Pacific.)
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I would be interested in how Pirsig’s philosophy is viewed by today’s world.
Hi Jack, I see you are subscribed to the site with your name and email, so we’ll keep you updated. We have a “Discussion Forum” currently in testing which we are hoping to open up to all members very soon.
You could also use the contact form to tell us a little about yourself and your interest in Pirsig. (If appropriate you could even go so far as to give us a “Testimonial” – but purely optional. See examples here: https://www.robertpirsig.org/testimonials/ )
(PS – with the 50th anniversary edition of ZMM last year, there were a number of reviews that emphasised his lasting relevance in the 21st century. Matthew Crawford’s Foreword to that edition was entitled “Why Zen Still Resonates Today“)
Regards
Ian
RPA_Admin
He and I had some non-literary things (trivial) in common. Until about ten years ago I had a boat very similar to his, we shared some mental challanges–though mine were not as severe–we both wondered about reality (perhaps me to a greater degree later), etc. And years later I found I was on a par with him intelligence-wise (I can say that now in my old age, 84, because I no longer care about such proprieties) though his estimates vary. (But it’s not always much fun. 🙁 )
Ha! He did have a sense of humor. I can still see him tiptoeing across the front of the classroom, eyes bugging out, going “ooh, ooh, ooh!” illustrating the farce of people walking on hot coals, from his time in India.
As to his classroom time, he was doomed from the start. We students didn’t know much of import. We were too young. So, his approach was more about instilling in us the importance of learning not simple facts and trivia, but of the basics and deeper aspects of life.
Years later when we corresponded for a while he compliment me on some of my writing samples, but as I look back, he may have just been kind.
Those were the days.
Anyway, sitting up here on the isolated NE Montana prairie is my solice to the world’s general terrible condition now, and I’m trying to find a publisher for my magnum opus, Curve’s End. Probably even more difficult than it was for “Zen and the Art . . . ” Keeps me out of trouble though! 😉
Jim Ostby
Hi Jim, we have a forum coming soon, but one way or another we need to get your writing in front of Pirsig fans & scholars.
Regards
Ian
RPA_Admin