I was approached with this amazing opportunity to write the authorized biography of Thích Nhất Hạnh, who is this Zen Buddhist monk. It’s such a wonderful opportunity, but also a big responsibility to take on a story like this, to try to capture such a, such a life on the page.
I’ve done my best to read as much of his writings as possible and interviews, and kind of like get a good sense of the, the timeline of his line and the scope of his life. My goal for writing the book is to do my best to capture his voice for a young audience.
So, I did a lot of listening to lectures that he’s given and books that he’s written. What’s funny is that my grandfather, his idea of a relaxing fun time would be to put on Thích Nhất Hạnh’s sermons on in the background while he’s like around the house. So, I grew up with his voice literally in my, in the space my entire childhood.
So, it was really important to me to do my best to kind of capture that voice and spirit because I think that’s so much of what makes him such a powerful figure. He is such an embodiment of peace within a single human and that’s something that he wants to share with people.
So yeah, I was just trying to immerse myself in his teachings, his writings, his life, and get as much as information as I can on him, and then distill it into something that is accessible to a young audience.
We are working with an illustrator named Catia Chien, who is an award-winning children’s book illustrator and also a disciple of his. She’s been following his work for I think over a decade now and so this is also a very personal project for her because this is also her opportunity to share teachings that have meant a lot to her with a new audience. So, it’s been a very special collaboration.
