To this day, within the coastal corners of West Marin, the legend of John Francis remains — the man who, while walking with a pack on his back and his banjo slung over his shoulder, found kindness throughout the world and discovered himself one step at a time. The year was 1971. Francis was living in West Marin when two oil tankers collided on Jan.
18 by the Golden Gate Bridge, sending around 800,000 gallons of oil into the water, which later washed up along Bolinas and other parts along Marin’s coast. It remains the largest oil spill in Bay Area history. When he and his then-girlfriend Jean drove to check out the accident, the stench of the oil was overwhelming and the impact it had on wildlife, especially local species of birds, a creature he’s had a special connection with since he was a child, devastated him.
He joined volunteers who scrubbed the beaches and fought to save the birds and other creatures impacted by the spill. That experience would, in part, inspire his decision to stop using motorized transportation in 1972, which he did for 22 years, traveling by foot initially around Marin to raise environmental consciousness. Not long after, on his 27th birthday in 1973, he took a vow of silence that continued for 17 years.
“If someone had told me this is going to happen, that if you stop riding in cars because of an oil spill, if you start walking, and then if you shut up and just walk across the country, you will become a (United Nations) ‘Goodwill Ambassado.