The Commonwealth Club of California
Peter Coyote: On Zen, Politics and an Amazing Life
June 23, 2015
Phil Bronstein – Executive Chairman of the Board, Center For Investigative Reporting
Peter Coyote, Actor; Activist; Author, The Rainman’s Third Cure: An Irregular Education
In conversation with Phil Bronstein, Executive Chairman of the Board, Center For Investigative Reporting.
Coyote’s new spiritual biography details a life that has taken him from privileged halls of power to Greenwich Village jazz bars, to jail, to the White House, to government service, and finally to international success on stage and screen. He describes the wide range of mentors who shaped him—a violent, intimidating father; a bebop bass player who taught him that life can be improvised; a Mafia consiglieri who demonstrated to him that men can be bought and manipulated; a gay dancer in Martha Graham’s company who enlightened him about Mexico and marijuana; and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder, who introduced him to Zen practice. Through Zen, Coyote says he discovered an alternative to status seeking and material wealth. Come hear first-hand his amazing journey and its lessons for all of us.