1970 – January 28, 2006

(I wrote this piece on February 5, 2006. I still hope to write another article about him)

John Brodie, the man from Brattleboro who ran from a Hinsdale police officer and drowned in the river, was not an anonymous recluse as the article in last Friday’s Reformer implied. John was a brilliant, creative, and deeply spiritual person who lived a rich, full, and courageous life in spite of his struggles with bipolar mental illness.

John had a Ph.D. in Physics from Princeton University and a Post Doctoral from Stanford University. An online search turns up many links for his work in this field.

John had traveled the world and lived and worked in third world countries. He loved to hike and had explored portions of the Appalachian Trail. Like many of us living here, he was drawn to Brattleboro because of its liberal, creative, and spiritual counter cultures. He was seeking a small town that fostered the freedom and openness that felt crucial to his inner growth. He was making the rounds of this area’s diverse meditation, self-awareness, and ecological groups. When I asked John which groups he thought were good, he responded that he liked them all. He found something useful in each group and did not discriminate among them.

More than anything, John reminded me of a modern day wandering Sadhu. He had been inspired by the life of Peace Pilgrim, who had walked this country without possessions, promoting world peace. Like her, he had a dream to walk this country. But like the sages in India and China he wanted to do it barefoot. In our culture sages and madmen tend to be lumped together and condemned, rather than revered. But it would behoove us to understand more clearly the connections and fine lines between geniuses, sages, madmen, and saints. The lines are thinner than we think.

John was a very genuine and heart centered person. He allowed himself to be vulnerable, sharing openly of himself and his struggles. He had taken a job at Price Chopper because he felt that the simple, basic work would be of help to him. He wanted a change from the complexities that the realm of Physics presented. He spoke with humility and humor about how his job at Price Chopper turned out to be anything but simple. Even when bagging groceries he entered into a competition with himself. He strove to be the best and fastest grocery bagger. He then felt humbly relieved to realize that he was just an ordinary bagger like anyone else. John recognized what was most essential – our common humanness.

John spoke about his struggle with shame, and his own Christian like meditations for self-forgiveness. For him, silent meditation and spontaneous creative movement flowed together, one giving rise to the other. He was starting to teach his form of moving meditation locally at Bhava Yoga Center.

I only knew John for too brief a time. However, each encounter I had with him was meaningful, because of his openness, honesty, and humility. I admired his courage to be vulnerable and exposed in a culture where those qualities are not typically safe to express. There was some ineffable quality about him that inspired me, and yet at the same time made me want to reach out and protect him. His eyes radiated light, and his soul seemed to burn with a religious fire that was very gentle and respectful of others, and did not seek to convert anyone to anything.

Unfortunately, John’s death for me is linked to my friend Pheobe Bowditch’s death (who also died tragically when encountering police officers) and to Woody Woodward. My heart goes out to the police officer involved. However, in a small town with a large Brattleboro Retreat Hospital, it is imperative that we have police officers specially trained to gently handle people exhibiting signs of mental illness. For me, John, Pheobe, and Woody are examples of a type of endangered human species. May we as individuals, and as a community as a whole, come to respect and value the more courageous, vulnerable, and gifted among us before it is too late.

This is the link to the Wikipedia article about John

And a link to the Wikipedia article about his Mother