Stephen Kiesling

Stephen Kiesling grew up with mind/body/spirit questions. His mom was a good Catholic evolutionary biologist. His dad was a founder of Zero Population Growth. They had a Zen priest in the basement and the Parapsychology Research Group met in the living room—before the family sold the house to start an intentional community. Steve went to Yale to study philosophy and graduated as an Olympic rower and bestselling author of The Shell Game: Reflections of Rowing and the Pursuit of Excellence. He helped launch American Health magazine, co-wrote the Nike Cross Training System, and created the first commercial interface between a stationary bike and a video game. He then wrote for The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated before he experienced a spiritual crisis/awakening among pirates that he recounted in the critically acclaimed Walking the Plank: A Year Aboard the Pirate Ship Whydah. In 1997, Steve helped Trinity Church Wall Street launch Spirituality & Health magazine, where he became editor in chief. The winner of several FOLIO awards for best magazine in religion and spirituality, Steve lives at Ti’lomikh Falls on the Rogue River in Oregon, where he discovered The Story Chair, the centerpiece of the ancient Takelma Indian Salmon Ceremony. He has been has been a repeat guest on The Today Show as well as All Things Considered and has been featured in newspapers including The New York Times and The Boston Globe.