Peace Pilgrim and Me
by Pat Lamanna
Voices from the Space2Meditate Community
I would like to introduce this Sangha to a woman who has been a source of inspiration to me for many years. Peace Pilgrim, as she called herself, was born Mildred Lissette Norman on July 18, 1908 in the little town of Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. As a young woman, she was an ardent peace activist and highly self-disciplined. She was the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail in one season. She spent many years practicing meditation, fasting, and spending time in nature. Then, in 1953, she set out on her pilgrimage. Wearing a blue tunic with “Peace Pilgrim” on the front and “Walking Coast to Coast for Peace” on the back, she walked from California to Washington, D.C., bearing petitions for the U.S. Congress and President Eisenhower to end the war in Korea and to establish a Department of Peace. She then walked to New York City to deliver a petition to the United Nations, urging world disarmament and the expenditure of funds used for armaments on food, shelter and other basic needs.
Following this first cross-country trip, she continued to walk back and forth across the United States for about 27 more years. As she walked, she engaged in conversation with people who approached her out of curiosity about her unusual tunic. As she said, “It makes my contacts for me in the kindest way…and I like to be kind. You’re in a much better position to talk with people when they approach you than when you approach them. Then I have time to share with people my peace message which said in one sentence: This is the way of peace – overcome evil with good, and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.”
She spoke one-on-one with many people, but she also had speaking engagements at churches, schools, colleges, radio and television stations, and with newspapers. As she said, “My pilgrimage covers the entire peace picture: peace among nations, peace among groups, peace within our environment, peace among individuals, and the very, very important inner peace – which I talk about most often because that is where peace begins…In the final analysis, only as we become more peaceful people will we be finding ourselves living in a more peaceful world.”
She often spoke about how she acquired inner peace, through a constant struggle with what she referred to as her “lower nature” – what we might call “ego.” Eventually, after many ups and downs in her spiritual development, she reached a plateau which she called “inner peace.” She described her steps toward inner peace in a pamphlet which she handed out as she traveled, keeping mimeographed copies in one of the many pockets sewn in her tunic, where all her earthly possessions were kept: the pamphlets, a comb, a folding toothbrush, her mail, a pen, and a map. She did not accept money, but if food or stamps, paper or envelopes were offered, she would take only as much as she needed at the moment. Sometimes, if her sneakers or clothing were so old and worn as to be unusable, she would accept new ones.
She made many friends along the way, some of whom came together after she was killed in a head-on collision on her way to a speaking engagement on July 7, 1981. They decided to publish a book that would be a transcription of her many talks. Because Peace Pilgrim never sold any of her speeches or works, the book was given away, along with printed copies of her Steps Toward Inner Peace, which has since been translated into 32 languages. The group that was formed, Friends of Peace Pilgrim, has continued to distribute copies of the book, the pamphlet, CDs and DVDs of her talks, and more, due to the generous donations of friends and admirers of Peace Pilgrim and her message.
When I first learned about Peace Pilgrim, years ago, I wrote a song about her and sent it to Friends of Peace Pilgrim. They put it on the website, along with many other beautiful songs inspired by her life. I was then invited to come to Egg Harbor City for one of the annual celebrations of her life. I met the Board of Friends of Peace Pilgrim, and Peace Pilgrim’s sister, Helene Young, 95 at the time and a joyous, energetic and inspiring person herself. Helene passed away a little over a year ago, about a month shy of her 106th birthday, but I had the honor of attending her 100th birthday party, and singing a verse of “Peace Pilgrim” that I wrote for Helene.
The song changed my life in another way. During the Iraq War, I often stood at a peace vigil on a busy intersection on Saturday afternoons. Pete Seeger often joined the vigil, and everyone would get together and sing around the peace pole we’d planted. When Pete heard my song, he was taken with it, and with Peace Pilgrim’s story. He later recorded a version of her story, and the chorus of my song, on his spoken word album, “The Storm King.”
I’ve returned to Egg Harbor City many times; attended several Friends of Peace Pilgrim retreats (on hiatus during COVID but hopefully starting again in the fall), and made some lifelong friends. Peace Pilgrim is still shaping many lives in extraordinary ways, long after her death. When confronted with a dilemma or a painful situation, I often find myself thinking, “What would Peace Pilgrim do or say in this situation?” Though I can’t imagine myself adopting her lifestyle, it is an example and an aspirational vision that leads me along a peaceful path. It was partly due to her example that I was led to Buddhism, to daily meditation, and to this Sangha.
Listen to my song.
You can visit www.peacepilgrim.org to learn more about Peace Pilgrim, to read her Steps Toward Inner Peace, her book, and to view videos about her life. It is now all available online for free.