Peace

Dr. Robert Muller, former assistant secretary general of the United Nations, now Chancellor emeritus of the University of Peace in Costa Rica was one of the people who witnessed the founding of the U.N. and has worked in support of or inside the U.N. ever since. Recently he was in San Francisco to be honored for his service to the world through the U.N. and through his writings and teachings for peace. At age eighty, Dr. Muller surprised, even stunned, many in the audience that day with his most positive assessment of where the world stands now regarding war and peace.

I was there at the gathering and I myself was stunned by his remarks. What he said turned my head around and offered me a new way to see what is going on in the world. My synopsis of his remarks...   

Prophet, the Hatmaker's Son reads like a novel, but it's all true. Raised in the troubled European region of Alsace Lorraine - a pawn in the power struggle between France and Germany for centuries - Muller was taught allegiance to first one nation, then the other. He grew up searching for an alternative to the nationalism that sent young men, including almost everyone of his classmates, to die on a regular basis. Eyewitness to atrocities, captive of the Nazis, he did not grow to hate his enemy, but instead became convinced that war was not inevitable and conflict was not a solution. He dedicated his life to the cause of peace and was branded a dreamer. His father, afraid his son would never earn a living, counseled him to follow the family tradition into hat making. Fortunately, the young didn't heed the advice and we are all the beneficiaries of his action.

Robert Muller's courageous story is an inspiring antidote to gloom-mongers and flag-wavers alike. With the United Nations at the forefront of today's headlines, Prophet, the Hatmaker's Son gives insight into why one young man dedicated his life to being part of its mission. Within a span of 40 years - from UN Intern to Assistant Secretary General - Robert Muller became the most important world planner and peace-maker you may never have heard of until now.

"When the true history of the Twentieth Century is told, Robert Muller's name will stand out as one of the greatest world servers for peace of all time. This powerful book is filled with stories and anecdotes that delight as they illumine the path of greatness.

Prophet, the Hatmaker's Son by Douglas Gillies ennobles as it instructs. One discovers how high intelligence matched with deep compassion can lead to the way of wisdom and the winning of a better world. Robert Muller is a spiritual giant as well as a hugely original thinker, and the story of his life is a testament to the glory of the human spirit.

Jean Houston, Ph.D., Author of Jump Time

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