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[MUSIC PLAYING] [WOLF HOWLING]

[WOLF HOWLING]

SPEAKER 1: Listening Point is a bare, glaciated spit of rock in the Quetico-Superior country. Each time I've gone there, I've found something new, which has opened up great realms of thought and interest. For me, it's been a point of discovery, and like all such places of departure, has assumed meaning far beyond the ordinary. There I've sensed the span of uncounted centuries and looked down the path all life has come.

I've explored on this rocky bit of shore, the great concept, that nothing stands alone, and everything, no matter how small, is part of a greater whole. The point has shown me time and time again that William Blake was right when he wrote, "To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour."

I called it Listening Point because a long time ago I read a passage in Plato's commentaries, which runs back over 2000 years, and Plato talked about standing on a point of rock near Athens and looking up to the heavens. Then he looked down at the point of rock he was standing on and realized that he was standing on the apex of the a great constellational triangle.

And the apex he was standing on was to him the most important point of the universe. And from that apex, he could not only explore his own soul, but explore the spirit world and all of the universe. And so I decided my little point would be a little point like Plato had in mind. From my point, I could explore the universe. This to me, was the most important point in the universe.

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Since this book came out in 1958, I have received many letters saying I have found my listening point, my listening points in Washington or Alaska. Listening points can be found almost everywhere. They don't have to be mindlessly point. It all depends on your perception and your state of mind and your ability to comprehend the relationship of some particular place you have found, which means the same to them as to me.

I believe that what I have known there is one of the oldest satisfactions of man, that when he gazed upon the Earth and sky with wonder, when he sensed the first vague glimmerings of meaning in the universe, the world of knowledge and spirit was opened to him. While we are born with curiosity and wonder, and our early years full of the adventure they bring, I know such inherent joys are often lost.

I also know that being deep within us, their latent glow can be fanned to flame again by awareness and an open mind. Listening Point is dedicated to recapturing this almost forgotten sense of wonder and learning from rocks and trees and all the life that is found there, truths that can encompass all.

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I came to this country as a young man right after a World War I. I'd lived on the shore of Lake Superior, the South shore, and had heard fantastic stories of what lay beyond the ridges of the North Shore. So I came back at an early age when my first canoe trip decided me because of its beauty, because of the fact this was all wilderness, was the place where I wanted to make my home. And I've never regretted that choice.

This country is still beautiful, still worth fighting for, and I fought for its preservation for over 50 years. And while I've traveled widely, all over this continent and the other continents, I never feel quite at home until I get here among these rocks and twisted pine trees and glaciated shores.

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[WOLF HOWLING]

[WOLF HOWLING]

SPEAKER 2: Minnesota author Sigurd Olson, who died yesterday afternoon at the age of 82. This feature was produced by Lee Axtell with assistance from Tom Keith and Tom Steward.