I want to know what happened to Icarus
after his wings melted away,
when he fell into the fathomless sea.
This is where the story begins.

Ours is undeniably a world on fire. The seas are rising, forests burn, geopolitical strife accelerates, and our inner lives are increasingly unmoored, in collapse. Many of us no longer know our place in this world. Like Icarus, we are in free fall. Tracing the author’s travels through some of the most despairing, remote, and beautiful regions of the Earth, What Happened to Icarus is both a call to action and a call to remember — to remember who we are, so that we may fall in love with the world again, even as we despair in our descent.

Available for pre-order from:
Wayfarer Bookstore

“ [A]n inquiry, an inspiration, and, perhaps most important, an invitation to dive into the wreckage that surrounds us, and swim as hard as we can toward a fresh approach to teaching and learning, parenting and mentoring. Theodore Richards is a perfect guide: experienced, wise, and courageous.” – Bill Ayers

“[A] radical vision for education in a time of crisis and transformation.” – Arne Duncan

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Wiley/Jossey-Bass
Indiebound.org

“This is travel writing at its most luminous.” – Mirabai Starr

“[A] veritable tour de force offering a critical commentary on today’s tumultuous cultural scene.” – Matthew Fox

“A work of great wisdom and prophetic imagination. Today we need Richards’ work more than ever. I hope everyone reads this book and acts on it!” – Adam Bucko

“If we are to once again experience the cosmos as our womb, to participate meaningfully in the awesome event called the universe, then we must simply work outside, pause, and look at the shining stars, or see a child being born, or listen to a tree’s leaves rustling in the wind, and be amazed. Until we regain this capacity, no set of ideas can save us from ourselves.”

“Theodore Richards takes us on an epic journey. It is his journey and it is our journey. It is humanity’s journey and though it necessarily includes the misery of cruelty and oppression, there is wisdom at work as well. Things could be so different. We wandered away from our African origins so many millennia ago, and though we have become lost and confused, the universe leaves clues everywhere. A new beginning is possible, a new feeling of the interconnectedness of all things is before us. Richards takes us on a journey into the edge of the universe which is the edge of the human being which is the edge of God.” – Brian Swimme