Charles Halpern

You don't have to be an activist to appreciate the insights and accomplishments that characterize the career to date of renowned attorney and environmental activist Charles Halpern, as he recounts in his memoir, Making Waves and Riding the Currents.

After observing the way fellow attorneys became either indifferent or dissatisfied as representatives of large, impersonal corporations, and also in reaction to the spirit of social change spreading across the nation in the 1960s, Halpern writes, he was motivated to establish the nation's first public interest law firm, the Center for Law and Public Interest.

Partly in response to the impact of one of his first legal victories, Rouse v. Cameron (which dealt with the treatment of patients in mental institutions), Halpern says here that the transformational experience led him to embrace a lifelong journey of "practicing wisdom" through the representation of social justice and environmental lawsuits.

While most of us may think twice about leaving a promising career track - in his case at the prestigious law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC - Halpern had no such qualms, noting that his move "opened more doors than it . . . closed," although, as the Berkeley resident also admits, "I had no way to know that at the time."

The opportunities behind these other doors and the risks that Halpern was willing to take during the ensuing decades make this book an engaging read for all who believe that taking chances is the first step toward effecting change.

Seen through both historical and activist perspectives, Halpern's message as laid out here is inspiring and personally illuminating, for as he advises, success is dependent on continuously rebalancing one's life. This balancing act is something Halpern says he has accomplished with the help of inspirational friends and thinkers, including the Dalai Lama, who at different times, as he writes, guided him in developing personal wisdom, tapping his inner resources through meditation, and fulfilling his desire to be in touch with the natural world.

He recalls joining other lawyers on retreat at Spirit Rock in Marin's San Geronimo Valley, writing, "Our retreat at Spirit Rock filled me with the inspiring hope that the practice of wisdom might return as the core of the lawyer's commitment, beginning in law school and running through a lifetime of practice."

Wendy McPhee finds balance in her life through family, community service, her tea company, and breathing in the beautiful Marin air.