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Dan Eldon Project
Reared in Kenya and educated in international schools with students from 42 countries, Dan didn’t define his friends by their race, creed or color, but rather judged them on how they treated others. His connections were wide ranging, including a deep friendship with a Masai family living on the Ngong Hills outside Nairobi. The mother of the family called Dan “Lesharo,” the Laughing One, a name that reflected his expansive presence, which concealed a deeper, more introspective side. Dan explored all aspects of himself through a series of bulging journals that he filled during adventures that took him to nearly 40 countries before his death at the age of 22.
Countless people have written to me to share how Dan’s journals inspired them. Blake Mycoskie credits them as being the inspiration for TOMS Shoes, an innovative company that gave away a pair of shoes for every pair they sold. Jason Russell, founder of Invisible Children, says that Dan’s philosophy, as expressed through his journal pages, compelled him to fly to Africa and embark on a journey that was to transform his life – and the lives of millions of youth. After that safari, Jason founded Invisible Children, a youth movement focused on capturing Joseph Kony, responsible for forcing hundreds of kidnapped to become child soldiers.
Dan Eldon Project
We share Dan’s vibrant spirit through exhibits of his art and photography, including a new show at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles that we will launch in Spring of 2021. Entitled “Connection is the Solution,” the immersive multimedia exhibit will reveal some of the many ways that Dan and his young “global tribe” joined forces to seek solutions to some of the challenges they saw in the world around them.
I’d love to hear what inspires you about Dan- and how we can share his message with a larger audience. May we bring Dan’s exhibit to your town? We would be grateful for venue ideas- and all-important funding.
Please stay in touch by joining Dan’s mailing list: https://www.daneldon.org/join/
Kathy’s Suggestions
In the Heart of Life: A Memoir
by Kathy Eldon
In 1997, Kathy Eldon moved with her husband and two children from England to Kenya, where she found freedom as she had never known it before and was ready to push back from her old, restrictive life. Diving into this tumultuous new world as a journalist and writer, she embraced the energy and creativity of Kenyans, both black and white. But her world collapsed when her twenty-two-year-old son, Dan – an artist and photojournalist on assignment for Reuters – was stoned to death by an angry mob in Somalia, killed by the very people he was trying to help. Kathy’s journey through this tragic loss was deeply spiritual as she discovered that, in many ways, Dan was still ever – present in her life. This gripping international saga includes a passionate love, a dangerous coup in Kenya, and a compelling glimpse into a woman on the brink of self-discovery. After her son’s murder, Kathy began to publish his art, which gained popularity worldwide and – together with her daughter, Amy – launched a global foundation celebrating Dan’s work as a creative activist. Throughout Kathy’s exploration of profound tragedy, we find the secrets to not only surviving, but being truly, gloriously alive.
Love Catcher: Inviting Love Into Your Life
by Chronicle Books LLC Staff, Kathy Eldon and Amy Eldon
This journal is designed to help you examine the way you approach love and romantic relationships. Guided prompts discuss topics ranging from characteristics your past partners have shared, to dreams you have for you and your partner.
Soul Catcher: A Journal to Help You Become Who You Really Are
by Kathy Eldon & Amy Eldon, Illustrations by Michelle Barnes
Soul Catcher takes you on a self-guided journey along a spiritual path forged from the realization of your own dreams and wishes, and the utilization of the wisdom of your own inner voice. This beautiful journal will help you find ways to break through the barriers that stand in your way and offer support as you shape and define your true values and goals so you can live life to its fullest.
Angel Catcher: A Journal of Loss and Remembrance
by Kathy Eldon & Amy Eldon Turteltaub
Over the past decade, this classic work has helped thousands find meaningful ways to overcome the despair of losing a loved one. Now, Angel Catcher has been revised and updated to convey its powerful message of hope to a new audience. Featuring brand new illustrations and a fresh updated look, the tasteful pages of this journal guide the user through the process of mourning and onward to a lasting sense of peace in the face of loss.
Dan Eldon: The Art of Life
by Jennifer New & Kathy Eldon
Only 22 when he lost his life on assignment in Somalia, photojournalist Dan Eldon left behind much more than the journals that became the basis for Chronicle’s best-seller The Journey is the Destination. He left a lifetime of adventures that continue to inspire. Raised in Kenya, he took numerous expeditions across Africa that helped him to understand and love the continent. Through his safaris and benevolent crusades – and with interludes of study and work in the US and London, and trips around the world – he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity, adventure and charity. Intensely visual, like the life it describes, Dan Eldon: The Art of Life is more than a biography. It is an exploration of one man’s will to take in everything life has to offer; an example of a life lived for and art experienced as life.”
Safari as a Way of Life
by Jennifer New
Photojournalist Dan Eldon left behind much more than the astonishing illustrated journals that would form The Journey is the Destination when he lost his life at age twenty-two while on assignment in Somalia. He also bequeathed a life story that has inspired students, teachers, artists and creative activists – as well as a forthcoming film, an apparel line and the Spring 2011 collection from Tom’s Shoes. Raised in Kenya, Dan grew up with a unique outlook on life. Through adventurous safaris and benevolent crusades around the world, he crafted a philosophy of curiosity, creativity and charity. This unique visual biography showcases previously unpublished artwork from Dan’s acclaimed journals, letters and snapshots that take readers on a journey through Dan’s life and beyond, exploring the impact made by this remarkable artist on everyone who has encountered his story.
The Journey is the Destination: The Journals of Dan Eldon
by Dan Eldon & Kathy Eldon
The best-selling and critically acclaimed book The Journey is the Destination features a selection of over 200 pages from the journals of photojournalist Dan Eldon. It is a legacy of a young artist killed just as his creative powers were beginning to be recognized by himself and others. Already an international inspiration for a documentary, feature film, a clothing line, and the Spring 2011 collection of Tom’s Shoes. Dan’s life sets an admirable example of how to be young, human and alive and will continue to inspire future generations as it has for the past decade.
Eating Out in Kenya: Kathy Eldon’s Guide to 300 Hotels, Restaurants, Snack Bars, Take Away Cafes
by Kathy Eldon
TEDxTeen
Safari as a way of life:
Safari as a way of life: Amy Eldon Turteltaub & Kathy Eldon
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