Actor to portray Muir at benefit performance

According to his biography, John Muir, famed American naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, has been dead for nearly a century. However, a group of local advocates for children in Mexico say that won't keep Muir from showing up in Sisters.

Don Baldwin, a retired Methodist minister, will portray Muir in a unique two-part program that begins with "John Muir in Person." Baldwin, in costume as John Muir, will relate stories, history, philosophy, and events from the personal viewpoint of the famed naturalist.

In the second part of the program, "Yosemite - The Range of Light," Baldwin returns as himself to add his own perspective to the performance. In the process, he uses six projectors and a 24-foot-wide triple screen to help bring Muir's world to life. The entire program is based on Muir's own extensive writings.

Baldwin himself grew up in the Yosemite country. As the son and grandson of Methodist ministers, he followed in their footsteps, and his first permanent assignment after ordination was as Resident Minister in Yosemite National Park; so, his assimilation of the John Muir personality seems quite natural.

Muir was born in Scotland in 1838 and immigrated with his family to Wisconsin when he was 11. He suffered a potentially blinding eye injury as a young adult and, when his vision was restored, he became obsessed with seeing as much of the natural world as possible.

Arriving in California in 1868, he made a beeline for Yosemite; and, as they say, the rest is history - history that is now coming to Sisters. John Muir's story is synonymous with the birth of environmental awareness and was commemorated by the inclusion of his likeness on the reverse of the California state quarter in 2005.

Baldwin says that his portrayal of Muir came about accidentally.

"Just two years ago, a Methodist women's group asked me to do a luncheon presentation on Yosemite, and I thought - well, why don't I come in as John Muir?"

Even though Baldwin attended John Muir Grammar School in Merced, California, he admits that he didn't really know much about the man until his college years. Over the years, though, he studied Muir's work extensively, to the point where he knew many of Muir's quotes by heart.

So, he said, when he got the call from the women's group, "I donned an old hat, put on my father's old vest, made my own beard, grabbed my walkin' stick.... This is truly my new calling - a new vocation."

He's been doing it ever since - all over the West.

Baldwin has been to Sisters before and is looking forward to returning.

"I love Sisters, the high mountain desert, the views and vistas - and especially the cultural mix of Sisters," he said.

He is also pleased to be bringing John Muir with him this time.

"John Muir truly is a 'Man for All Seasons.' His 'voice' speaks so relevantly today...to a wide spectrum of divergent people concerned with protecting the earth!"

Baldwin's performance is being sponsored by the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration as a benefit for the Every Dollar Feeds Kids (EDFK) charity. The Sisters church has partnered with the First Congregational Church of San Rafael, California, in the EDFK program. Their first fully funded project will feed children in the town of Cuernevaca, Mexico.

"It thrilled me when I learned that this presentation would feed the hungry children in Mexico," said Baldwin. "This personalizes for me the Biblical concern that, if we have the world's goods, see our neighbors in need and do nothing in response, how then does God's love 'abide in us?' Muir reminds us that everything is connected, so for me, every child is my child, and everything we do, no matter how small, makes a great difference!"

All interested persons are invited to this "John Muir Show," which will be held in the Community Hall of the church at 7 p.m. on Thursday evening, October 15. The program will begin with dessert and coffee and a musical performance by the Church of the Transfiguration Choir, which toured Europe earlier this year.

The performance is free. All donations go directly to the EDFK program. Baldwin said he is really looking forward to the evening and hopes for a big turnout.

"John Muir had a passion for nature," he said. "I share that passion! It's a great challenge, but such a deep privilege, to 'be' him for an evening - to speak his love and energy on behalf of our beautiful earth, such a precious gift. I'm committed to doing all I can to help protect it."

The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration is located on the west side of Sisters, at 68845 Brooks Camp Rd.