“No history of the National Writing Project, or of English Language Arts teaching more generally, would be complete without a rich engagement with the work and ideas of James Moffett. Written during the tumultuous 1960’s, Moffett’s central books, and sparked a paradigm shift in how the profession came to understand the purpose and substance of teaching language and literacy. As current teachers grapple with another tumultuous time, is a book that will help them (re)discover the nurturing and humanistic underpinnings of their calling.” —Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director, National Writing Project

“This collection re-introduces a profoundly influential but largely forgotten voice in English education—especially writing instruction—to a generation that feels his influence in the very intellectual air we breathe, too often without knowing his name. James Moffett was at the molten center of political controversies over language, schooling, and censorship a generation ago that still inflame school board meetings and legislative battles today. Yet he was also a pioneer and prophet of the mindfulness turn in education and the broader culture that is powerfully alive in ways that he advanced from mid-career until his untimely death in 1996. The essays here (including his own, ‘Writing, Inner Speech, and Meditation’) reintroduce and reinterpret him for us at a time when his voice of courage, comfort, and composure are urgently needed.” —David R. Russell, Professor Emeritus, Iowa State University