The Ground Zero Center for Non-Violent Action borders the Navy’s Trident submarine base at Bangor. In August of 2019, KPTZ attended the Buddhist ground purification ceremony for a soon-to-be-built Peace Pagoda at the Center. And it was there that we encountered two of the many extraordinary individuals in attendance.

• Jim Douglas, former Theology professor, who along with his wife, Shelley, was part of a group of non-violent activists in the Northwest that formed the Pacific Life Community in 1975. Later, he and Shelley became co-founders of the Ground Zero Center in Poulsbo.
• Gilberto Perez grew up in the streets of Spanish Harlem. His personal journey took him along open paths of discovery across this country as our nation rocked from the turbulent but enlightening times of the ‘60’s and ‘70s. Eventually Gilberto became a Monk of the Nipponzan Myohoji Dojo on Bainbridge Island.

These are their stories…