Short biographical sketch
Pierre passed away on July 26, 2024, after a long life dedicated to the service of humanity. His presence will be sorely missed, however, through his books, blogs, other writings, videos, etc. he will continue to offer guidance and inspiration to those on the spiritual seekers path. He studied at the universities of Geneva, Bern and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor before receiving a Doctorate in sociology from La Sorbonne University in Paris. A true world citizen, Pierre labored most of his life for social justice, living, working, studying in or visiting 40 countries on every continent. He is the author of 23 books.
Career information
On completing university, Pierre worked for a year for the UN in Geneva, then in Algeria doing field research as a sociologist. From 1971-73 he worked for the American Friends Service Committee in Senegal, setting up the first public information program on family planning for French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa, then, with no experience whatsoever in the field of journalism, he started, for the Canadian International Development research Center of Ottawa, a grass roots magazine on health and development which in three years became the best-selling international magazine in French-speaking Africa (1973-79). he worked briefly as an international consultant on family planning for the UN, then did a year’s stint for the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs running a six-country survey of development education, and finally worked for a group of Swiss NGOs setting up the first information program for public schools on North-South issues in French-speaking Switzerland. His work and travels over the years took him to over 40 countries on the five continents. For 25 years he offered workshops and coaching on personal and spiritual development and helped thousands find their purpose in life.
Five books have been published in English:
Pierre’s newest book focuses in depth on helping you answer three fundamental questions: “Who am I deep down?”, “What am I really looking for in my spiritual quest?”, and “What is the deep motivation of my search?”
The Gentle Art of Spiritual Discernment
365 Blessings to Heal Myself and the World, O Books, 2018.
The Gentle Art Blessing, Atria Paperbacks, Simon and Schuster, 2009. English editions also in Great Britain (Cygnus books) and India (St. Paul’s, Mumbai). The book originally appeared in French (Jouvence, 1998) and has also appeared in Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish and Slovene. Winner of the 2010 Gold Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality
Messages of Life from Death Row, Booksurge Publishing, 1999, (originally in French, also in Dutch)
Listening to Africa, (a 14,000km. trip through over 100 villages of the Sahel, Kenya and Zimbabwe undertaken in 1987, talking with around 1300 peasant farmers at the grass roots, published in 6 languages including Japanese, Praeger publishers, N.Y. 1989.)
Scroll down for a short video introducing Pierre and blessing.
Online Presence
http://gentleartofblessing.org/
A strictly non-commercial site where all content is free, with author and source identified. Basic text of blessing, print, audio and video, healing testimonies, blessings by the author (print and audio), spiritual texts, positive news, monthly blogs, thoughts to ponder, Q&A, links to inspiring videos, etc.
Facebook page (bilingual): https://www.facebook.com/ppradervand
Recent interviews, videos and conversations in English
For all video interviews with Pierre, please visit https://gentleartofblessing.org/interviews-and-talks/
Visit Pierre’s Author page on Amazon.com and on Amazon.co.uk
For over 20 years he accompanied an amazing African American death row inmate from Texas who has become a spiritual model for hundreds around the world (see his book on Roger W. McGowen, Messages of Life from Death Row). For many years he was a prison visitor at one of the Geneva jails and a volunteer with a Geneva-based international NGO, the Women’s World Summit Foundation and was on the board of another Geneva-based NGO recently classified as one of the 58th best NGOs in the world, the Voix Libres (Free Voices) organization.
A short introduction to Pierre