Koan: A Conversation with Vaea Marx

Born in Tahiti, Vaea Marxs family moved to France where, as a child in the resistance during WWII, he was captured for blowing up a building the Germans were using. After the war, he became a pastry chef, then a cowboy in the Outback in Australia. He then went to Japan and met Kawai Kanjiro, one Japans greatest potters, who became his teacher. There he met Hamada, Yanagi, Bernard Leach and even Kurosawa. He also lived in a Zen monastery. "Every morning I'd get up at four a.m., work in the garden, take a cold bath and do Zazen." He knew fencing and learned Japanese sword fighting. Coming to the U.S. in the 60s, he became one of Peter Voulkos' closest friends, and found recognition for his own ceramic art. Here's more of Vaea's story.

http://www.conversations.org/story.php?sid=428