Bert began working as a community journalist in 1982, eventually becoming editor of the Santa Ynez Valley News (Solvang, Calif.), The Cambrian (Cambria, Calif.), and the Ashland (Oregon) Daily Tidings, which he has edited since 2014. Along the way his publications were twice named runner-up in a nationwide community newspaper contest, three times runner-up as best weekly of its size in California and once as the top paper of its size in the state, in addition to numerous individual awards for editorial writing, page design and special projects. Bert has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University.

 

Bert believes cultivating a culture of peace is about a way, not a destination. Through awareness of the consequences of action, behavior can be tuned to where it solves problems rather than creating them. Simply asking questions about whether activities are consistent with a “culture of peace” can yield answers that contribute to our understanding of what that is, and the capacity to pass what we’ve learned along to others, starting with the examples we set.