Grandfather

In "Grandfather," Brown reveals how Stalking Wolf received the gift of communicating with spirits and how that eventually led to his training as a scout and a shaman in his Apache tribe. In the decades that followed his training, as he roamed North, Central, and South America, Stalking Wolf learned the many vital lessons (often at the point of death) that he would eventually pass on to Brown as a child.

This book has been criticized for being overly-sentimental as well as for presenting Stalking Wolf as a near-deity, a legendary hero that always survives to tell the tale. The very depths of Grandfather are not explored, and it is hard to believe that he is human at times. But that is the beauty of this book. Stories about great men are always embellished to the point of seeming mythical. The goal of such stories is to inspire the reader to action, and I think Brown has accomplished this.

It is a shame that much of the wisdom of the Native Americans was lost, but I'm happy that some of it has been preserved through Brown's writing.


This was a very powerful book for me.   November 9, 1998
Scott Kruis
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

A friend loaned me the Tracker and The Search a few months ago and I was impressed with the straight forward truths in the writing and the experiences that the author shared. I next chose Grandfather and was not disappointed. Each chapter struck me deeply and contained powerful "connection with earth and all things" truths that will be with me for a long time. I highly recommend each of these three books and I look forward to reading more from this author.


On a scale from 1 to 10 I rate this one...11!   March 27, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful

"On a scale from 1 to 10 I rate this one... 11!" is what my gf said, after having read Grandfather; something that for me sums up how I myself would rate this book.

"Grandfather" is a collection of stories of Tom Brown Jr's mentor; a mentor who besides teaching him about tracking and survival, taught him foremost about Spirit, and the laws of Spirit. It is through these stories that the reader becomes aware that much of what Grandfather taught Tom Brown Jr was knowledge and wisdom that he himself had to work at for years to accummulate; something that makes his achievement only the more admirable.

Stories that clearly illustrate Grandfathers' passion for finding and honouring The Truth; not a social 'manmade truth' but the truth regarding the nature of Spirit; to Grandfather the definitive truth; the same one that the White Man lost contact with so long ago.

In his quest for knowledge Grandfather repeatedly puts his own life on the line, something that I found very impressive, never foolishly though, but always in a way that illustrates great sobriety on his part and the courage to do what he deems is necessary to come to the greater knowledge and wisdom that he so passionately seeks.

Knowledge and wisdom that leads him from from the southwest to the jungles of the amazon and all the way back and up to alaska. Gets him stranded in the mountains in a snowstorm in Canada, nearly killed in Death Valley, in the suburbs of Chicago and much and much more.

All this is very impressive to me; a man accomplishing all that on his own in a hostile environment, he was a native american living outside the reservation after all, without any backup, not many who could accomplish that. But what impresses me the most is that despite the violence with which the White Man approached the Native Americans, never did this stop him from always respecting whoever crossed his path, be they red or white or black; which illustrates how sacred life and the heart was to Grandfather. And it is this respect that Grandfather shows continuously, to man and earth and everything part of this earth, and how this enables him to build a bridge between himself and those who cross his path, that fills me with hope for the future....

So in the end this collection of stories gave me far more then expected: HOPE! Something that many are in need of these days.

My advice? Buy it, read it and then... try to live it!


Rich and Real   January 3, 1999
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This book is an incredible experience. The manner in which this book came to me is just as mysterious as the ways of Grandfather. I had a dream from which I remembered just 2 words - "Wolf Messenger". That same day, I met with a business associate to whom I described this dream. He happened to have been a student of Grandfather's student Tom Brown. He instantly knew who the Wolf in my dream was - Stalking Wolf AKA Grandfather. Later he handed me this book. Exactly as in my dream, Stalking Wolf had sent me his message thru a Messenger of his lineage !!

The eternal teacher that Stalking Wolf was, even as I was reading the book, his words directly helped me resolve a design methodology problem, again thru a dream !!

As a Silicon Valley software engineer I do have my share of, ugh "off-beat" views co-existing with arrogant skepticism, but this I could feel in my bones. Anyone trying to survive in the ruthless "wilderness" of todays stock market, the internet, business competetion, Y2K etc, MUST read this book.