Robert Pirsig Frequently Asked Questions.

Where Can I Find An Obituary Of Robert Pirsig, Including An Excellent Picture?
AFTER This Page Comes Up, Please Scroll Down To … a link to an obituary of … There you will find 3 Blue Links to good Robert Pirsig Obituaries, following his death April 24, 2017..

Over The Years People Have Asked => Can You Give Me Pirsig's US Mail or his Email Address?

Over the years, the answer has always been => Mr. Pirsig does not want any address given out. However, you may write him care of his publisher at the address below. Over the years, Mr. Pirsig usually fully answers serious questions and is quite prompt to reply:
Mr. Robert Pirsig
In care of: William Morrow Company
1350 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10019
…Of course, The William Morrow Company will still answer your questions and supply needed information.
…Alternatively, Mr Pirsig’s wife Wendy Pirsig, is still living, and has always been quite helpful. If you send your Pirsig Questions to me at HenryG__USCA.edu, I will forward these to Mrs. Pirsig for her decision how to reply.

I Am This Well Known Writer. Will Mr. Pirsig Grant Me An Interview?

Mr. Pirsig has stated many years ago, that he has granted his last interview. (See Blue Link below) Mr. Pirsig is a very reclusive person. He generally shuns contact with strangers and the public. However, it is conceivably possible that he might conduct an interview by mail. See contact info above.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1952011,00.html

How many copies of Pirsig's wonderful book have been printed to date?

Based on some off-hand statements of Mr. Pirsig, I estimate the sales of copies of ZMM at around 4 million, but I have no idea if this number has any reality. The 19 Nov 06 England Newspaper Guardian/Observer, in an Interview, quoted Mr. Pirsig’s off hand statement that sales were approximately 5 million.

During The Last Years Of His Life Where Was Author Pirsig Living, And Is He Writing?

Mr. Pirsig and his wife Wendy, are in the USA, in a relatively rural coastal area of New England. He stays out or the public eye as much as he can. Over the years => If people ask him reasonable questions by U. S. mail, he always promptly replies with full answers. But I don't think he is writing any books or articles for publication. You might write to him and suggest he do more writing. He may be reached at his publishers address given above.

Why Did The ZMM Route End At San Francisco?

For a long time, I assumed Robert Pirsig's trip goal was to learn more about the Zen Communities of San Francisco, possibly visit the San Francisco Zen Center. However, as is posted on my ZMM Links Page, Mr. Pirsig stated that the Zen Center did not exist then.
…In 2005, Mark Richardson asked Mr. Pirsig what was the goal of their 1968 trip. Mr. Pirsig answered that they traveled on to visit friends in Los Angelos. This being the case, ZMM Route's ending at San Francisco must be a literary decision.
…Since the landscape/road scenery in ZMM always serves to "amplify" the philosophical plan of ZMM, one may assume Author Pirsig did not need additional landscape/road scenery beyond San Francisco. Thus, we may suppose that => This famous town provided an appropriate and sufficiently grand book ending point.
…At the link below you can see => A Map Illustration of Robert Pirsig’s Pre 1959 Proposed (And Completed) Road Trip Routes Of Travel, which was Marked On An Old 1951 National Geographic Wall Map. Mr. Pirsig’s probable route of travel to Los Angeles, CA. has been added to this map by HSG.
…NOTE: AFTER this Flicke Photo Page comes up, first read the text description at left. THEN click on map to get full size. You should use the ClickDrag Bars at Right & Bottom, to see parts off screen.
…Click Here To See A Map Illustration of Robert Pirsig’s Pre 1959 Proposed (And Completed) Road Trip Routes Of Travel.

How Did You Get Those Pictures From Robert Pirsig's Trip? Did He Provide Them to You?

The pictures from Pirsig's original 1968 trip were sent to me by Mr. Pirsig himself. I had asked him if there were any pictures that could be used (for my research) to find the actual locations of scenes along the "ZMM Route." He had seen my (sufficiently substantial) webpages at that time, and his response was to send me the pictures for ZMM research. He also stated I could place his 12 color pictures in my ZMM Quality Web Photo Albums. You may view Mr. Pirsig’s Photos, by Scrolling Down The Main Menu At Left, Until See The Small Photo of John Sutherland & Mr. Pirsig Holding Chris. Then ClickOn This Small Photo.
…For more Pirsig Portrait Photos go to
http://www.psybertron.org/pirsigphotos.html

I'd Be Interested To Know A Little About You And Your Relationship With Mr. Pirsig

Starting in approximately 1993, I had my students read ZMM as part of their physics class requirements. I found that the ZMM book was a very successful adjunct for: 1) A very good added reading to compliment the students' study of Physics, 2) Successfully add to students overall understanding of how to best go at => The processes of learning, and 3) How to deal with "Gumption Traps." Moreover, 4) ZMM's "Church of Reason" chapters helped my students to constructively understand what was supposed to happen at a university as opposed to what was actually happening! Or perhaps I should say, what was NOT happening.
…Here is an explanation, of what was done. Click Here.

…And You Will See Below Three Added Lines, That You May Click On …These are three different pages of what my students said about their reading of ZMM,

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN APYH 202 FALL 1993-SPRING 1996.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN APYH 202 FALL 1997 & SPRING 1998.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED IN APYH 202 FALL 1998 & SPRING 1999.

This above experience prompted me, soon thereafter, to write to Pirsig with a number of questions. My letters are in the 2 Blue Links below.
Letters 1994-2005 To / Fm Robert Pirsig
Letters 2006-2008 To / Fm Robert Pirsig

SUMMARY OF MY LETTERS TO MR. ROBERT PIRSIG.
…I wanted additional "data" to justify (to other possibly concerned university personnel) why I was using ZMM every year in my physics classes. For example, I wanted to find out the names of colleges and universities that used ZMM in their classes. I wanted to learn how they actually used ZMM. I wanted to gather data/testimonials as to ZMM's contribution to their students' overall learning and intellectual maturity. Also, I asked Pirsig about maps of the ZMM Route.

Robert Pirsig, in a 9 July 1994 response, stated: "In answer to your question b), I would estimate that somewhere between 10 and 60 percent of colleges and high schools use ZMM in one or more courses. Usually these are literature of philosophy courses, sometimes psychology and sociology --- rarely science. U.S. sales have been running about 100,000 per year for the last 20 years, a really unusual figure. It has been stated in the London Daily Telegraph and by the BBC that ZMM is the 'most widely read philosophy book --- ever'. I give credit to the academic system for this, but I don't have any accurate information on who is using it or where it is being used."
…As for the maps, Mr Pirsig directed me to the A Map & Itinerary In DiSanto and Steel's “Guidebook to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”. .

Several years later, I found passages from author Owen Barfield (appendix of his book "Poetic Diction") that had very interesting conclusions about "The Subject-Object Split"; its history, and other ramifications. What Barfield said confirmed what Pirsig had said in ZMM on this same "Subject-Object Split” topic. I sent Xerox copies of these passages with letter of explanation to Pirsig.

I might here add that Owen Barfield (as well as Michael Polanyi) seems to have arrived at many, many, conclusions that agree with Pirsig's major assertions in ZMM. What is very significant to me is that Barfield's and Polanyi's general agreement with Pirsig (on many major points), AND this was achieved independently, and by completely different starting points and routes of travel than those of Pirsig. For me this vastly increases the certainty of the correctness of these 3 authors writings!

For these reasons, I had hoped that Pirsig might be moved to actually study Barfieid. But, in his reply, Pirsig merely said that he was glad to hear someone else agreed with him. And from this => I could tell by Pirsig’s reply that he was disinclined to pursue the matter further.
…Through these years, I wrote perhaps three/four letters to Pirsig requesting information. He fully and promptly answered all of them.

When I was making my plans to actually travel the "ZMM Route" in early 2002, I began to search diligently for various persons who had already actually traveled the ZMM Route. I wanted to learn what they had found in preparation for my own ZMM research trip. I wanted to build on what they had found and I did not want to waste time by unnecessarily duplicating their effort. I was able to make a just a few successful contacts and about half of these persons contributed essays for my webpages. I had hoped this would be a way to gain useful ZMM Route information, but overall this approach was disappointing.
…Given the relative unsuccessful quantity of information found, I finally decided to write Pirsig. The fact that I had gone to considerable effort, as shown in my webpages at that time, must have been convincing to Pirsig, because he was quite helpful. He provided maps, literature resources, and many suggestions.

I Have Been Hoping to Hear Pirsig's Voice Some Day. Has Someone Posted an MP3 File of Him Speaking?

Webmaster Henry Gurr replies: I am aware of only three recordings of Pirsig’s voice. One ZMM enthusiast, having read this FAQ, gave me the following information:

“Hello Henry, I've found the cassette [of Pirsig’s voice], and it's from [the National Public Radio, NPR] “All Things Considered” program of January 10, 1992. I've listened to it, and Pirsig sounds a lot less scratchy and not quite as "old" as I'd remembered. At first he seems a bit hesitant in conversation, but then really lights up when a topic engages him, such as William James Sidis, or when he explains _koan_ to the interviewer, or when he reads from [Pirsig’s new book] “Lila” Much of the interview, of course, is focused on “Lila”, as it had just come out a few months previously, and it's interesting to hear him discuss his conception of the book. The program came on two cassettes, and the interview is about 10 or so minutes in on side 2 of the first cassette. (For ease of reference, only the first cassette has sides 1 and 2; the other is
labeled with side 3 and a blank 4 ….. SNIP …..”

Webmaster Master Henry Gurr replies: Here are my thoughts, after hearing this NPR Program: Very, very interesting. Very valuable!! Excellent! It is a very good interview! Pirsig was really primed and has strong delivery on a whole string of ideas. I did not know and I NEEDED to know much of what he said!! He has a very strong "stage delivery"! I did not expect this. Also he has a "zest " for living that is admirable! I some-how had expected that all his personal problems trashed through in ZMM, would have drained away all his ‘get up and go’. Also, 15 years to write Lila is a long time!!! I agree--when Pirsig gets fired up, it's obvious that these ideas still engage him.

I told the person who sent me that information that I would eventually contact NPR, to see if they would allow an mp3 file of that interview program to be available on the web. In the meantime, Gary Wegner has directed me to the 1992 NPR interview and a 1974 interview online. Gary has kindly posted links to these interviews on the Wikipedia entry for ZMM as well.

To hear Noah Adams’ 1992 NPR interview of Pirsig, go here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612367

An additional NPR interview of Pirsig by Connie Goldman from July 12, 1974 has surfaced as well:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4612364

An interesting interview of Pirsig (long version) appears at http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1952011,00.html

Pirsig Interviewer, Tim Adams', own summary & observations re the above interesting interview of Pirsig is at
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1951397,00.html

I invite readers to send in their suggestions if they have any additional information to offer. And if anyone runs across any other recordings of Pirsig, please contact me at henryg__usca.edu.

The above “Hear Pirsig's Voice” information, discussed in a different way, => Click Here, And AFTER This Page Comes Up, Scroll Down To => C), D), & E) Are Three Very Interesting NPR Interviews of Robert Pirsig: This Is Where >You Can Hear his voice in an Audio Recording, and discover he can be quite enthusiastic and engaging.

What Is The Correct Model And Number Of Mr. Pirsig's Motorcycle Shown In The Photographs On Your ZMM Quality.org Gallery?

Mr. Ken Steiner writes the following: "I would like to mention that the motorcycle in the first photo is identified as a Honda CB360. The correct designation is a CB 77 305 Super Hawk. I believe the CB360 was manufactured at a much later date. …. The [links below] provides a photo of the CB360 and additional descriptive information. The Honda CB360 was manufactured from 1974 to 1976. I had rebuilt and owned a 1966 Honda CL77 305, This is a very similar bike to the CB77 pictured on the web-photo. They use the same engine, but the CB77 frame is configured for street and trip use while the CL77 is more of a sport bike that can be used off-road. In any case the photo is not that of a CB360. See http://www.vjmw.org/tests/CB360.htm Here is a link depicting the CB77: http://www.honda305.com/cb77_000/cb77-006.htm

Webmaster Master Henry Gurr replies: The captions of those 12 pictures from Mr. Pirsig were written by him personally except for my additions in [brackets]. The designation = " A. ”CB360_~l.TIF" was the original computer file name that went with that picture. It was his own abbreviation to indicate in his computer files which-picture-was-what. I believe he used this same abbreviation in each of the photo captions as he composed them prior to sending them to me. And that is the caption I placed on each of those 12 pictures you saw on my web gallery. I have seen the designation as "305 Super Hawk" or "Honda 305cc CB77", several places on the web, and I believe both of these to be correct. To obtain more good information and intenet links re this cycle, go to Honda 305 History & Information or click on "ZMM Links" on the menu at upper left and scroll down 3/4 of the the links page.

Where May I View a Photo of Robert Pirsig's Former Minneapolis Home?

In my Gallery of photos, you may view Robert Pirsig's former Minneapolis which was at 458 Otis Avenue, St Paul, MN. This was the home he and family lived in at the time ZMM was written. Go to the ZMMQ Gallery Album named
"Mark Richardson's Journal."

Edited by David M. 31 Jul 2012. HsgRev230804.
File=WikiZmmqPirsigFAQ RevDm 073112 230802NoFndOnLatt3540}ClkDrgFmServerRev05.doc
PrevFile=WikiZmmqPirsigFAQ RevDm 073112.doc