Phil Cousineau In Search of the Soul of the World
“Who knows why some words ignite the hearts of some readers while others are like wet matches that won’t light.” -Phil Cousineau
When looking through the works of Phil Cousineau, you can’t help but wonder… is there no end to his talents? And luckily for us, the answer seems to be, “no.” Phil is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, teacher, editor, independent scholar, travel leader, storyteller and TV host. His fascination with the arts, literature, and history of culture has taken him all over the world from Michigan to Marrakesh, Iceland to the Amazon; he is a pilgrim on a worldwide search for what the ancients called the “soul of the world”. Through his many talents and travels, he takes us on the search so that we may also discover the “soul of the world” and become pilgrims in our own “inner travels.”
In the Beginning…
While moonlighting in a steel factory he studied Journalism at the University of Detroit. Before turning to writing books and films full-time, Cousineau’s criss-crossed career included stints as a sportswriter, playing semi-pro basketball in Europe, harvesting date trees on an Israeli kibbutz, painting Victorian houses in San Francisco, and teaching screenwriting at the American Film Institute. And for the past 25 years, Phil has enjoyed his life-long dream of being a full-time freelance writer, filmmaker and sports coach.
Phil on Books
Phil Cousineau has written over 25 non-fiction books and has over 15 scriptwriting credits to his name, here are just a some of his books that we think you will love to learn more about.
“Wordcatcher: An Odyssey into the World of Weird and Wonderful Words”
Phil truly is a Wordcatcher. Take a sneak peek into Phil’s brain… from the introduction:
“In a word, this book of weird, wonderful and wild word stories is a game of catch. When I throw a baseball around with my son Jack it’s a game of give and take, each of us throwing the ball so the other can catch it. It’s an ordinary activity, but also a profound metaphor for life and for my relationship to words. If I see an amazing word thrown to me in a book, magazine, or movie—chicanery, bedswerver, lucubrate—I am thrilled, and I want to keep the game of language going by looking it up, writing it down, using it in a story, poem, script, or conversation. Call it the sport of a wordcatcher, playing catch with the ball of language that’s been thrown to me by all the writers and storytellers who came before me.”
