John's musical career spanned more than three decades, beginning in the 1960s. As the replacement for Chad Mitchell in the Mitchell Trio, he first began to gain national and international acclaim. His song writing skills were appreciated by Peter, Paul, and Mary when John's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" became their first number one hit. Other hits sung by John himself soon followed, and earned him a place as one of the top selling recording artists of all time.

As his musical career grew in success, so too did John's desire to give back to the people and the planet. Along with the late Harry Chapin, John served as a member of President Carter's Presidential Commission on World and Domestic Hunger. He was a cofounder of The Hunger Project, and Plant-it 2000, and served as a special fact-finder for UNICEF. He was awarded the Presidential World Without Hunger Medal, and was honored by NASA with its Public Service Award. For those of us lucky enough to know him personally, he was an extraordinary spirit and a very good friend.

John Denver was deeply committed to environmental issues, protecting habitats, and encouraging personal growth. He remained dedicated to the Windstar Foundation as an expression of his deep and long-held commitments, serving as its President from the time he founded it in 1976 until his death in 1997.

Tom Crum Tom is a visionary with his feet firmly planted on the ground. Along with his good friend John Denver Tom CO-founded the Windstar Foundation and served as its Executive Director for the first critical years from 1978-1984. Tom brought to Windstar experience as a teacher, community leader, and Aikido master. The spirit of Aikido is to blend energies, rendering an attack harmless without doing harm to the attacker. In Aikido and in life, Tom teaches that conflict does not have to equal contest.

In the 1970s, Tom created a special martial arts academy in Aspen. This school brought in teachers from several different martial arts, accepting each as having a valuable contribution to make to physical and emotional well being. Following this, Tom accepted his friend John's request to accompany him on concert tours as his associate and, not surprisingly, security chief. It was during long conversations on the road that the two began to sketch out their vision of Windstar.

In 1976, vision became reality with the birth of the Windstar Foundation. Tom's tenure as Executive Director proved critical to setting the organization's path for the next 24 years. In 1985 Tom left Windstar to found Aiki Works, Inc. Tom is a much sought after speaker and facilitator. He speaks to audiences about ways to use the spirit of Aiki to deal with conflict and stress in their lives. In the rough and tumble world of corporate America, Tom's client list includes such companies as Ashland Chemical, McDonalds, General Electric, US West, and Digital Equipment. He has spoken to countless school audiences of all ages, and has twice garnered standing ovations from cadets at the United States Air Force Academy. Tom is the author of two acclaimed books, The Magic of Conflict and Journey to Center.

Although Tom is no longer with the administration of the Windstar Foundation, he remains strongly committed to and supportive of its vision, goals, and people.

You can visit Tom's Aiki Works, Inc. site.