Interview with Dr. John Flower

Text of the Full Interview Below:

For Dr. John Flower, what others have given him has become the foundation for all he has given in return. 

John was the youngest of five children in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. His uncle, a college professor who traveled frequently, inspired him. Throughout high school, John was always interested in other cultures. He developed a specific fascination with the Chinese language and culture. He graduated from high school two years early, as Valedictorian. Next came a gap year spent on a study abroad program in France. This experience further cultivated his appreciation for other cultures. 

During college, at the end of the Cultural Revolution, he studied Chinese philosophy. There was a significant change going on in China. At the time, he spoke basic Chinese due to the limited resources. Yet he did not want language to be a barrier that stopped him from understanding the culture. 

After John graduated from undergrad, he attended the University of Pennsylvania to take a Chinese class. He worked as a Carpenter to help cover the cost of the class. It was hard work. Sometimes he would show up to class straight from a site, covered in dust. Yet for a man as curious and voracious about learning as he is, it is no surprise that he did it all with a smile. 

Around this time, John met his partner in crime, the charming and industrious Dr. Pam Leonard. She would go on to be his partner in many of his works.

Now that he spoke the language better, he moved to China. He lived in a village in Sichuan Province. His experience there had a significant effect on him. He mentioned how he made his academic career based on the incredible stories people there shared with him. He also posited that everything he has done has been trying to reciprocate the great kindness the people showed him in China. "That's really the source of anything I've done; it's what they've done for me." John exemplifies how others' genuine care sparked his lifelong commitment to giving back. 

John then taught at the University of North Carolina as a tenured professor for over a decade. But he was not satisfied there. He felt he was teaching big classes and not having much of a personal impact on students. He decided he could make more of a difference at Sidwell Friends and accepted a job there. 

Throughout John's career at Sidwell, he introduced the China Field Works Semester, one of his proudest achievements. This program took 6 months of persuading and was a significant achievement for the school, but all the time spent was worth it. He took kids from Sidwell and other schools to live in China for the entirety of the spring semester. They did everything in the town, and Dr. Flower describes it as the best teaching experience he has ever had. 

John worked at Sidwell for 18 years and introduced other service projects, such as the China Folkhouse. The West Virginia China Folk House Retreat is a site that is a recreated Yunnan village setting. The main building on the site was originally a house in the Yunnan province that was taken down in 2017 by John and some of his friends and rebuilt in West Virginia in 2019 as a sign of goodwill between cultures. Visitors contribute to the site, engaging in farming, cooking, traditional crafts, and building new structures using conventional Chinese techniques. They deepen their understanding of sustainability, heritage, and Chinese culture through community living and cultural exploration. John leverages his vast network of talented friends to enrich the experience further. 

The China Folk House has hosted countless guests, from students to the Chinese Ambassador to the US alike. 

For him, service is like a circle; there's a constant cycle of giving, which is rare and beautiful. 

Throughout his career, Dr. John Flower has faced many challenges, but he grapples with obstacles by making the best of things through charity in his heart. He says, "When the heart reaches the mountain, there must be a way over it." He believes that everyone has that inner light, and if you recognize and engage with that, there's nothing you can't overcome.