A seven-year-old asked his father a question at the dinner table.
“Why do people have to pay for food?”
His father had no answer. Finding one took a tumor that should have killed him, a glimpse beyond death, three bestselling novels, a beehive in the Rockies — and a wine made of flowers. Now he tells the whole story in person, over a glass of it.
On the road, autumn 2026
CalgaryBillingsSheridanFort CollinsBoulderDenverAmarilloLubbockSan AngeloSan AntonioAbileneAustinDallas–Fort Worth
An evening in three movements
Sixty to ninety minutes. Not a lecture, not a sales pitch — a story, poured by the glass.
First — the story
A life in chapters
The corporate rise across three continents. A child’s question. A surgery he wasn’t supposed to survive — and what he glimpsed beyond it. Walking away, and building a life of meaning, twice.
Second — the wine
A tasting of flowers
Wine fermented from wildflower petals and nectar — the only wine of its kind in the world — poured through the story at the moments it belongs to, where the venue welcomes it, as a gift from the winery.
Third — the books
Signed & taken home
The trilogy at the table: signed paperbacks and signed ebook cards for any device. And one guest takes home a first edition of A People’s Power, inscribed on the spot.
It’s a story, not a sales event. Communities host it because their people leave inspired — and stay at the tables talking long after the last pour.
The second chance
Some lives change gradually. This one changed by chapters — each one unasked for, each one leading exactly where it needed to.
The rise, and the question
An MBA, Fortune 500 executive roles, building hotels for IHG and Marriott across Europe and the Americas — and, on the same trips, evenings with friends in the slums of Chile and Brazil. Then his young son asked why people have to pay for food, and the ladder leaned against the wrong wall.
The tumor, and the glimpse beyond
In his twenties, doctors gave him little chance of surviving the operation. He survived it. In a second surgery he went further — and came back. What he saw there never left him.
The walking away
He resigned from a career that had lost its meaning, and with his wife Ilse settled in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies to live from the land: bees, gardens, seasons, silence. Nine years of storytelling became three bestselling novels, taught in schools and universities across Canada.
The flowers
The bees gave honey; the foothills gave wildflowers; seven generations of French winemaking gave the craft. Spirit Hills opened in 2012 — and wine made of flowers reached Michelin-star tables in Paris and Isetan in Tokyo.
Losing it, and beginning again
The pandemic closed everything. Rather than let a single employee go, Hugo and Ilse took themselves off the payroll — and, as good as broke, began again in Texas. Florvino was born in San Antonio. The synchronicities that led there are a story of their own.
The full story takes an evening, and pairs well with a glass of flowers.
What the second chance wrote
Three novels about power, food, freedom and the human spirit — fiction that asks the questions polite conversation avoids.
In the Eyes of Anahita
A journey in search of humanity — through Argentina, Chile, the Peruvian Andes and Brazil.
“A wisdom quest in the tradition of James Redfield’s Celestine Prophecy and Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, but with deeper practical and spiritual insights. Highly recommended.”
— Dr. David C. Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World
— Dr. David C. Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World
También disponible en español — la historia recorre tu continente.
Seeds …of Germination or Termination
2084 — one corporation holds the seed of every crop on earth.
“A wake-up call from the future — to make the choices today that will defend our freedoms tomorrow.”
— Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist and environmental activist
— Dr. Vandana Shiva, physicist and environmental activist
A People’s Power
The tragedies of power — and the strength of the human spirit. The author’s own favourite.
“I do not recall any book that so moved me.”
— David Korten, board chair, YES! Magazine
— David Korten, board chair, YES! Magazine
At the events: signed paperbacks while they last, signed ebook cards for any device, the trilogy in both — and one inscribed first edition of A People’s Power won at every evening. Also endorsed by Maude Barlow, Percy Schmeiser, Haida elder Woodrow Morrison, Slow Food Canada and the National Farmers Union.
The wine the story made
The origin winery — Alberta, Canada
Spirit Hills
In the foothills of the Canadian Rockies: wildflowers, bees, and the family craft. Where flower wine came back into the world — now shipping across Canada.
The Texas chapter — San Antonio
Florvino
Born of the second beginning: flower wines crafted in the Hill Country, a tasting room on Alamo Plaza, and home tastings hosted by Flower Somms across America.
Join us — become a Flower Somm
Flower Somms are how this story travels. They host tastings of the world’s only flower wine in living rooms and gathering places — evenings of story, connection and belonging in a world starved of all three.
It’s work with meaning: no inventory, no pressure, no pitch — a somm is a storyteller and educator, earning real income rooted in human relationships, the kind no machine can take. What began with seven generations of winemakers is becoming a community of good people who set a table and pour something no one has ever tasted.
Bring Wine & Wisdom to your community
Churches, community groups, wine clubs, book clubs and living rooms across Canada and the United States host these evenings.
- No speaker fee — a love offering is welcome where it’s your custom
- Where your venue welcomes it, the winery ships a complimentary flower-wine tasting ahead, as a gift
- The talk stands beautifully on its own where alcohol isn’t a fit
- Virtual evenings available for groups and book clubs anywhere
