After a week of darkness and tragedy and questions and division, what we needed most today was a glimpse of a better world. A laugh wouldn’t hurt either. So we present you with a little of both.

Most of you may have a passing knowledge of Wavy Gravy as the wild-eyed Hog Farmer serving “breakfast in bed to 400,000” at Woodstock or as the inspiration for a Ben & Jerry’s flavor.

What you may not know is much else about his remarkable 80 years on earth. Beat poet and comic, Greenwich village roommate of Bob Dylan, one of the later Merry Pranksters, boyhood acquaintance of Albert Einstein, and most importantly, lifetime activist and founder of an organization (SEVA FOUNDATION) that has saved the sight of over 4 million people in the developing world.

After spending a long and lovely birthday celebration telling stories of his incredible life, the former Hugh Romney gifted us one more: the time he and his band of hippies helped save the gray whales.

Sometimes activism is loud and in your face–sometimes it’s just as powerful when it makes you sit up, laugh, and take notice.

Learn more about the amazing life of Wavy Gravy by checking out the beautiful film Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie.