In 1990, I wrote the song ‘Earth Patriot.’ At that time the Berlin Wall had fallen and the Soviet Union was crumbling. It seemed that the possibility of an enduring peace could be realized. It was also a time of a growing awareness of our collective need to protect the earth.
Earth Patriot was conceived to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day. At the time, I wanted to record an album focusing on the theme of being an Earth Patriot.
However, it took until 2007 to record the album. I was the executive producer and Gregg Perry was the arranger and producer and it was recorded by our group Kumanu. The album was shared with many environmental organizations nationally and internationally.
In 2015 the young adult novel ‘Earth Patriot: Origins’ was published. The inspiration for the book came from the Earth Patriot recording.
Today the concept of being an Earth Patriot has led to the development of the ‘Earth Patriots United’ website https://earthpatriotsunited.com/and the creation of Original Music for People the related YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@OriginalMusicForPeople
Howard Shapiro/October 7, 2026
