Speaker Biography
“The Essential Bond” Watch Video
"The Essential Bond" was directed and co-written by Shan Serafin. Its large cast featured Matthew Ashford in the role of young Linus Pauling and John Astin as Pauling's elder self.
The production was presented by the Youth Division of Soka Gakkai International-USA. SGI-USA is the American branch of Soka Gakkai International, an organization dedicated to "contributing to peace, culture and education based on the philosophy and ideals of the Buddhism of Nichiren Daishonin."
The play was developed in conjunction with SGI-USA's worldwide traveling exhibit, "Linus Pauling and the Twentieth Century." Opening in San Francisco in 1998, the exhibit toured the United States, Asia and Europe for nearly seven years and was viewed by more than one-million visitors.