He's carrying the torch of Ivan Illich, basically. It's a reference to 'Tools for Conviviality'. Illich himself was a minor celebrity in the 70s/80s/90s and ap

He's carrying the torch of Ivan Illich, basically. It's a reference to 'Tools for Conviviality'. Illich himself was a minor celebrity in the 70s/80s/90s and appeared on the front cover of The Whole Earth Quarterly or the Coevolution Quarterly once, I forget which issue, but it was about his 'Silence is a Commons' essay. He was a chemist, and a Catholic theologian, and a great humanist philosopher. He sort of ran a commune in Mexico in his later years. I miss him. edit, personal note: I was a big fan as a teenager. My dad has all the Whole Earth issues and had a few Illich books in the basement and I really enjoyed Tools for Conviviality a lot. As well as Medical Nemesis, To Hell With Good Intentions, and Deschooling Society. That one almost made me drop out of high school.