Helen Nearing (1904–1995)

Helen and Scott Nearing, pacifist, teetotaling, nonsmoking, caffeine-free, collectivist, and vegetarian, moved from New York City to Vermont's Green Mountains in 1932, already middle-aged, to homestead. These books cover their trials, accomplishments, and philosophies (read: politics) on that first plot and their second homestead in Maine. These books inspired more than a few of the 1970s back-to-the-landers, as I learned from Back From the Land. However, I also learned from that book that show more Helen and Scott were not quite so financially independent as their books lead one to believe. Their day's division into four hours “bread labor” and four hours leisure (not to mention their purchase of somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 acres of land) was made possible not just by thrift and maple syrup profits, but also by a trust fund that doesn't get a mention in The Good Life.

Nonetheless, you have to admire their achievements. They hand-built a dozen stone buildings in Vermont and another nine in Maine largely by themselves, raised 85% of their food, wrote several books each, obtained all their heating fuel from their land, went on speaking tours, and entertained sometimes a dozen visitors a day in the height of their popularity in the seventies. They mentored Eliot Coleman and sold him the land on which he now works and lives. show less

I borrowed this book by and about the iconic sustainable lifestyle promoters, Helen and Scott Nearing, because I wanted to further my thinking about death and a good way to die. This book was a disappointment for my purpose, since only the last chapter really dealt with Scott's approach to his fading strength and death at age 100. "he had gone when he wished. His death had illuminated his life...We don't have to go through the horror of a long decay in a nursing home. If we are at home and show more have made our wishes known, we can stop eating. It is as simple as that" (p. 187)
During my years as a homesteader they were an inspiration, with their commitment to daily manual labor to meet their needs thru gardening, wood heat, building with stone, and making maple syrup. Most of this book is Helen's review of her early life, her relationship with Scott, and Scott's activities.
Many authors quote other writers, but in this book the quotations were intrusive and seemed to be used as a replacement for Helen saying what she felt or observed herself. In addition to Scott's example of conscious letting go of life and moving on, I appreciated his response to an inquiry about his views of God (pp158-9), Helen's view on meditation (p. 164), and Scott's chart comparing an emancipated lifestyle with an exploitive one (p. 143-4). The photos in the center are wonderful. show less

I read Living The Good Life a few years ago. It is a practical book by Helen and Scott Nearing on living simply. They describe how they built their stone home and how they fed themselves off the land. The first edition was in 1954, long before the idea of going back-to-the-land was trendy in the sixties, and before it began to seem necessary in the oil crisis of the seventies. Scott Nearing was previously an economics professor who was blacklisted for his socialist views. The couple show more undertook a simple lifestyle so they could continue promoting their progressive politics.

Three ideas from the book really stuck with me.

One, the idea of bread labour. The Nearings worked only four hours a day to feed themselves, and spent the other hours in activist and creative pursuits; the simple life does not have to be long days of physical labour.

Two, the mono-diet. The Nearings lived on a diet of simple staples with little variance. At first this struck me as awful — does simple have to mean boring? On reflection, it made much more sense. Our culture demands that our food be new and different daily, and we ignore the cost of dragging foods across the planet so we can have whatever we want whenever we want. This demand is more about a craving of ego than of physical appetite. Indigenous eating reconnects us with our local foods and local economy. Variety is nice, but we may appreciate more subtle nuances when we pay closer attention to our food at hand.

Three, Sunday morning music. Helen was an accomplished musician. Scott asked her why she played the music of others instead of making her own. The music industry of our day is designed for the reproduction and distribution of other people’s music. Music has to have mass appeal, and musicians have to dedicate careers to the production of material. Why not just play music for one another for entertainment? Or read to one another? Do people do this anymore?

http://johnmiedema.ca/2008/09/02/living-the-good-life-by-helen-and-scott-nearing... show less

I see what she's getting at, but I don't think I want to adopt the philosophy that if it doesn't taste that good, well then you won't overeat, will you? Funny.