Loving and Leaving the Good Life by Helen Nearing

Loving and Leaving the Good Life by Helen Nearing

Helen Nearing's testimonial to the life she and her husband Scott spent together, and to what they stood for: self-sufficiency, generosity, social justice, and peace.

Library Journal-
This quiet and reserved memoir is a tribute to the "good life" and the ideals of self-sufficiency, simplicity, socialism, and pacifism that Helen and Scott Nearing shared for 53 yearsHelen was 24 years old in 1928 when she met Scott, a married 45-year-old economics professor who had been blacklisted by universities and publishers for his radical views. In 1932, the Nearings left New York City for a Vermont farm, beginning the homesteading life described in their Living the Good Life (1954), the bible of the back-to-the-land movement. Later, they moved to Maine where, during the 1960s and 1970s, they played host to 2000 visitors a year. For Scott and Helen, old age was a "time of fulfillment. Scott kept his strength and bearing all through his last decades." But as he neared his 100th birthday in 1983, he chose to leave the good life peacefully by fasting. Helen is a modest narrator, at times so self-effacing that she switches into third person as when she discusses her relationship with the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Still, her eloquent chapter on death and old age and her loving portrait of a remarkable man makes this a recommended purchase for public libraries.
 

-- Wilda Williams

"One of the most beautiful love stories ever written..." --Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Helen Nearing left city life with her husband, Scott, nearly sixty years ago to move first to Vermont and then to their farm in Harborside, Maine. The Nearings' food and living philosophies have provided the guidelines for many who seek a simpler way of life. Helen is the author of Wise Words for the Good Life: A Homesteader's Personal Collection, Loving and Leaving the Good Life, Simple Food for the Good Life, and co-author (with Scott Nearing) of The Maple Sugar Book.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780930031633
ISBN 10	0930031636
Title	Loving and Leaving the Good Life
Author	Helen Nearing
Series	Good Life Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Chelsea Green Publishing Co
Year published	1993-03-01
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.