Voluntary Peasants Labor of Love, Part 2: The Farm Commune, Year One (Voluntary Peasants, Labor of Love)

A far-out trip. Cool weaving of journalism, humor and Joycean stream of consciousness to transport the reader on an entertaining psychedelic odyssey. San Francisco Spiritual Smorgasbord, Around-the-Country, Hippie Bus Caravan to Moonshine Alley, Tennessee. Adventures of a UPI reporter, who followed the 60s over the edge; sought enlightenment and banded with 300 hippies to build the ultimate, globally-affordable. peaceful, fun lifestyle/model village in rural Tennessee.
"Imagine all the people living life in peace." That was us! We had it going.
Entertaining, revealing, inside stories of a grand experiment in collective community. Universal. Uplifting. Heart-warming, humorous adventures; true tales of real-life gurus, hippies, seekers of Truth.
We had an amazing thing going for 13 years. We lived life in peace, simply, with friends, sharing adventures, working together to help fix the world. Entertaining, never-before-revealed, inside look into iconic American commune—The Farm—a commune awarded the “alternative Nobel Peace Prize,” the Swedish Right Livelihood Award—“For caring, sharing and acting with and on behalf of those in need at home and abroad.” A bold, shared vision, social experiment of the 60s—group mind telepathy to blinding group think.
At peak—1,400 people enjoyed zero unemployment, universal healthcare, food, housing and all necessities on $100/person a month!
The Farm was a 24/7 peace demonstration—our own town, complete with solar-heated school, soy dairy, clinic, doctors, midwives, bakery, farming, motor pool, good karma cottage industries, radio station, and humanitarian outreach. I was a founder, builder, and resident member for 13 years. I worked as a farmer, carpenter, mason, flour miller, baker, vegan chef, gateman, editor and earthquake reconstruction volunteer in Guatemala, working with a team from The Farm and Mayans; building rural schools, clinics, houses and a clinic for Mother Teresa.
Originally, The Farm was a spiritual, hippie cult built around charismatic teacher, Stephen Gaskin. High Times calls Gaskin—“The Gandhi of the American Counterculture.” Over the years, The Farm evolved into “Community as Teacher,” with Stephen serving as minister and life coach. Stephen's wife, Ina May Gaskin, was the community midwife and became a major force in popularizing home delivery. Ina May is in the Women's Hall of Fame and is known as “the mother of modern midwifery.” We examine the guru-student trip and my 13-year, extraordanary relationship with the Gaskins.
It was a time when adventurous, psychedelic explorers followed LSD High Priest, Dr. Timothy Leary—“Turn on, tune in, and drop out.” And, then found ourselves way out on a limb, beyond the limb, with no clue how to come back down to Earth. That was where Stephen Gaskin came in. He knew how to talk to hippies.
Part 2 picks up with the 1971 landing in rural Tennessee of 300 hippies in an audacious, 100-bus and van caravan. True tales of life off-the-grid, pioneer days, as city greenhorns struggle to be country and survive—all the while being watched by locals, KKK and FBI. What happens is the heart of this story—the heart of people striving to make the world better—whatever it takes, and have fun and get enlightened in the process.
Voluntary Peasants, the whole book, will be published in print and all formats Spring, 2014 and is divided into five parts—each Voluntary Peasants is modern, beat literature and American cultural history of a remarkable, bold experiment in collective living—reported as personal experiences and observations; anecdotes of America’s premiere commune—The Farm—in Summertown, Tennessee. Modern, beat literature.
Parts 1, 2 & 3 are now available as e-books. Coming soon Parts 4—5
Table of Contents
Caravan Landing Party
Peyote Meeting
Life Out of the Box
Big Bust!
Hippie Holy Land
In the King’s Court
Mission Impossible
The Human Tumbler
Life and Death