Scott Nearing: The Making of a Homesteader

Scott Nearing (1883-1983) has inspired an entire generation of disciples who are the current movers and shakers of the contemporary homesteading movement, and (not coincidentally) prominent among the author ranks of Chelsea Green books. Eliot Coleman (The New Organic Grower) actually lives on a piece of property that once belonged to the Nearings. Michael Potts (The New Independent Builder) lives on the "other coast" in tiny Caspar, California, but has found the Nearings to be the forerunners of the nascent boom in independent homes. Rob Roy (Mortgage-FREE!), Gene Logsdon (The Contrary Farmer), and even the editors of Mother Earth News are quick to acknowledge their debt to this intrepid pioneer.

John A. Saltmarsh's exhaustively researched biography captures both the complexity of Nearing's ideas, but also the simplicity with which they are grounded in practical experience. He traces Nearing's life from his fiery days as a social radical to the more peaceful days spent with his wife, Helen, on their model homestead at Forest Farm on the coast of Maine (now preserved as The Good Life Center by the Trust for Public Land). A must-read for anyone who who wants to understand where the concept of sustainable living was spawned.

John Saltmarsh is one of the founders of The Good Life Center, the Nearing's former homestead in Harborside, Maine. He is an associate professor at Northeastern University in Boston with a joint appointment in the departments of Cooperative Education and History. He has been a Visiting Research Fellow at the Feinstein Institute for Public Service for Providence College. He resides in Wayland, Massachusetts.