"The Natural House" (1974) by Frank Lloyd Wright.

1. The Natural House by Frank Lloyd Wright (pictured above and below)

This book, published late in Wright’s life, squeezes a lifetime of thinking about homes and architecture into one small paperback. A fantastic distillation.

A list of the profuse illustrations in "The Natural House"

 

2. First Person Rural by Noel Perrin

Perrin is a widely read and very witty New Yorker with an eye for the unjustly neglected. Like most New Yorkers, he fantasized about leaving the city to chase romantic notions of country life in Vermont. Unlike most New Yorkers, he actually did it. His “Person Rural” books (this is the first of a series) tell the story of living in the country (the nuances of buying a chainsaw, the pains of maple sugaring in the freezing cold) like it is.  Part of the book’s charm is that his careful instructions are aimed at a New York Times reader as if they were actually planning on living in the country, while subtly knowing that they never will.

Original cover for "First Person Rural: Essays of a Sometime Farmer" by Noel Perrin (1990). Photo by Erik Heywood.

 

3. The Yankee Peddlers of Early America by J.R. Dolan

The loosely settled American frontier depended on much-needed goods being brought to them by the traveling wagonloads of Yankee peddlers. This book gives a very readable account of their lives, their wares, and their rapidly changing times. I think this model is the future of retail.

"The Yankee Peddlers of Early America" (1968) by J.R. Dolan. Even the frontier needed socks. Photo by Erik Heywood.

 

4. Eva Hesse’s Datebooks

A rare look into the life and thinking of a great 20th century artist. Yale have published exact facsimiles of two vinyl-backed datebooks used by the artist in 1964 and 1965.

Book of translations and transcriptions of Eva Hesse's Datebooks from 1964/65, which are faithfully reprinted handwriting and all by Yale University Press.

 

5. Four Arguments For The Elimination of Television by Jerry Mander

Jerry Mander has a lot of weird and fascinating things to say about the dangers of humans ingesting artificial light from televisions, but I think the most compelling argument for the elimination of TV is summer itself.

"Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television" (1978) by Jerry Mander.

 

6. F. Scott Fitzgerald and His World by Arthur Mizener

The OG party monster. This richly illustrated overview, written by Fitzgerald’s first biographer, pulls the reader into the thick of Scott’s sparkling, tragic life.

"F. Scott Fitzgerald and His World" (1972). The life and times of the man who made mint juleps inseparable from languid summer days.

 

7. Darwin and the Beagle by Alan Moorehead

A lot of armchair arguing still goes on about the significance of Darwin’s theories, but the 22-year-old naturalist did his homework the old-fashioned way — with a notebook and a ship. This oversized book is an amazing mix of color images and page-turning writing.

"Darwin and the Beagle" by Alan Moorehead. What if you went on a cruise and your ideas changed the world?

 

I asked Erik how he knew so much about books and this is what he had to say:

“I wouldn’t really know how to define my relationship to books. I love them, and I love the things that surround them. I have a weakness for bookshops and libraries. I can think about bookshelves endlessly. I love “reading furniture” and publisher’s histories and bookmaker’s supplies and old inscriptions and other people’s bookplates. I love the smell of books. When I was a teenager and everyone else was involved in healthy outdoor exercise, I was usually laying around in the grass with an open book laying on my face, breathing in the scent of the sun-warmed pages until I felt like I was in a daze. It’s still one of my favorite things to do and I don’t ever see doing it with an e-reader.  My favorite activity is working my way around my study, letting one book lead me to another, and leading me to books I’ve never heard of, which sends me out to more bookshops. I guess that’s how I know what I know about books: I’ve learned it from other books. I think it’s the best way.”

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Robert B. Thomas Farmer's Almanac, 1907

The oldest running publication in North America was first released in 1792, when George Washington was president. Practical and sound in its advice, it was of great help to a young industrious country. Like the hundreds of other almanacs in print at the time, it offered the familiar tide tables, sun and moon phases, eclipse dates, but it was its strangely accurate weather predictions that made it a huge success over its competitors. Utilizing statistical analysis, solar activity and weather patterns, Almanac founder Robert B. Thomas proved himself to be a reliable friend to the American farmer.

Robert B. Thomas

Not only was Thomas a savvy weatherman, he was extremely adept at marketing to boot. The Almanac’s motto “Useful, but with a Pleasing Degree of Humor” seemed to describe exactly what his readers were looking for. Almanac favorites such as how to cook a 1000 lb. ostrich and the best time to castrate a bull were balanced by a goofy sense of humor and became an iconic part of U.S. culture, Thomas even had the sense to punch a hole in the corner of the publication, making it familiar in American outhouses, where it could be read and used as toilet paper. At the time of his death, at the ripe age of 80 in 1847, Thomas’ almanac was the best selling magazine in the country.

It was also a handy tool in a court of law. In 1858, when a young attorney named Abraham Lincoln was asked to defend a man tried for murder, he refuted the prosecutor’s case using the Almanac. The accuser, claimed to have seen the defendant commit the crime in the bright light of a full moon. Lincoln proved his testimony to be weak, citing a quarter moon that would have made accurate identification impossible, and cast doubt upon the case. The press celebrated the job of the defense and the story became legend.

1796 Editon of the Farmer's Almanac

In 1942,The Old Farmer’s Almanac came to public attention once again when a German spy was arrested with a copy in his coat pocket. The FBI became convinced that the enemy was using the Almanac to predict American weather patterns and almost stopped the publication from printing. Luckily the publishers convinced the government that its “weather indications” rather than prediction would not violate the “Code of Wartime Practices for the American Press” and the Almanac was saved. The formula remains hidden to this day under lock and key at the Almanac headquarters in New Hampshire.

Released just once a year, the Almanac has remained something to not only read, but also rely upon. It even boasts the very same cover first unveiled in 1855 – a detailed “four seasons” drawing by the artist Hammatt Billings. There is something to be said for consistency.

Now available both in its classic print addition as well as contemporary online version, the Almanac continues to deliver. With its recipes, natural cleaning methods, fishing guide, repair tips, tips on watching meteor showers and even astrological advice, The Old Farmers Almanac has never gone out of fashion. It’s proof that practical wisdom, combined with “pleasing humor” might just be the perfect recipe for a long and lasting life.

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Johannes Itten, Die Farbe (The Color), 1944

Johannes Itten was one of the main pedagogical forces behind the Bauhaus and taught a foundation course in craft through the study of color and form. He originally trained as an elementary teacher before moving on to painting and color theory. During his studies of education and psychoanalyses, Itten began forming his unique theories on the creative spirit and how best to nurture it. A particular influence was Friedrich Frobel, “the inventor of Kindergarten”, whose pioneering ideas included young children’s desire for creative expression and the natural tendency to learn through play. At the time, this was considered groundbreaking pedagogy.

Johannes Itten (1888-1967), 1921, Image by Paula Stockmar

In developing his curriculum for Vorkurs, the “preliminary course” at the Bauhaus, Itten placed emphasis on spiritual openness and peace of mind as a means to free expression. He began class by practicing gymnastics and meditation. Itten’s course was required for all students at the Bauhaus; all the masters believed that a foundation in color, material and composition was crucial to the pursuit of any artistic endeavor.

The students were given raw materials – in Itten’s book Design and form: the basic course at the Bauhaus and later, he wrote, “It might have been wood, metal, glass, stone, clay, or textile that inspired in [them] the most creative work”. Students were then asked to improvise with the various materials. The course also included analysis of the painting masterworks; these were broken down by color and composition, reducing the image to squares of color. Itten said, “Color is life; for a world without color appears to us as dead. Colors are primordial ideas, the children of light.”

Itten's Colour Sphere in 7 Light Stages and 12 Tones, 1921

Today, introductory courses at many art schools around the world concentrate on color analyses and are a direct descendant of Itten’s “preliminary course”. These color theory courses are prevalent in America, most likely due to the numbers of Bauhausers who found positions in American universities.  Most notably is Josef Albers who headed the Department of Design at Yale. Albers had been Itten’s student at Bauhaus and went on to become the better known color theorist, though Itten was the originator.

The early days of the Bauhaus were marked by a Universalist approach — a belief held by both Itten and Gropius that the craftsperson is the true artist and everyone must learn by starting with the basics. This ideological harmony did not last long. Itten’s increasing interest in eastern philosophy, meditation, and Zoroastrian fire cults began to rub the clean-cut “silver prince” Gropius the wrong way. The students’ devotion to Itten served to further annoy Gropius.

Horizontal Vertical, 1915, by Johannes Itten

At the same time, Gropius was embracing new industrial technologies and took an interest in the potential of mass production. Itten rejected this believing that one must make individual work with no thought for the “outside world” or “industry.” Itten was particularly against receiving commissions for the school’s work.

But the tide was turning, and it was turning away from individual creation and towards a brave new glass and chrome future, replete with commissions. Gropius’ direction for the school forced the highly-principled Itten to resign in 1923. He was promptly replaced as foundations master by the technophile photographer Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Itten Giving a Class at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Courtesy of We Are BNC

After leaving the Bauhaus, Itten established a small art and architecture school in Berlin, and hired Ernst Neufert as an instructor – Neufert formerly served as the chief architect under Gropius for the Bauhaus buildings. The Nazis closed the school in 1933, and Itten went into a sort of design oblivion. Despite being one of the strongest early ideological influences on the Bauhaus school, he is not widely remembered.

Itten Farbkreis (Color Circle), 1961

FURTHER READING:

Johannes Itten. The art of color: the subjective experience and the objective rationale of color. Wily & Sons, 1970.

MOMA/P.S. 1 | Lessons from the Bauhaus

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Alice Waters at her Restaurant 1975

Over the last forty years, Waters has been at the forefront of the “good” food movement, introducing gardening programs into elementary schools -  “edible schoolyard” instruction that not only shows kids how to grow, but what to eat. She’s pushed presidents to install a veggie garden on the White House lawn (the Obama’s finally did it) and vigorously advocates locally produced foods in lieu of the international shipments of mass-produced grub – meals that are unhealthy for both the environment and consumer.

Heirloom Tomato / Image by foodandstyle.wordpress.com

Waters has also penned several cookbooks – including her newest – The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution. She also serves as a US “governor” for Slow Food, the movement toward local farming and cuisines, first created in Italy in response the opening of a McDonald’s next to the Spanish Steps in Rome.

All of these acts have made Waters a heroine to some, a pest to others. Critics accuse her of elitism – claiming that her push for good food is possible only for the rich and educated. It’s true Waters own tastes tend toward the more elegant and French-inspired recipes, but her advice to her flock is simple – try to buy local, fresh and as pesticide free as possible. Buy from a farmer/breeder who lives down the road. And when all else fails, grow your own. Over the years, these mantras have made Waters something of an icon – a longtime proponent of the backyard garden, small farm, and locally resourced, all organic cuisine.

Duboce Farmers Market in San Francisco 1944 / Image found at foundsf.org

Chez Panisse Poster 1972 by David Lance Goines

Illinois Farmer Heading Toward Industrial Food Production on his Farmall Tractor, Circa 1955 / Image Found at www.chillicothehistorical.org

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Helen & Scott Nearing

Scott Nearing (1883-1983) was an anti-war activist, radical leftist, college professor, frequently published author and well-respected economist when he left cosmopolitan life to seek out redemption through the working of the land. With his wife Helen, Scott fled from bustling New York to the fields and mountains of Vermont – searching for “the good life”, a simple way of living where self-reliance and frugality were key.

One might think the Nearings abandoned the city and went “back to the land” amid the great 1960s agrarian boom, when hippie kids everywhere were deserting suburbs and urban streets to raise goats and make cheese and cultivate organic crops  – embracing the farm as revolutionary statement.

Publications By Scott Nearing 1914 & 1916

But Scott and Helen departed Manhattan intellectual circles for the green hills in the darkest days of the Great Depression, effectively pioneering a culture to come. The War Scott had protested was the First and the society he and Helen were abandoning in 1932 was one of food lines and anti-Communist propaganda. The Nearings would settle in and settle down for a few long, cold years, managing to eek out a meager living amid the brutal New England winters.

Helen & Scott Nearing 1950 / Image by Rebecca Lefkoff

Almost entirely self-taught, the Nearings eventually evolved into productive farmers. Their subsequent experiments would pave the way for a new way of looking at both the land and at ourselves. In an era where the use of chemical pesticides were first being put into wide practice, the Nearings turned to ancient organic growth methods. They pioneered the use of greenhouse/cold frame growing, defying New England temperatures to produce crops year round. They abandoned Western medicine in favor of holistic health. They also, in the days of steak and potatoes, embraced a low impact, raw and vegetarian diet – based around whole grains and fresh, home-grown vegetables.

In 1952 the Nearings left Vermont, escaping ski resort development, and settled in the wilds of Maine. It was soon after, in 1954, that the duo wrote their well-known book, ‘Living The Good Life‘. It documented their first 20 years of defiant outsider farming techniques and the philosophies behind their work. Part homesteader guide, part political manifesto, the book would become a Bible for a new generation of young people looking to find their own bit of freedom on the land.

92 Years Old, Nearing Gives a Speech at the World Vegetarian Congress 1975

In the following years, the Nearings continued to farm, as well as becoming avid lecturers and authors (their nearly twenty book output cover topics such as making maple sugar, greenhouses and radicalism).

Scott, who had made living the good, low impact, low consumption, peaceful life his philosophy, went out with his belief system intact. At age 100, he made the decision to commit suicide by voluntary fasting, making his death as politically resonant as his life. “He was gone out of his body as easily as a leaf drops from the tree in autumn”, wrote Helen, “slowly twisting and falling to the ground”. Helen herself would live until 91, homesteading alone and setting up a foundation, The Good Life, which still carries on their revolutionary way of living today.

Kitchen of the 'Good Life Center' today

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Bronze Book Dart

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