Thursday, September 16th at 7 PM a special exhibition of the “Flash Collection” photography by  Jim “Flash” Miteff will be presented by his daughter Beverly V. Roberts at the Book Beat Gallery at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park.  This photographic exhibition and signing for her newest book; Portraits of American Bikers: Inside Loking Out, will happen at the Book Beat backroom gallery from 7-9 PM. This exhibition will continue through November 8th, 2010.  Please call 248-968-1190 for further information.

The Portraits of American Bikers book and exhibition features many photographs of the Detroit chapter of the Outlaw bikers taken in the mid-1960s by Jim “Flash” Miteff. This is the second in a series of biker portrait books recently published by Miteff’s daughter Beverly V. Roberts. The photographs provide a previously unknown insider’s look into the everyday lives of Midwest bikers from the late 50s to the late 60s.

These images are unique in the history of photography. Nothing like them has ever been compiled or seen publicly in book form before. These are authentic and rare evidence of a hidden world; a subculture previously unrepresented, shown only through the stereotyped sensationalism of comic books and mass media. These photographs provide a totally raw and unblinking view through the window of local Detroit and Midwest biker culture. The imagery of Jim “Flash” Miteff  marks the opening of new territory unreported before in documentary photography and deserving of our attention and understanding.  These are historic photographs of solid artistry and craftsmanship. Fresh. Newly discovered, vibrantly alive.

Miteff’s images are both participatory as ‘life-in-action’ and as a subject of observation at the same time. His work has the same unshakable and gripping authenticity as Diane Arbus, who is his natural contemporary. There is wildness in abundance, rough-housing, drinking, laughter, darkness and joy. He shows the same sincerity, devotion and access to subculture as a Larry Clark or Nan Goldin, but Miteff here is working a decade or two earlier and is the far better technician; knowing his way around the large format camera as well as Weegee or a street-wise  Atget. Miteff’s up-in-your-face stark style is like many of the older masters, an instantly recognizable style totally his own.

A comparison to the Bikeriders, a 1968 series of biker photos by Danny Lyon is unavoidable, and the differences here are most noticeable.  Lyon who rode with the Chicago chapter of the Outlaws reads foreign, self-conscious and somewhat distant, almost as a stranger entering a world he is framing and trying to explain. Some of  this difference can be explained in the tools each photographer used. Miteff  seems more comfortable inside this world, like an older statesman, taking the viewer by the hand on a poet’s journey.  He  is a totally self-assured photographer, knowing exactly where to position himself and when to shoot. Lyon took photos on the fly, quickly capturing time and images like a bandit, hit or miss, shooting from the hip, a style dependent on the Robert Frank and the snapshot aesthetic. Lyon maybe viewed his life with the Outlaws as an undercover -anti-Life-magazine assignment. Miteff is a slow-moving image taker, careful, plodding and organic. With a passion similar to the classicist Atget, famous for lugging his out-sized 19th century view camera through the streets of Paris,  Miteff  shows us the world of bikers in way that is both generous and truthful, and he’s a rare 1960s artist laying outside the circle of those following the lead of Robert Frank.  He’s earned the respect and friendships made inside a band of fellow brothers, who are equal and sharing co-conspirators in this survey.

Jim “Flash” Miteff made the Graflex Speed Graphic press camera his weapon of choice. It was a tool made famous by Weegee, the dark genius of  New York City Murder, Inc.  journalism of the 40s and 50s and author of Naked City. The comparison to Weegee is natural. Both photographers were at ease on the streets, using humor, high contrast printing and straight shooting the unadorned truth as their core value and simple bare-bones aesthetic. Photography in their hands was more than a recording device; it was a way to expose and rip apart the ‘American Dream’; a land they saw filled with inequality, mediocrity, oppression and social injustice. The 1960s in these photos takes on a patina borrowed from the 40s and 50s, partly the outcome of the camera used but also due to the fact of MIteff’s rank and trusted presence. He was also a skilled mechanic and repairer of motorcycles, an artisan always in need.

The Speed Graphic is a large format, heavy and imposing camera, the one always used by news hounds in cartoons and in old Noir films. Photogs with an outlandish comical camera always broke behind the police lines. However, the Speed Graphic is an odd choice of camera for a shooter in the sixties, made obsolete by faster more nimble 35mm SLRs., but Miteff was no ordinary photographer.  The Speed Graphic made him stand out in a crowd, it screamed ‘photographer’ and he knew it – people reacted to Miteff  in a way that was both posed and natural.  Speed and fast shooting was not Miteff’s game. He recognized the wild zeitgeist of the 60s MC world and saw it like classical theater; this was Shakespearean drama unfolding in front of his eyes, and he wanted to preserve it in the most rigorous and beautiful way possible, and so the older more stable Speed Graphic became a trusted companion. The camera produced  rich 4×5″ negatives, a perfect size for contact printing or the richest detailed enlargements.

Miteff’s photographs were carefully planned out compositions, almost reminiscent of stage plays or movie sets but blended with the humorous and absurd chance happenings of real life.  The photographer was clearly passionate about the material and subject matter.  The photos have retained their intimacy of subject matter with an eclectic vitality rising over and beyond sheer nostalgia. There is something nearly immortal about these biker portraits.  Here are everyday activities happening inside club houses, bars, the streets and woods;  pool players, smoking, drinking, driving, picnics and weddings; and at the center stands the motorcycle, a shinning symbol of freedom and the road. The images were created with such care and reverence that their power and resonance seem undisturbed by time. These images  speak to our humanity, zest for life and deepest fears. They are photos steeped in the 1960s a very specific time and reality, yet are also connected to the rich heritage of the MC stretching back to the 1920s. The Outlaw MC  worldview is one few citizens will rarely experience, yet here it is accessible as  an open book, a history exposed without limits and unsifted through the tentacles of the mass-media.

The public identity of  bikers has been made primarily through dangerous acts, perversity and the taboo. Here in the starkness of black and white are hundreds of images that tell a different story, taken from the golden age of the Motorcycle Club; most rarely seen and never published before. Like hidden treasure, these images were kept in storage for over 40 years and are only now being brought into the light.

The story of their appearance is one of a daughter’s love and determination to bring attention and light to her father’s artistry and unusual lifestyle. Beverly who was practically raised on a motorcycle, sought after the identity of everyone living or dead in each photo and was granted access into the closed world of the Outlaws who have sanctioned this work and see it as a true record of their time and history. Like sacred Native American hieroglyphs these images convey a history and code of life nearing extinction. The book is brought up-to-date with some of Beverly’s own images that chart the passage of time for some bikers now into their 70s. During his lifetime Miteff had shot hundreds of images of the Outlaws 1%-er MC, and now they are available to all; to be shared and savored for their raw power and intense energy. These photos are a pledge to the outsider-as-individual and the brotherhood law of the road. With beauty, humor and depth of style, Jim “Flash” Miteff has pulled off a moment of time preserved, a moment of truth understood.

The “Flash Collection” is an archive of photographs taken by Jim “Flash” Miteff while he was a member of the Detroit Chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club during the 1960s. The Outlaws MC is one of the largest 1%-er motorcycle clubs in the world today.

The term “One Percenter” (1%er) derives from a Life Magazine comment by the AMA (American Motorcycle Association)  describing a 1947 Hollister, California  ‘Riot’ that 99% of bikers were law abiding citizens and that 1% were outlaws.  This tag has been used to describe the Bandidos, Hells Angels,  Outlaws and Sons of Silence. — source; Wikipedia

Autographed books, posters and original photographs will be available for sale through the Book Beat gallery.

A review of  Portraits of American Bikers by “The Road Captain” can be read here ; http://roadcaptainusa.com/2010/05/20/portraits-of-american-bikers-life-in-the-1960s/

Beverly V. Robert’s first book of biker photos is reviewed here at “Thunder Press”; http://www.thunderpress.net/MONTH_ARTICLE-pdfs/2009/0209/PortraitsRevie/PortraitsRevie.shtml

source: all photos (c) Flash Collection 2010, Beverly V. Roberts

Amy Goldman Koss is a Detroit / Southfield native who has written several books of fiction for young adults including, The Girls, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and The Cheat.  Amy Goldman Koss currently lives in Glendale, CA with her family.  Check out her website www.amygoldmankoss.net.

“While this background is serious, the story has a lot of humor and a bit of romance. Jacki’s relationship with her supportive friend Emily is both realistic and admirable, but the interactions between Jacki and her family members take center stage. This novel offers readers likable characters and a personal narrative of economic woes. It will keep them turning the pages.” Review from the School Library Journal

We had a chance to talk briefly with author Patrick Rothfuss after his May 2nd book signing held at the Baldwin library.  About 70 of Patrick’s enthusiastic fans came out to hear him speak about The Name of the Wind and its upcoming sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear.

Patrick read a little from his amusing column “The College Survival Guide”, and talked about blogging, writing, teaching, his  family and connecting to the community of fantasy  authors. He also announced the publication of a dark satirical fantasy book, THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCESS & MR. WHIFFLE, a title we will have in stock soon.

Of contemporary fantasy writers, Rothfuss recommended three;  Brandon Sanderson,  UK author Joe Abercrombie, and a woman writer currently living and teaching in Chicago; Nnedi Okorafor. Patrick noted he especially liked Okorafor’s ZAHRAH, THE WINDSEEKER, winner of the 2008 Wole Soyinka Prize for literature in Africa.

When asked what world lit classics helped shape his vision, Patrick chose three;  Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and the Memoirs of Giacomo Casonova.

We look forward to another visit with Patrick Rothfuss, hopefully when the sequel is published around March 2011.

Patrick discusses the finer merits of each book jacket to the first edition. Signed copies of the trade paperback edition of The Name of the Wind, are available now at the Book Beat, please call or write soon to hold one.

New York Times Best-Selling Author Patrick Rothfuss will be at the Baldwin Public Library, (300 West Merrill Street, Birmingham) on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm.

His debut fantasy novel, The Name of the Wind has received high praise in the world of fantasy fiction and his fans are eagerly waiting for his next title to be released.  Rothfuss will be there for a reading, signing and Q and A session.   Come out to meet this exciting new fantasy writer.   Books will be available for purchase at the event from Book Beat.

“The Name of the Wind marks the debut of a writer we would all do well to watch. Patrick Rothfuss has real talent, and his tale of Kvothe is deep and intricate and wondrous.”

Author Laura Lee will be reading and signing her latest book, BROKE IS BEAUTIFUL: Living and Loving the Cash-Strapped Life at Book Beat on Wednesday, April 21st from 7:00-8:00 PM. This will be an entertaining and fun event for all ages, and especially anyone facing the realities of a financial downturn. The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield, in Oak Park.

Broke is Beautiful is a fun lighthearted read with wise and witty observations on the “joys of being broke” — its not a how-to guide – but more of a social and cultural book on financial awareness and the lighter side of “debt-free” living in these tight and often high-pressure times. Laura Lee is a local Detroit area author who knows the lay of the land, and lives the broke life proudly.   

“We’re all ignorant, only on different subjects”  — Will Rogers

“…the key to a feast is not the price or exotic nature of the ingredients, it is the degree to which you savor the experience.”  — Laura Lee

The economic downturn has forced nearly everyone into a life of limited means, but author Laura Lee was broke before it was cool. She won’t tell anyone to clip coupons or forego their morning latte—in fact, she won’t give any guidance on how to be saved from a dark financial destiny. Instead she provides readers with a psychological how-to full of fun tidbits. Broke is Beautiful is an insightful compendium of history, inspiration, facts, and humor that all celebrate the lack of money as a gateway to more serenity, self-awareness, and yes, even security.

In the tradition of Alain de Botton’s How Proust Can Change Your Life and Eric Wilson’s Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy, here is an unconventional take on a subject that is relevant to us all. It is quirky comfort for the (literally) poor soul: offering historical and geographic perspective, ponderings on consumerism and credit scores, and even recipes for ramen noodles.

Laura Lee is the author of ten books and is still financially strapped.  Check out her blog; Broke is Beautiful -worth checking out for its oddball celebration on the endtimes of consumerism and its fun-loving take on all that is broke, busted and more spiritually evolved.

We are pleased to present photographer Andrew Moore appearing at the Oakland Community College Theater at the Royal Oak Campus on  Friday, April 30th at 7:00 PM to autograph and talk about his latest large format photography book Detroit Disassembled. This controversial new book is one of the first to focus extensively on the ruins of Detroit. It raises important questions concerning all of us who live in the Detroit area. This event is co-sponsored by Oakland Community College and the Book Beat. Oakland Community College is located at 739, South Washington in Royal Oak. For more information please contact: Book Beat at 248-968-1190. Books are  now available for purchase at  Book Beat or at the event.

Andrew Moore is a fine arts photographer, educator, cinematographer and producer. His previous book, Russia: Beyond Utopia, was published by Chronicle Books. Moore was executive producer and cinematographer for the Award Winning documentary on artist Ray Johnson, How to Draw a Bunny. He currently lives and works in New York City.

Moore ventures well beyond the typical shoot-and-run exploiter, yet I cannot shake the disturbing feeling I get when I view these photographs. I think I understand Moore’s intent, and I even accept that he may have achieved his artistic purpose. Yet I find his photographs unremittingly bleak. – Read More: John Gallagher, The Detroit Freepress

The primary signs of life in Moore’s photographs come not from humans, but from nature: mossy grass grows in buildings, trees crawl from warehouses, and houses are swallowed whole by reaching vines. Moore’s postscript—and more quietly but importantly, his photographs—invoke Detroit’s motto, Speramus Meliora, Resurget Cineribus: “We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes.” –Read More: The New Yorker

Is Detroit America’s Rome?… Moore’s vision is more lyrical, almost optimistic. The sight of fluorescent moss carpeting a floor or birch trees sprouting from a bed of rotting books signifies for him not — or not only — a boomtown’s tragic collapse but an occasion to devise a new urban paradigm, one that incorporates vast swaths of woods and farmland. Moore’s Detroit, though sparsely populated, is not a ghost town.    -from a recent review in: the New York Times: Ruin With a View

Beyond their jawdropping content, Moore’s photographs inevitably raise the uneasy question of the long-term future of a country in which such extreme degradation can exist unchecked. -Publisher’s website blurb for Detroit Disassembled

“Andrew Moore’s images, by contrast, transcend politics….his photographs comprise an other­worldly calculus of a profoundly troubled nation eternally uncertain of its place in the world.“ – Boris Fishman on Russia: Beyond Utopia

Andrew Moore is best known for his complex and painterly images of Cuba, Russia, and New York City. He has had nine solo shows in New York as well as numerous exhibitions in the U.S. and internationally. His photographs are represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Library of Congress, the Israel Museum, the High Museum, the Eastman House and the Canadian Centre for Architecture amongst others. Moore has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, The New York State Council on the Arts, and several private foundations.  His photographs have been published by Wired, The New York Times Magazine, Departures, Conde Nast Traveler, Art and Auction, Geo, Vogue, Rolling Stone, Harpers, Esquire, Fortune, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker.

Book Beat reading group meeting April 28th

There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor’s Baby: Scary Fairy Tales (Paperback) Masterworks of economy and acuity, these brief, trenchant tales by Russian author and playwright Petrushevskaya, selected from her wide-ranging but little translated oeuvre over the past 30 years, offer an enticement to English readers to seek out more of her writing. The tales explore the inexplicable workings of fate, the supernatural, grief and madness, and range from adroit, straightforward narratives to bleak fantasy.

The Book Beat reading group meets the last Wednesday of every month. Our next meeting is Wednesday, April 28th at 7:00 PM at the Goldfish Teahouse, 117 W. Fourth Street  in Royal Oak.  Meetings are free and open to the public. Book club books are discounted 15% at Book Beat. Please call 248-968-1190 for more information.

Find out more on Ludmilla at:  SCARY FAIRY TALES blog

Celebrate Children’s Day/Book Day April 30th:El día de los niños / El día de los libros

El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Children’s Day/Book Day), known as Día, is a celebration EVERY DAY of children, families, and reading that culminates every year on April 30. The celebration emphasizes the importance of advocating literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

International(click here): Save the Frogs Day is April 30th!

SAVE THE FROGS! is America’s first and only public charity dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation. Our mission is to protect amphibian populations and to promote a society that respects and appreciates nature and wildlife.

Celebrate (click here): National Arbor Day on Friday, April 3oth!

Arbor Day is a nationally-celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and care. Founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, it’s celebrated on the last Friday in April.

Perfect book for Arbor Day April 30th: & illustrated by local Artist Cyd Moore!

Arbor Day Square (Hardcover) Katie and her papa are among a group of settlers building a town in the middle of the dusty, brown prairie. Every week the trains bring more people and more lumber to build houses, fences, and barns. New buildings are erected: a church with a steeple, a store with glass windows, even a schoolhouse with desks for seventeen children.

But one thing is missing: trees.

When the townspeople take up a collection to order trees from back east Katie adds her own pennies and Papa’s silver dollar. When the tiny saplings finally arrive, Katie helps dig holes and fetch water. Then, in a quiet corner off the public square, Katie and Papa plant a flowering dogwood in memory of Mama.

Although set in the past, Kathryn O. Galbraith’s gentle story of community building, the timelessness of love, and the power of ritual will resonate with young readers today. Cyd Moore’s full-color illustrations reflect the simplicity of the story and life in a new prairie town, while evoking the complexity of its themes.

“An attractive introduction to the celebration of Arbor Day.”

Booklist

“Moore’s gentle pencil and watercolors lend a classic “storybook” feel to the story…”

Kirkus

Sunday, May 2nd, Fantasy Author Patrick Rothfuss at Baldwin Library

New York Times Best-Selling Author Patrick Rothfuss will be at the Baldwin Public Library, (300 West Merrill Street, Birmingham) on Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm.

His debut fantasy novel, The Name of the Wind has received high praise in the world of fantasy fiction and his fans are eagerly waiting for his next title to be released.  Rothfuss will be there for a reading, signing and Q and A session.   Come out to meet this exciting new fantasy writer.   Books will be available for purchase at the event from Book Beat.

“The Name of the Wind marks the debut of a writer we would all do well to watch. Patrick Rothfuss has real talent, and his tale of Kvothe is deep and intricate and wondrous.”

Thank you for your continued support.

Happy Earth Day, April 22!

Join us at Book Beat on Sunday, April 25th at 2:00 PM for a very special talk and book-signing with Detroit area artist, sculptor and author David Barr. This will be  a rare chance to meet and discuss the life work of this engaging and creative spirit, an afternoon filled with art, adventure, mystery and memory. The Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield in Oak Park.

“What is significant about art, is what we share as human beings.” –David Barr

David Barr is an internationally recognized artist from the Detroit area. His most recognized work locally is his magnificent “Star Gate” sculpture situated at the front of Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit. Titled Transcending, this unique sculpture was financed through the Labor Union movement and is connected to Labor and its spirit of defiance and sacrifice.

David has recently been completing work on several books that collect his artistic and personal history. His large format art book Crossing Lines was published last year. It carries the reader to some of the world’s most intriguing, mysterious and remote locations. Filled with 180 color and black and white illustrations, the book narrates the various projects David Barr has been involved with over the past thirty years. His recent book Amercordo: (I Remember) American Style is a collection of recollections and observations from the mid-century American Midwest to Tuscany, the mid-west of Italy.

His work on the Four Corners Project, begun in 1976, spanned a full decade with installations in Greenland, Africa, Irian Jaya and Easter Island. Other geo-structurist works include Arctic Arc in Wales, Alaska, and Naukan, Russia, and Sunsweep on the US/Canada border at Campobello Island, New Brunswick, in Northwest Angle, Minnesota, and Point Roberts, Washington. Here, in his home state, David’s works can be seen at such locations as Chrysler World Headquarters (Revolution), Flint’s Bishop Airport, (Soaring), Detroit Zoo (Source), State of Michigan Historical Museum (Polaris Ring) and Meadowbrook Festival Grounds (Sunset Cube).

In 1988 David Barr was awarded the Governor’s Michigan Artist Award. In his acceptance speech he told the audience of his desire to create a Michigan Art Park – a place where artists could tell the story of our state in and through the fundamental materials of nature. That dream has become a reality in 1995 with the Michigan Legacy Art Park , located within the boundaries of Crystal Mountain on M-115 between Cadillac and Benzonia near Thompsonville.

David Barr is a graduate of Wayne State University and recipient of the WSU Distinguished Alumni Award. He served on the faculty of Macomb Community College and has received awards, including citations from the Arts Foundation of Michigan and Citizens Concerned for the Arts in Michigan. His work can also be seen at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Arts, Fort Lauderdale Museum, Portland Art Museum, Tel Aviv Museum and the University of Michigan.

This event has ended, but we do have some signed first editions of STITCHES still available – New York Times #1 bestseller, and just nominated for the National Book Award, please call or order soon!

View a cinematic look inside the pages of STITCHES:

Caldecott Award winning artist and author David Small will be presenting his highly acclaimed new graphic novel style memoir  STITCHES at the Book Beat Friday, October 16th, from 7-8:30 PM. STITCHES is a deep look into the author’s often painful past, filled with memories and scenes of growing up in the Detroit area. Truly one of the highlights of this fall’s list, STITCHES is an adult graphic memoir/ black-comedy that is both hilarious and sad, surreal and grotesquely too real. David has prepared a special slideshow presentation and we will moderate a discussion that is not to be missed. Please welcome David Small back to his hometown that has filled him with an abundance of energy, inspiration and creativity.

David Small, with his ground-breaking work, has elevated the art of the graphic novel and brought it to new creative heights. (Stan Lee, co-creator of Spider-Man and other Marvel Comics )

David Small evokes the mad scientific world of the 1950s beautifully, a time when everyone believed that science could fix everything….Capturing body language and facial expressions subtly, Stitches becomes in Small’s skillful hands a powerful story, an emotionally charged autobiography. (Robert Crumb )

“Stitches is as intensely dramatic as a woodcut novel of the silent movie era and as fluid as a contemporary Japanese manga. It breaks new ground for graphic novels.” -Françoise Mouly, Art Editor of The New Yorker

Small earned the 1997 Caldecott Honor and The Christopher Medal for The Gardener, with Sarah Stewart, his wife, recipient of the 2007 Michigan Author Award. In 2001 he won the Caldecott Medal for So You Want to Be President?, combining political cartooning with children’s book illustration. Small’s drawings have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.

David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in an historic manor house in Mendon, Michigan.

A public reception for the newly published memoir will happen from 5-8 PM on May 2 at Via Nove in Ferndale. This event is free and open to the public. Via Nove is located at 344 West 9 Mile Road in Ferndale.

Lucky Girl journeys into the rich Chinese culture—its magnificent sights, war-torn history, and sumptuous foods—while it reveals the personal suffering wrought by the country’s tightly-held traditions. Mei-Ling finds that although both her Chinese and American families have shaped her identity, in the end it’s up to her to figure out who she is. Hers is a tale of love and loss, frustration, hilarity, deep sadness and great discovery that helps her understand the meaning of family.

We are delighted to be helping supply books for his appearance at the Gross Pointe Libaray on April 9th. If it is possible for you to attend this lecture do it.  His talk, “The Most Important Number in the World: Saving the Planet and Maybe Even the Auto Industry,” will take place on Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.  He will be focusing on the current financial crisis and the potential of a green economy as part of the economic recovery, as well as job creation in industries such as wind and solar energy, transportation, construction and food production.  His message is one of hope and clarity.  Admission is free, but a ticket is required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Grosse Pointe Central Library at 313-343-2074 x220.

His latest book,  Deep Economy:The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future was published in 2007.  In Deep Economy, McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases, he says, need not be at odds with the things we truly value. The animating idea of Deep Economy is that we need to move beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction — relying more on locally grown foods, energy and culture.

McKibbin’s experiment of a year spent eating locally is covered in one chapter, as he digs into new urban farming, and the explosion of local farmer’s markets. He also tells the sad tale of how surplus industrial food is dumped into our public school systems, which explains what McKibben describes as the endless “Sloppy Joe monotony of lunch lines across the country…. the problem is  cheap, fast, easy food doesn’t deliver”. He suggests shifting or ending the subsidized industrial farming practices and giving support directly to farmers who support the local economy.

This idea is extended in chapters that deal with energy and communication, where the viability of local radio, NPR,  bicycle propelled cities (Holland), local currency, community living and high quality mass-transit are more than just pipe-dreams. McKibben knows better than anyone, that we are less than an inch away from disaster and points to every mistake and flaw in the system, yet he’s also a person with smart solutions and political savvy. His influence was most pronounced on Vice-President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore who has quoted from and endorsed McKibben in numerous lectures and books.

The underlying message in Mckibben’s work is that there is an abundance of hope and people of vision in the world. There may be no perfect order,  but there are lessons to learn. From Europe, whose cultured people work to live and not live to work, to Kerala, a poor section in India that has achieved the highest literacy rate in the world and a longer life expectancy then in America. Hope is an important commodity today, and McKibben offers it up in big helpings. We need to only listen and act. Deep Economy is an important manifesto for our times.

From an article in The Nation: The author of a dozen books and countless magazine articles, McKibben is ubiquitous on the sustainability scene–the go-to environmentalist for keynote speeches, forewords, blurbs and anthologies. He has now compiled a collection of selected work, The Bill McKibben Reader, and it reveals a writer whose environmentalism runs deeper than the mainstream versions he’s helped to inspire. The contemporary “green” resurgence is still largely limited to small-bore economic and personal adjustments–hybrid vehicles, cap-and-trade proposals, solar panels. McKibben’s environmentalism, by contrast, is essentially religious: a guiding set of beliefs about what humans owe to a sacred source of life.

We were recently lucky to locate a small supply of  Deep Economy and The Bill McKibben Reader as publisher remainders, and are be able to pass on a substantial savings to our customers and those who attend the lecture. We hope to see you at Bill’s talk April 9th. Please call to reserve signed books.  Earth Day is April 22nd — and now is a good time to consider and reflect on our carbon footprint and our impact on the environment.

350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world
around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that justice demands. Join the 350 movement and watch this short Bill McKibben video (350 seconds on 350):