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LEARN ABOUT THE GOOD LIFE

Helen and Scott Nearing practically invented the back-to-the-land movement. In the 1970s Maine experienced an influx of young, would-be subsistence farmers, many inspired by the Nearings and their Harborside way of life.

But the Nearings actually began their ascetic lifestyle many years before, starting in Vermont in the 1930s, where they bought a woodlot and a farm and began growing their own food. They built nine stone buildings over a twenty-year period and supported themselves through Scott’s occasional lectures and by making and selling maple syrup.

When a ski resort threatened to encroach on their rural existence, the Nearings moved to Harborside, Maine, to begin again. They did not wish merely to be farmers, they chose to make a conscious escape from the capitalistic world. Scott was a noted economist, political activist, college professor, and author of many booklets on peace, economic inequality, feminism, and environmental topics. He also wrote many books, including his 1972 autobiography Making of a Radical. Helen was a classically trained musician, twenty-one years his junior.

Scott and Helen also coauthored books, including Living the Good Life: How to Live Simply and Sanely in a Troubled World in 1954, which became a guidebook for many who wished to emulate the lifestyle. During the Vietnam War, hundreds of anti-war young people traveled to Maine to hear Scott’s anti-war message and study