The Making of a Radical: A Political Autobiography

by Scott Nearing

Scott Nearing lived one hundred years, from 1883 to 1983--a life spanning most of the twentieth century. In his early years, Nearing made his name as a formidable opponent of child labor and military imperialism. Having been fired from university jobs for his independence of mind, Nearing became a freelance lecturer and writer, traveling widely through Depression-era and post-war America to speak with eager audiences. Five-time Socialist candidate for president Eugene V. Debs said, "Scott Nearing! He is the greatest teacher in the United States." Concluding that it would be better to be poor in the country than in New York City, Scott and Helen Nearing moved north to Vermont in 1932 and commenced the experiment in self-reliant living that would extend their fame far and wide. They began to grow most of their own food, and devised their famous scheme for allocating the day's one third for "bread work" (livelihood), one third for "head work" (intellectual endeavors), and one third for "service to the world community." Scott (who'd grown up partly on his grandfather's Pennsylvania farm) taught Helen (who was raised in suburbia, groomed for a career as a classical violinist) the practical skills they would working with tools, cultivating a garden and managing a woodlot, and building stone and masonry walls. For the rest of their lives, the Nearings chronicled in detail their "good life," first in Vermont and ultimately on the coast of Maine, in a group of wonderful books--many of which are now being returned to print by Chelsea Green in cooperation with the Good Life Center, an educational trust established at the Nearings' Forest Farm in Harborside, Maine, to promote their ongoing legacy. With a new foreword by activist historian Staughton Lynd, The Making of a Radical is freshly republished-Scott Nearing's own story, told as only he could tell it.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, History, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Philosophy

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1971

About the author

Scott Nearing (1883-1983) was an American conservationist, peace activist, educator and writer. Born in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Nearing is still viewed as a radical 20 years after his death. In 1954 he co-authored Living the Good Life: How to Live Simply and Sanely in a Troubled World with his wife Helen. The book, in which war, famine and poverty were discussed, described a nineteen-year "back to the land experiment" and also advocated a modern day "homesteading." Nearing's anti-war activities cost him two teaching jobs, and he was even charged under the Espionage Act for opposing the First World War.

Reviews

[Colton · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s a crime that no one knows this man.

[Alyson Bowers · Rating 2 out of 5]

it's always interesting to read auto-biographies and see what people choose to say and not say about themselves. I liked this book a lot for the political aspects and seeing politics through new eyes in the early 1900s. Although I liked this book, I did find him to rant and rave and stand on his soap-box time and time again about the same points of why capitalism cannot compare to socialism. Although I do like to compare the two, Nearing doesn't look at socialism's bad examples in society, saying that these bad examples are nothing in comparison with capitalism's atrocities. He seems to be very biased. Also, when he is fired from his job at University of Pennsylvania in 1917?, he likes to add a lot of newspaper quotes defending himself, because one, two, or even three articles won't defend him quite enough!
With all these failings, it is great to see a different life lead in America and how he's able to lead the "Walden" life, and to see him stick by his beliefs

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is good, and an amazing man who lived a century. You get a great history of the first half of the 20th century through the entertaining and eye opening lifestyle of this rational, driven, and forward thinking man. I'm saddened that many people will not read this.

[Rebecca]

interesting so far...how someone who started out with "normal" beliefs and upbringing eventually learned to depend on his own beliefs and ways of being, rather than relying on everyone else.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Where have all the radicals gone?"

(sung in the voice of Paula Cole, of course)

doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo