Voluntary Peasants/Life Inside the Ultimate American Commune: THE FARM, Part 2: The Commune/Year One: 1971-'72

Soon To Be a TV Series
True, far-out 60s stories—cool adventures, good vibes, warmth, humor. Entertaining and uplifting. The psychedelic sixties come alive in this multi-level history/memoir, written by a journalist who dropped out to live the story of the times and seek enlightenment.

This is an inside look into The Farm, an amazing 1,500-member hippie commune nestled in the backwoods of Tennessee. Enter what may seem another world—an audacious attempt to create a better way of living—an Earth-friendly, people-friendly, pacifist, eclectic, agrarian, vegan, spiritual community, cannabis church and home-birthing center.

“Imagine all the people living life in peace.”—John Lennon
That was us. We had it going.

An extraordinary journey from Greenwich Village beatniks in the ‘50s into the psychedelic ‘60s and ‘70s—heady, revolutionary times—times rich in lessons that can possibly help us now.

In the sixties, Melvyn was a UPI wire service reporter and editor. These are his far-out adventures coming of age, going with the flow—riding a powerful wave of energy that raised consciousness and shattered conventional paradigms around the world.

After attending Woodstock, Melvyn followed the energy to San Francisco, sampled the spiritual smorgasbord of swamis, yogis, gurus and chose to follow hippie “self-realized spiritual teacher” Stephen Gaskin on a round-the-country, 100-colorful hippie bus caravan. Hop on a fun hippie bus and journey to Tennessee to begin a new life and a new lifestyle, a lifestyle the world can afford.

Rich in warmth and humor. Entertaining and uplifting. The psychedelic sixties come alive in this multi-level history/memoir. Hop on a hippie bus and follow a hippie bus caravan around the country—100 multi-colored, refitted buses with 300 settlers on their way to Tennessee to live collectively, build our own town and live a fun, peaceful, meaningful lifestyle, simple, close to nature, good for kids.

For twelve years the community grew and Melvyn learned new trades as he worked as a farmer, carpenter and mason. He built houses, ran the community kitchen and bakery, was a flour miller, telephone repairman, apprentice auto mechanic, lumberjack, gatekeeper, editor of the town newspaper, and a DJ on the community FM-radio station.

Voluntary Peasants conveys sixties energy, vibes, mindscape and philosophy. Beyond sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll—beyond hippies, true tales of a remarkable experiment in collective living as thousands of high-minded people join forces, pool resources and attempt to create a gracious, meaningful, sustainable lifestyle the world can afford.

Leave the ordinary. Let your head soar free and take a trip—an extraordinary journey from Greenwich Village beatniks in the ‘50s through the psychedelic ‘60s and ‘70s—channeling those heady, revolutionary times.

After a devastating 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, Melvyn worked with The Farm’s own hippie Peace Corps, Plenty International and Guatemalan Mayans building schools, clinics and houses in remote mountain villages and a clinic for Mother Teresa in Guatemala City. For this and other humanitarian projects, The Farm was awarded the “alternative Nobel Prize” the Swedish Right Livelihood Award.

Voluntary Peasants takes an up-close look at Counter Culture Hall of Fame hippie guru Stephen Gaskin—dubbed by High Times: “the Gandhi of the counter culture” and examines the author’s remarkable student-teacher relationship, Most Influential Hall of Fame midwife Ina May Gaskin, the whole guru trip and the insidious workings of the phenomenon known as “groupthink.”
Voluntary Peasants is available as a 422-page paperback with 40 photos exclusively at www.voluntarypeasants.com. Voluntary Peasants will soon be available as an audiobook.