Cohousing-L Mailing List: New Cohousing Book, By You

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Dave Wann  WannDaveJr [at] cs.com
is the author of the message below. 
It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager <fholson [at] cohousing.org> 
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--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Hello fellow cohousers,

Good news -- I've just signed a contract with Fulcrum Books to produce an 
anthology of stories and photographs about cohousing in America. I'm excited! 
As an eight-year member of Harmony Village in Golden, CO (see attached 
picture) I'm convinced that there are many great stories to be told.

I want to acknowledge and thank Diane deSimone, a Tucson cohouser, for coming 
up with the idea of this book, and offering the idea to me even though she, 
too, is a writer. 

I've never edited a book before, but have written or co-written seven, 
including the recent Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic, based on several 
PBS programs, and The Zen of Gardening in the High and Arid West, coming out 
in April. 

A Different Kind of Neighborhood: Stories from Cohousing (or whatever its 
title ends up being) will ideally include stories and pictures from a wide 
cross-section of cohousing communities. It will be of interest not only to us 
cohousers but also to people intrigued by the idea and wanting to know more, 
as well as students of community design, and general readers who want to read 
about our experiments and innovations; our successes and failures: new ways 
of creating neighborhood support and social capital, of bringing renewable 
energy on line, of sharing tools and cars instead of duplicating everything, 
of learning how to experience food again -- a full range of what's being 
learned and unlearned in cohousing

So this note is a first call to the writers and photographers in cohousing -- 
I know there are dozens -- I've seen some of your work in CoHousing Journal, 
Mothering, Grist, and elsewhere.  I know this can be a great book, and I hope 
there will be interest in contributing. I hope those who see this note will 
spread the word -- maybe print it out and post it on your bulletin boards or 
email listserves. Urge friends and neighbors with great stories to write me 
or call me.

A few themes seem important to me, but I'm open to all others, too: 

1. How kids benefit from cohousing.
2. How the elderly benefit.
3. Specific examples of support, in good times and bad (achievements, 
weddings, funerals).
4. How cohousing can help people be their best
5. How an orientation toward positive change brings sustainability to the 
forefront, where it can be tested.
6. How communities got started, and how people learned to trust each other.
7. How physical design has fostered community -- special places, and things 
that happened in them -- common houses, open spaces, tables where discussions 
have taken place...
8. Stories of conflict and resolution.
9. Stories of personal quests for quality and excellence that led to 
significant changes in a community.
10. Stories of community-scaled challenges and how they were overcome (e.g., 
weather or fire disaster)
11. Stories about reactions to cohousing communities, from adjacent 
neighborhoods, and towns -- and extended families who think we're crazy until 
they come visit.
12. In-depth profiles of furniture-makers, gardeners, facilitators, 
biologists, doctors, and how their presence has enriched the community.
13. Stories that show how different personality types have different needs 
(e.g., as a friendly introvert, I'm grateful for a productive garden where I 
can be one-on-one with nature).
14. Community traditions and what they add to a neighborhood's culture.
15. The magic of place -- what the land and its natural history bring to a 
community.
16. Key conversations and how they influenced decisions.

You get the idea. These stories can be about anything, really, as long as 
they are authentic and lively.  We'll organize them into sections when we see 
what sections are necessary. They should have beginnings, middles, and 
endings. We want humor, detail, character development, color, celebration, 
sorrow. Imagine you're explaining an incident or ritual to your mother, again.

I think many different lengths will work. Stories that are engaging and have 
lots of texture can be 4,000 words. Others can be more concise and poetic, 
relating a whimsical incident or sudden epiphany. Pictures that go with the 
story are great, or pictures that stand alone -- e.g., a walker and a trike 
sitting next to each other in a common area, or the last tile being laid in 
the Common House.

Let's talk.

The book will be due about a year from now, but we'll need lots of time to 
develop ideas, do the writing and the editing. (I plan to write a story on 
the theme of number 15 -- the magic of place -- about wind, foothills, the 
garden, golf course construction behind us, dinosaurs, cougars, and meadow 
larks.) 

The editor at Fulcrum, Marlene Blessing, is very excited, too.  She and I 
have been talking about a cohousing book for a few years, and she agrees that 
an anthology is perfect.  In fact, she's just edited another anthology 
personally -- A Road of Her Own: Women's Journeys in the West.
 
I'd like to begin making arrangements and seeing ideas/material as soon as 
possible. I'm currently working on another book, Superbia! Remodeling 
America's Existing Suburbs, but it will be complete, the gods willing, by the 
middle of February. So I'm ready to jump into the editing process fairly soon 
-- after a brief getaway to Costa Rica at the end of winter.

Cheers,

Dave Wann
1015 Cottonwood Circle
Golden, CO. 80401

(303) 216-1281



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