The book by Barry Laffin is about the Johnson Pasture, an open land commune
of the 1970s.
I lived up the road at the Total Loss Farm (Packer Corner) commune. The J.P.
had no one
from SNCC, that I can remember. Packer Corner, founded by Ray Mungo, myself,
and others, was an
offshoot of Liberation News Service, The Resistance, and other anti-war
groups. I came to it from the
Win Magazine/War Resisters League/Yippie/Resistance orbit. In addition to
Mungo's books, "Famous Long Ago"
and "Total Loss Farm," Peter Gould, another member, wrote the novel "Burnt
Toast" and the commune itself collaborated on
"Home Comfort: Life on Total Loss Farm." We were better at producing books
than we were producing farm products, but we tried! In the same town was
another commune, Mayday Farm, which included as early members Andy Kopkind,
Ellie Langer, Larry Bensky and other political writers and activists, but no
SNCC members. Red Clover in Putney was more overtly political and had a lot
of SDS people.
The Laffin book in an excellent sociological study. He was one of the few,
if the only, writers on communes to deal with the issue of class. The
conventional wisdom was that communards were all middle-class kids living
off their parents money. Untrue.In addition, as Laffin points out, class had
a lot to do with how the communes evolved.
Marty Jezer
Author:
Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words
Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel
Rachel Carson: Author, Biologist
The Dark Ages: Life in the USA, 1945-1960
Visit my web site http://www.sover.net/~mjez
Subscribe to my Friday commentary (by reply e-mail). It's free
Original Message -----
From: radman <resist@best.com>
To: <pnewbeck@zoo.uvm.edu>
Cc: <H-COMMUNAL-SOCIETIES@h-net.msu.edu>;
<sixties-l@lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 9:57 PM
Subject: Re: [sixties-l] Vermont communes
> Phyl,
>
> The book is "Communal Organization and Social Transition: A Case Study
from
> the Counterculture of the Sixties and Seventies" by Barry Laffan. Perhaps
> other list members can help with the rest of your inquiry? Are you
already
> familiar with Ray Mungo's books?
>
> =============================================
>
> At 02:29 PM 1/22/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >Back in April 1998, Marty Jezer mentioned a book by Barry Laffin on the
> >Johnson Pasture commune. At the time, he had loaned out the book and was
> >unsure of the title. I have been trying to find this book and any others
> >about communes in Vermont. In particular, I am interested in learning
> >about the communes populated by former SNCC workers. Any and all
> >assistance would be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >-Phyl
>
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