(UPDATE! Click here to purchase Tribes of Eden for the Kindle. Nook and iTunes versions coming soon)
In the mid-1990’s I decided to write a book about aging. It was going to be a serious, deeply researched non-fiction book that would update the state of knowledge regarding aging. In the evenings, when I sat down to write this book — I had trouble concentrating.
Instead of working on the book, I spent hours thinking about, dreaming about and writing stories about a magical place that seemed to be calling to me.
I called that place “Kallimos” and I imagined it to be “the heart of the world,” a place where elders were woven into the fabric of the community. I began experimenting with a literary form called the “fictionalized memoir.” These stories were first published in 1996, the book was titled, “Open Hearts Open Minds” and it outlined the values embodied in The Eden Alternative. I did all the illustrations myself and, if you can find one, snap it up because it has become a collectors item. Jude and I only have two copies.
In 1999 a revised and expanded version of the story of Kallimos was published as a hardcover under the title “Learnging from Hannah.” Jude and I organized a 27 city bus tour for a stage play that I adapted from the book. It was during this tour that I first started to imagine the “Eden” with a clean sheet of paper that became “The Green House Project.”
In 2004, “Learning from Hannah” came out in paperback, retitled as “In the Arms of Elders.” It was at this time that I started thinking about a sequel to the story of Kallimos. I began by telling stories to Jude. She deserves, at the very least, a Medal of Honor for the many hours she spent listening to me as I haltingly brought this new story to life.
Those stories coalesced into a new novel, a sequel to the earlier books. This new book is called “Tribes of Eden.” It picks up the story about a dozen years after the end of the last book. Bill and Jude are living at Summer Hill among people who have believed in and practiced the Eden Alternative. Working together, they have constructed a string of villages along the unpaved Turnpike Road.
Outside of this “Edenized” settlement, the world is starting to come apart. We meet a family in Chicago who struggles to make sense of and remain safe from the collapse of society. Fleeing the chaos and ruin, fate seems to deliver the woman and her twins to Summer Hill, where they are welcomed into the community by Bill and Jude and the Council of Elders.
After that… well, lets just say complications ensue.
This new book— “Tribes of Eden” will be going on sale as an e-book shortly before Christmas. If you want to be among the first to know when it’s released, “Like” us on Facebook or send us your email below:
One of the most important things I want you to understand is that this book is being published by The Eden Alternative non-profit and that the proceeds are dedicated to advancing the cause of improving the lives of Elders and the lives of those who care about and care for Elders.
By having Eden serve as the publisher of “Tribes of Eden” we are returning to our roots. “Open Hearts Open Minds” was also published by Eden and we have long believed that spreading ideas that support change is part of Eden’s core mission.
We are also living in an exciting new age for books. In the old days, the only way to get your ideas out and into circulation was to print them on paper and sell them to people who were interested. It used to be like that with music as well. I can still remember how excited we would be when a new LP would arrive in stores. We would buy it, rush home and listen to it, over and over.
Now, both music and books are digital and we are much less reliant on the physical form of the product. Part of me is an old school book lover. Part of me misses the smell, the feel and the touch of a physical book. A bigger part of me is excited about how e-books will reduce costs, reduce waste, and increase the spread of ideas. “Tribes of Eden” is my first e-book and I doubt it will be my last. Those who have not yet made the jump to an e-book reader should know that we are going to take care of you as well. “Tribes of Eden” will be out in paperback in early 2012.
So, there it is. A story, now more than a decade in the making, is ready to emerge into the wider world. The story of “Tribes of Eden” asks and attempts to answer the question, “What is the value of Elders to the world as a whole? Can Elders and the young join together to really and truly, save the world?”
If you want to know my answer to that question, keep an eye out for the official annoucement and get ready to ride into the future with your old friends in the “Tribes of Eden.”
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