 Wheeling, West Virginia I've wanted to write to you about Wendell Berry for a long time and this photograph reminds me of him. While I've never met Mr. Berry, in a way I feel close to him because he leads a life like I once wanted. As they say, life goes on when you're not looking and now I've grown accustomed to the ever building number of electrical items in my house. But I fully appreciate his lifestyle and give it lots of admiration. A few of you expressed a longing for it when you viewed my Bath County Farm picture. You see, Mr. Berry is one of our well-known Kentucky authors. Not only does he write stories, poetry, and essays, he is a full time farmer on a farm that is (as much as possible) far removed from our normal daily technology muzzle. I say muzzle, because I think you'd agree that it's sometimes suffocating and always worrisome even though we think it allows us to speak out. Normally, I would wonder what Mr. Berry would think about my words here, but he doesn't own a computer. In fact, his work is still written out in longhand and typed up by his wife on an old standard manual typewriter. He believes that the computer would take something away from it. I can see the point, for instance, if you write an essay critical of surface mining on an I-Mac that is powered by (at the root) coal from said surface mines. Or write out an essay against networking and then post it 'via the 'net'. In our society, it's easy to be a hypocrite. So, I thought I'd introduce you to Mr. Berry through a couple of essays. Now, I have to admit that I am much more a fan of the essays than the books, although there's a few that I have enjoyed browsing through at the bookstore. (I believe minimal consumption at the bookstore would make him happy even at the expense of his pocketbook. He has written something about this, in fact.) The essays, though, hit a note for me especially those on minimalistic living and low technology. I thought you'd enjoy Mr. Berry's essay on the computer. Please, if you read this, also read the letters and his response at the end. That's an integral part of it. Mr. Berry on computers Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front (A poem that's worth reading, in my opinion). Have a good day. (the above links might require you to hold down the control button in Explorer. Mr. Berry probably could have a few words to say about that too :) Comment (5) | Permalink |
4x6photo.com | Hat and coat | 15 September, 2005
