Loving and Leaving the Good Life

Helen and Scott Nearing were authors of Living the Good Life and many other books, and they lived together for more than 50 years until Scott's death at age 100. This book is Helen Nearing's memoir about their life together and their shared passions for self-sufficiency, simplicity, social justice, and peace. 

Helen was 24 years old in 1928 when she met Scott, a married 45-year-old economics professor who had been blacklisted by universities and publishers for his radical views. In 1932, the Nearings left New York City for a Vermont farm, beginning the homesteading life described in their Living the Good Life (1954), the bible of the back-to-the-land movement. Later, they moved to Maine where, during the 1960s and 1970s, they played host to 2000 visitors a year. For Scott and Helen, old age was a "time of fulfillment. Scott kept his strength and bearing all through his last decades." But as he neared his 100th birthday in 1983, he chose to leave the good life peacefully by fasting. 

This book is a beautiful and tender look at the life of an independent woman; it's also a glimpse into what it means to love and to face death bravely.