I recently had the privilege of spending some time speaking with Dolly Freed, author of Possum Living: How To Live Well Without a Job and (Almost) No Money. Dolly wrote the book, which has since become a cult classic, at the age of eighteen in the late seventies. When she was thirteen, she and her father began an extraordinary adventure. He quit his job, and the two of them spent the next five years living off the land in a humble house on half acre just outside of Philadelphia. The book gives an engaging, often funny account of how they managed to make ends meet and the bliss they found by forging out a life based on simplicity and happiness.
Since then, Dolly got her high school diploma by educating herself at the public library and put herself through college. She has worked as an environmental educator, a college professor, a NASA aerospace engineer, a wife, and a mother of two. Possum Living has recently been re-released in paperback, and Dolly has begun to blog about bringing the lessons of simplicity she learned when she was younger into her modern life.
Filled with amusing anecdotes, recipes for roadkill, directions on making moonshine and dandelion wine, and all sorts of other tips on living simply, Possum Living has made a resurgence lately as a new generation seeks out methods of living sustainably. I had a great time speaking with Dolly and we look forward to her becoming a contributor to Modern Hippie Mag.
Steve McAllister
In addition to serving as Managing Editor and contributor to Modern Hippie Mag, Steve McAllister is an actor, musician, accomplished author and filmmaker. His most recent novel, The McAllister Code is available as an e-book at www.themcallistercode.com. Find Steve on Twitter, @InkenSoul. Read his reviews and articles here.
Steve McAllister, Modern Hippie Mag's resident Lifestyle Guru, describes himself as a Renaissance Man. An author, filmmaker, songwriter, and perpetual artistic experimenter, he has recently re-released his second book The Rucksack Letters into paperback to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the journey. His latest book, a comical foray into philosophical science fiction, is How to Survive an Estralarian Mind Meld. His latest artistic project is The Labyrinth of the Unbroken Path. .
This book is amazing, and that's because this woman is amazing. The book has been around for years, but Barbara is still out there, traveling and promoting the joy she has derived in her life for working for her favorite person — herself.
I met her in Washington, D.C., at a seminar she gave, and in a desperate moment, I contacted her personally and she immediately gave me a wonderfully encouraging response. She practices what she preaches — she warns her audience that there are a lot of people out there who are altogether too happy to burst your bubble and try to convince you that it is your civic duty to work at a job or company you hate — and it's because people are jealous and maybe even terrified that you will succeed and leave them to be miserable the way you used to be.
Recently, I left a job and am freelancing. It's tough; there's just not enough work to cover my bills right now. But I am doing it on my own terms, and I would say that reading this book and talking with Barbara gave me the courage in myself to know that, if I want it badly enough, I can make it happen. She is full of ideas of what you can do and how you can use your strengths, and she's more than happy to give you her thoughts on untapped markets — because, let's face it, she knows that keeping her thoughts to herself won't make a difference in the world.
I recommend this book because of its content that never loses its timeliness. I urge you to find your dreams and run after them, and do it knowing that a truly amazing person helped to blaze the path for you.