A Man Apart

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"Many environmentally conscious consumers fantasize about going off the grid and living a sustainable lifestyle, but few are able to achieve that state. Bill Coperthwaite was an author, social critic, and architect who actually succeeded, living out his ecological ideals at a remote Maine homestead for nearly five decades, until he died at the age of 83 in a tragic car accident in 2013. In addition to his award-winning book, A Handmade Life (2003), Coperthwaite was famous for his design and popularization of a modern variation on the conical dwelling known as a yurt. In this loving tribute to Coperthwaite, Forbes and Whybrow have crafted an inspiring biography, complete with photographs and architectural drawings, of a man treasured as both a close friend and a mentor. Interweaving anecdotes of their own interactions with Coperthwaite, including the construction of a final, sunlight-filled yurt, the authors capture the full spectrum of this sometimes curmudgeonly man's gregariousness, resourcefulness, and optimism. Although Coperthwaite's dreams of worldwide cooperative and sustainable communities have not yet been realized, this reverent memoir will help keep his environmental ideals alive." "William Coperthwaite was a man of vision and integrity, as well as a personal inspiration to Peter Forbes and Helen Whybrow. His desire to live simply led him to a remote stretch of the Maine shore, where Coperthwaite's commitment to carving wooden bowls and building elegant yurts created human elegance answering to the beauty of his surroundings. Forbes's luminous photographs evoke this aspect of his achievement. Exceptional integrity can sometimes feel rigid or bruising to those whom it also attracts, however. As Emerson once wrote about Coperthwaite's predecessor Thoreau, "I'd sooner take an elm tree by the arm." A great achievement of Forbes and Whybrow in A Man Apart is to convey the complexity of this strong-minded life fully and honestly. Such an approach makes their reflections on love, struggle, and grief all the more powerful."--John Elder, author of Reading the Mountains of Home "This is a terrific book, honestly drafted and beautifully wrought. As it is with yurts, so it is with communities and with books-their lasting strength comes from the integrity of their parts and the genius of their joinery. Deep gratitude to Peter Forbes and Helen Whybrow for their work of grace and love."--Kathleen Dean Moore, author of Wild Comfort "What a rare and important offering. Peter and Helen have given us a deeply honest portrait of a man. We are invited to witness him from above, from beneath, from the side, from within, in his light, in his darkness. This story is about building one last yurt without knowing it's the last; it's about how one solitary man's ethic influenced the lives of many; it's about the complexity, joy, and frustration of friendship. Bill Coperthwaite once said, 'Bite off less than you can chew.' He was right! This book calls out to those of us seeking connection in our modern era. A Man Apart left me with the exquisite sense of having traveled somewhere and been transformed because of it."--Molly Caro May, author of The Map of Enough: One Woman's Search for Place "In this remarkable and deeply moving book, Peter and Helen tell the story of Bill Coperthwaite, a Maine homesteader, designer, and social thinker whose unique way of life and passionate ideals inspired all who knew him. Beautifully and sensitively told, the story explores the complexities of the relationship between them-the shared ideals, hard realities, disappointments, and joys of intensely interwoven lives. Bill's life-a monumental testament to creativity, brilliance, integrity, and courage-invites the reader to reexamine the profound questions of how each of us chooses to live a life. A Man Apart is a riveting and intensely human story-a treasure to be revisited many times."--Olivia Ames Hoblitzelle, author of Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couple's Journey Through Alzheimer's "Not many know that Walden is not just the product of a brilliant experiment in living: Thoreau spent two years penning six painstaking revisions to arrive at the classic book. In Bill Coperthwaite, Forbes and Whybrow discover a 'Walden' of a man, only to uncover gaps, in him and in themselves, between brilliant solitary achievement and the kind of touch needed to ground and guide a viable community. Many revisions, much pain and forgiveness, and only partial fulfillments follow. But if there is another way to move from our anti-culture into communities ruled by loving intention, I don't know what it is. 'Explore your misunderstandings to your advantage,' advises Zen master Dogen. A Man Apart does exactly that. This is a beautifully raw account of loving grief, instructive failure, and steadfast allegiance to an utter planetary necessity: major cultural transformation."--David James Duncan, author of The River Why and The Brothers K "What is a good life? The models offered by our celebrity culture are mostly shabby and shallow. To find worthier examples you need to look elsewhere-to books, for example, where you can meet Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Gary Snyder, Barbara Kingsolver, and Wendell Berry, among others. To that lineage of American rebels you can now add Bill Coperthwaite. In this eloquent portrait, Peter Forbes and Helen Whybrow document the search for integrity, wide-ranging competence, and high purpose, not only in Coperthwaite's life, but in their own. This is a wise and beautiful book."--Scott Russell Sanders, author of Earth Works: Selected Essays "Two remarkable people writing about a third remarkable man-and full of lessons for the ordinary rest of us. This is a lovely and important book."--Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy "A loving tribute to Bill, a wonderful man who inspired all of us with his dedication to indigenous building, natural materials, and above all else, use of human hands."--Lloyd Kahn, author of Shelter and Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter