Recent News

The Good Life Center’s three new board members have long-reaching connections to Forest Farm. Which one first visited Helen Nearing in 1982 (pictured above)? Find out in the Fall 2020 Good Life Center Newsletter here!» Read More

by Greg Joly I have a vivid memory of meeting the Langer/Defranza family at a spring Good Life Center Group of Stewards retreat in 1997 or so. Helen had passed less than 2 years before and the Trust for Public Land was in charge of a 3 year interregnum that was designed to make a fledgling GLC into an independent, ...» Read More

In the Summer 1952 issue of World Events, Scott Nearing headlined his article “The Flying Saucer Mystery” ahead of Recent Events in Korea, Preparations for Collective Suicide and his acerbic dismissal of John Dewey upon that educator’s death: “He and Sigmund Freud did more than any other men in the present generation to perpetuate the myth of individualism and glorify ...» Read More

by Henry Zacchini – August 2020 At turn of the current century, my wife and I were Resident Stewards at the Good Life Center for a couple of years. As the present economic and political crisis has evolved, it has brought me back to one of the last crises in the US; namely the 911 attacks. While the nature of ...» Read More

by John Saltmarsh – July 2020 As our country once again confronts the racism so deeply embedded in American culture, perhaps this is a good time to revisit Scott Nearing’s writings on Black Americans and racism in the United States. What, if anything, do his writings lend to our understanding of Scott Nearing and of racial discrimination today? Scott wrote ...» Read More

by Greg Joly As Scott Nearing observed in his 1929 classic, Black America: “Consciousness of their racial inferiority is constantly forced upon the Negroes by a widespread system of discrimination and exclusion levied against them for no other ground than their skin color.” (163) Nearing refused to relegate Afro-Americans into the sociological catch-all labelled “social problem,” and instead explored their ...» Read More

by Greg Joly Scott published his final book, Civilization and Beyond, in 1975 at the age of 92. It is the culmination of his thinking on economic disparages, politic power, the life cycle of empires, entrepreneurial homesteading, confederated “worldism” and spiritual enlightenment: In every social situation construction and destruction are Siamese Twins. One does not appear without the other. The ...» Read More

In these times of self-isolation and social distancing, taking care of one’s own needs seems more appropriate than ever. Helen and Scott Nearing’s legacy of self-reliance, first documented in their book, The Good Life, can inspire us all. In a leading article in the April 2020 issue of Down East Magazine, Melissa Coleman reflects on the legacy of self-reliance and ...» Read More

The Board of Directors of the Helen and Scott Nearing Good Life Center came to the difficult decision to close our 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We are saddened that the Resident Stewards for the 2020 season Joe Lerro and Rachael Schmoker will not be able to join us. We were quite excited to have their special talents ...» Read More

https://www.chestertelegraph.org/2019/12/16/left-in-andover-steering-toward-the-good-life/» Read More

Each year the Good Life Center offers a remarkable and unique opportunity for a responsible couple to live at Forest Farm, the historic homestead of Living the Good Life authors Helen and Scott Nearing. Forest Farm is located on the spectacular Cape Rosier Peninsula overlooking Penobscot Bay and the Camden Hills on the Maine coast. Public beaches, biking, kayaking, sailing and hiking ...» Read More

Our Monday Night Meeting series continues with another great presentation on the important issues of our time with Mimi Sheller, author and professor at Drexel University, will discuss her 2 books: “Mobility Justice” and “Island Futures: Caribbean Survival in the Anthropocene”The doors open at 6:30, arrive early to walk the Good Life Center grounds and gardens. Free will donations accepted.» Read More

Maine Dept of Agriculture’s 30th Annual Open Farm Day is coming up and The Good Life Center is once again one of the featured farms! Our highlighted speaker for the day’s activities is author and homesteader Kirsten Lie-Nelson of “So You Want To Be A Modern Homsteader?”. She lives & works on Hostile Valley Farm In Liberty Maine. There will ...» Read More

The mission of the Good Life Center (http://goodlife.org/) is to perpetuate the legacy of Helen & Scott Nearing through our programming and preservation of the historic Forest Farm homestead, advocate for simple and sustainable living skills, social and economic justice, organic gardening and the non- exploitation of animals. Located in Harborside, Maine, Forest Farm includes the home, library, garden and ...» Read More

Hands on apple pruning on the Nearing Apple Orchard. April 7th 2019, 10 am to NoonLed by Phil Norris, Arborist and Blue Hill Tree Warden No registration necessary, just come with questions and your own clippers! Call Warren Berkowitz with any questions 207- 374-5386» Read More

The Board and the Stewards are gathering as we do every year to talk about the past season and prepare for the ongoing future of the Good Life Center. This past Season was another great one with many visitors and our Resident Stewards jumped into the Good Life with gusto.  The board has been working with a nonprofit consultant Gary ...» Read More

The Good Life Center was so fortunate that our 2018 Resident Stewards, Carole Crawford and Chris Morrison, from Portland, Maine will be back next year as Resident Stewards again. We look forward to their energy and positive interactions from last year to our next season from June through October 2019. If you never got a chance to meet them, here ...» Read More

The Good Life Center Opens for the Season Thursday, June 21 Forest Farm, the final homestead of Helen and Scott Nearing, the prominent back to the land proponents and authors of “The Good Life” will open for the season Thursday, June 21. You can tour the Nearing’s stone house with their extensive library, stone walled gardens, greenhouse, and grounds. Visitors ...» Read More

NEARING RESIDENCY – Description & Application Process Remarkable and unique opportunity on the Maine coast for responsible couple. Live at Forest Farm, historic homestead of Living the Good Life authors Helen and Scott Nearing, on spectacular Cape Rosier peninsula overlooking Penobscot Bay and the Camden Hills. Located near Blue Hill and Deer Isle, Maine, an hour from Acadia National Park ...» Read More

It’s the little moments that guided me to my homesteading journey, and it’s the same type of little connective moments that keep me here. My first memory of homesteading is with my little dolls. The tiny moss-covered caves, inside the rock wall marking the property’s edge, is where they wanted to live—barefoot and with leaves for their handmade clothing, with ...» Read More

  Dear Friends of Forest Farm, Here at Forest Farm, 2017 has been a wonderful year. The house and gardens show the care and attention of many loving hands. Hundreds of visitors have spent time at The Good Life Center and been touched both the beauty of the farm and the continued importance of Scott and Helen’s message of simplicity ...» Read More

While we may not agree with what she says, we in academe should defend her right to say it, argues Jonathan Zimmerman. By Jonathan Zimmerman September 14, 2017 In 1915, the University of Pennsylvania fired economist Scott Nearing. He had supported a law barring child labor, which got him on the bad side of several businessmen on the university’s Board ...» Read More

HARBORSIDE, Maine — Decades ago, when eager back-to-the-landers from all over the country came to Helen and Scott Nearing’s home to meet the couple that wrote about and helped to define a new idea of the good life, they often would spend some time helping in the garden and then share a meal with the Nearings. Read the full story ...» Read More

Each generation has had one common desire: to live a more honest, ethical life of self-sufficiency and oneness with nature.» Read More

Currently hailing from Portland, Oregon, Jeanie and Alex are absolutely thrilled to spend summer 2017 caring for and carrying on the Nearings’ legacy. Married on Cape Cod in 2016, as part of their ceremony Jeanie and Alex made a pact to maintain an adventurous and spontaneous spirit. The coast of Maine is calling! Jeanie Kirk, a would-be 14th-generation Cape Codder, ...» Read More