A Man Apart : Bill Coperthwaite's Radical Experiment in Living

From the book's inside cover:

This story is part family memoir and part biography of Peter Forbes and Helen Whybrow's longtime friendship with Bill Coperthwaite. His unusual life and fierce ideals helped them examine and understand their own.

Coperthwaite inspired many by living close to nature and in opposition to contemporary society and was much compared to Henry David Thoreau.

Many environmentally conscious consumers fantasize about going off the grid and living a sustainable lifestyle.  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.  He did this for nearly five decades until he died aged 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."

I first heard mention of Bill Coperthwaite in the context of Wille Sundqvist's first visit to the USA. It was Bill Coperthwaite who extended the invitation to the Swedish woodcarving master which resulted in the well documented courses held at green woodworker Drew Langsner's place in North Carolina.

Hardback, 259 pages beautiful full colour photographs.

235mm x 235mm.