Page 19 - C.A.L.L. #31 - Spring 2009

T. McClure has written this piece especially for C.A.L.L., suggesting that those
communities whose vision encompasses living sustainably with nature, should create a
collective identity by changing their names.

The Emerald Forest of Sustainable Communities

There has been a lot of talk about creating a whole new understanding of what the communal way
of life is now becoming. Why not use some new names and come up with some new identifying
concepts that will help us to bridge the gaps between the past and the present, and between the
young and the old?

Why not let the many names float around for a while and let them take their time to float up to
the surface, until we have become sure which ones we want to use and which ones we really can
live with, that don't stand out too much but are not completely forgettable either.

Why not call ourselves the Kindred Spirits of the Emerald Forest of Sustainable Communities,
and let those choose to identify with it or not.

The Kindred Spirits would be a good name for who we are, for obvious reasons.

The Kindred Spirits of the Emerald Forest refers then to the people who identify as being
supportive members of the Emerald Forest concept, which is about saving the Earth through the
creation of a large network of EcoVillages, or the sustainable communities, around the world that
will take deep root, and hold everything else in balance.

The Emerald Forest of Sustainable Communities would be used to refer to the voluntary network
of solidarity that we are forming as communities of people, that are linking up without becoming
dependent upon each other, like trees of a similar kind who can use each others support, even if
that means a little competition, who might be able to link up with a few other trees at the root
level, for the exchange of nutrients and resources which is done by a positive exchange and
mutual support.

T. McClure
edenproj@yahoo.com
http://sustcomm.com

In Memoriam

The world lost a communities movement icon when Kat Kinkade, community visionary and founder, died this past
July. She died in her room at Twin Oaks, from complications of cancer.

Kat was a founding member of three communities in the United States: Twin Oaks in 1967, East Wind in 1974 and
Acorn in 1992. She was also involved in the early Federation of Egalitarian Communities, a networking group linking
income-sharing, egalitarian, non-violent communities in North America. She is the author of two books about Twin
Oaks Community, which have been widely read by academics studying communal living as well as people simply
interested in this lifestyle. Thousands of people's lives have been touched by Kat's lifework, babies born from
relationships that blossomed in the communities she founded, and innumerable people finding a viable and vibrant
alternative to a mainstream way of living.

She was buried in the graveyard at Twin Oaks the afternoon of Friday July 4, in a simple ceremony. Two memorial
services were held: one at the local church where she had been an active member of the choir, and one at Twin
Oaks itself, with many ex-members and friends sharing their colourful memories of her life and times. Her
obituary appeared in a number of major national newspapers, in the US and Canada.

A memorial webpage has been created, and everyone is invited to post photos or write memories of Kat there:
http://katkinkade.ning.com

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