POSSUM POWER.

January 1, 2010
1970s, Books, Home, Interiors, Nature, Video, Women

This may be the most inspiring documentary I’ve ever seen! Dolly Freed wrote Possum Living : How To Live Well Without A Job And With (Almost) No Money at the age of 18 with only a 7th grade education. In 1978 it was published and became an instant classic for those interested in frugal living and DIY ideals. It’s a great relief to see people without ‘work’ and happy! Living off the land so peacefully. I wonder how difficult it is to settle into such a life? Owning a house with lush land helps and no mortgage payment seems like a must.

Words from Dolly Freed — “Why is it that people assume one must be a hippie, or live in some dreary wilderness, or be a folksy, hard-working, back-to-nature soybean-and-yogurt freak in order to largely bypass the money economy? My father and I have a house on a half-acre lot 40 miles north of Philadelphia, Pa. (hardly a pioneer homestead), maintain a middle-class façade, and live well without a job or regular income—and without working hard, either.”

PS: Dolly became a NASA aerospace engineer. She now lives in Texas with her husband and two children.

Thanks to Jeff Hnilicka for introducing me to Dolly. Now I need to read that book!

Possum Living the documentary was made in 1980 and directed by Nancy Schreiber.

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