POSSUM POWER.

Posted on January 1, 2010
Filed Under 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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