Buying the Farm: Peace and War on a Sixties Commune

2. Early Days (1968–1969)

M 15 N 2 Early Days (1968–1969) As recounted by its early members, the first few months of the farm were indeed the time of “chaos” and “disorganization” described by Steve Diamond in his book. Looking back, these months seem a clear expression of the contradictions that had brought the farmers to their new home. With a mortgage to pay but little income to help pay it, with lighting from naked bulbs hanging from the ceiling, food from the local supermarket , and a television to supply entertainment and news, the farm in its early days did not differ significantly from the apartments and urban culture its inhabitants had left behind. As cars died from lack of oil and antifreeze and attempts were made to coax comfort from an outmoded coal furnace, as the Liberation News Service continued fitfully and Marshall shuttled between the farm and its various creditors, cleverly staving off financial ruin, the farm hovered on the edge between country and city, honesty and finesse, discovery and defeat, and the blessings and curses of the straight and alternative worlds. The farm’s material condition was paralleled by its social dynamics : principles were unclear, and action even less so. Who would wash the dishes? Who would work outside to help support us, and what was an adequate contribution to the welfare of the community? Discussions were held to determine who should be able to stay at the farm and who should be asked to leave. The youngest member of the farm at that point, 16 N CHAPTER 2 Linda, was a teenager. Should she have to go to school, as did others her age? Who was responsible if she didn’t? As Steve Diamond wrote, in this atmosphere of disorganization “we had to suffer the fickleness of random energy.” In layman’s terms, no one really knew what was going on. Beyond these difficult circumstances, another important ingredient was added to the mix. In such a new group of still-young people, in a time of evolving mores and styles of life, few were ready to settle down. As the months passed from August to late autumn, a number of the farmers came and went, and in some cases did not return. During the fall, Bill, Al, Linda, Marge, and Dave—minor characters here—all departed. Later, the lively and also self-named Wanka, who had taught much to the group about independent living, returned to her home in Connecticut. (In his book, Steve had admired Wanka for sleeping nestled in the hay of the barn and for proposing that each member of the commune have just one bowl and one spoon that they should each clean themselves.) As the coldest months approached, John and Lazarus, in search of adventure and comfort, decided to winter in a warmer spot. Now close friends who had bonded over the printing press and other LNS, farm, and personal matters, they chose Morocco. Earlier in the fall Steve Marsden had left to finish college, though he would eventually return, and one member of the farm family and an early partner in LNS, Harvey Wasserman (known to his friends, for his prowess at softball and alleged resemblance to the comic-book figure, as Sluggo), had stayed in New York that year to teach, returning to the farm only on occasional weekends. Besides the farmers themselves, urban friends often visited for shorter or longer periods as well, adding to the ongoing changing content of daily life at the farm. Travel, expulsion, city ties: all of this, combined with the demands of the occasional serious visitor or newcomer, brought an unsettled quality to life at the farm. By the end of the fall, with numerous battles of citizenship , common welfare, and personal animosity behind them, the farmers had become even more wary and guarded. Fresh arrivals were looked upon with skepticism, and peers were evaluated with newly educated eyes. A January trip to Washington, DC, for the dispiriting Yippie-run “In-hog-uration” ofRichard Nixon ended with Steve Diamond, Marshall, M 17 EARLY DAYS (1968–1969) and others returning to a house literally frozen. Something would have to change. This was the state of the farm when I arrived, just a day or two before Marshall and the others came back from Washington. The result was that our first winter was—as the writer Ambrose Bierce had so succinctly put it in describing the...