Nearing center to raise money> Support from land trust nears end

BROOKSVILLE — Friends of the late Helen and Scott Nearing hope the center honoring their way of life will become as self-sufficient as the celebrated homesteaders were.

Founded after Helen Nearing’s death in September 1995, the Good Life Center seeks to perpetuate the Nearings’ philosophy. Simple living advocates from the time they left New York City in the 1930s, the couple homesteaded in Vermont, and, by the early 1950s, here on Cape Rosier in the village of Harborside.

At Helen Nearing’s wishes, the Trust for Public Land in Boston agreed to manage her estate, including the homestead property, until it could become self-sustaining. The nonprofit conservation organization funded initial repairs to the stone house known as Forest Farm, got many of the books the couple authored back in print, and paid stipends to stewards who live on the property for one year in exchange for providing maintenance and guiding tours.

This fall, the center is launching a $140,000 fund drive as it embarks on its final year of operating under the Trust’s stewardship, said Molly Paul, the Trust’s development coordinator.

While royalties from book sales will provide most of the revenue needed over the coming years, donations are needed to provide the balance, Paul said. Proceeds from the yearlong drive are expected to cover setting up the center as an independent nonprofit organization, and maintaining and expanding programs.

Over the summer, the revival of “Monday Night Meetings,” a Nearing tradition, attracted more than 350 people. Among the speakers were author and homesteader Linda Tatelbaum, musician Paul Winter, poet Gary Lawless and herbalist Deb Soule.

A gathering of homesteaders held in the fall is expected to become an annual event. Future plans include programs for school groups, and conferences on topics such as technology and simple living.

In all, about 1,200 people visited the center in the past year, said John Saltmarsh, chairman of the center’s board of directors, and a biographer of Scott Nearing.

Much decision-making affecting the center is done by the “Group of Stewards,” a panel including musicians Noel Paul Stookey, Pete Seeger and Paul Winter; actor Ed Begley Jr.; and author Studs Terkel, as well as a host of area residents, many of whom were personal friends of the Nearings.

Despite the presence of well-known names on that roster, people interested in the Good Life Center are “not generally the wealthiest,” but nonetheless are avid in their support of the Nearing legacy, said Paul.