Bend in the Wash

Book excerpt: In 1968, ten families scraped up $1,000 each for the down payment on an old guest ranch in Oracle, Arizona. What began as a bunch of hippies with a 1960s vision of living in a place to "do their own thing" would eventually evolve into a magical aperture, a place through which a great many artists and poets would pass. The families and individuals that live in Rancho Linda Vista today are the descendants of the original idealists that followed RLV founder Charles Littler into the desert, north of Tucson, Arizona.Paul Gold has written an eclectically researched homage to the dreams of a community, people who shaped their own lives, broken away from their parents' lifestyles and conventions. The oneness of the Rancho Linda Vista community is reflected in its past and future, described by its people. Bend in the Wash sheds light on generations of nonconformists who created a sustained way of living, weaving art into life.