Why We Love New Society

When most authors visit their publishers, it means a tedious trip to a big city, taxi fares, smoggy air, high rise buildings and high prices for everything. A trip to my publisher requires none of this. Instead, one heads deep into temperate rainforests, crosses a couple of straits (ok, requiring ferries rather than taxis), and weaves along country roads until you find a fir tree with a crook. At the end of the narrow forest road is a lovely set of cedar-sided, energy efficient buildings, including the home of publishers Chris and Judith Plant, gardens, outlying cottages, chickens, and sundry pets. Utopia? Our hosts seem to think so. Here work some dozen staff, at least half of whom I've come to know via phone and email. Without exception, they have been wonderful colleagues. In person, they are even better---dedicated to their mission of publishing books that contribute to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and, while working in ecotopia, getting along famously and productively. Beyond this, their operation on Gabriola Island BC and their products are meant to have the least possible impact on the environment. How could an author writing about sustainable communities not love these guys? Further, if you want a model of humane "human resource management" (an absolutely unsustainable and disgusting term), go to their website, www.newsociety.com/ . No matter where you work, I'd guess their terms of service are better than yours. (Sorry, no positions open now or in the future. Folks like working here too much).
On our way back to the mainland, a stop at The Commons (with thanks to EJ Hurst), made us fully aware that community-based, environmentally-focused education, arts programming, architecture, gardens and orchards, and a good tract of wild land are also part of living sanely in this lovely corner of North America. When I asked how they managed to do so much on this 26 acre commons, their response: a unique set of bylaws protecting the commons (in the old sense of the word) non-hierarchical organization, consensus decisions, and care to take on only what than they can handle. The Commons surely enriches community here. On the ferry to Nanaimo, we looked back at Gabriola Island thinking it would be a very cool place to live and work. The crystalline air, sparkling waters of the Straits of Georgia, snow-capped peaks off on eastern horizons, and the prevalence of locally owned enterprises made us envious. I realized again why I am right at home with New Society.