Gandhi Today: A Report on Mahatma Gandhi's Successors + The Community of The store Ark, Mark Shepard

"Mark Shepard's writings on social alternatives have appeared in over 30 publications in the United States, Canada, England, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, and India. The American Library Association Booklist called his "Gandhi Today" "a masterpiece of committed reporting." Google Books

Both of these paper back books are in like-new condition, found in a Boston, MA estate. They have been in a closet since the early 1990's. I doubt if either of them has been opened or read.

"Gandhi Today: A Report on Mahatma Gandhi's Successors

What became of the Gandhian tradition in India following the death of Mahatma Gandhi? Did it quietly die away? Or were there still Indians who believed in his philosophy and methods, committed to continuing his work?

These were the questions that sent independent journalist Mark Shepard to India in 1978-79. There he found that the tradition begun by Gandhi was very much alive, in such individuals, groups, and movements as:

-- An acclaimed saint who collected over four million acres in gifts of land for the poor.

-- A leader of a nationwide protest movement that helped topple India's ruling party in the mid-1970s.

-- A Peace Army that fought riots with nonviolence.

-- A "Hug the Trees!" movement that physically blocked excessive logging in the Himalayas.

-- A People's Court that even tried cases of murder and government corruption.

-- A development center helping 400 villages rise from poverty.

-- A nationwide movement of villages in which all land was held in common and decisions were made by unanimous consent.

Learn about all these and more in this engaging report on the legacy of the twentieth century's greatest peacemaker and revolutionary." Google Books

The Community of the Ark: A Visit to the Utopian Communities of Lanza del Vasto and His Disciples of Gandhi

"France's Community of the Ark is one of the past century's most successful experiments in utopian living. Founded by Lanza del Vasto, a Christian disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, it offers an inspiring model for a nonviolent society. Mark Shepard shared store the life of this remarkable community for six weeks in 1979 and reported on what he found." Amazon.com