Fall 2008
The Precursor to Google
Whole Earth Catalog achieves iconic status with tools for living
Stories by Barbara Cloud
Photos by R. Marsh Starks
What did previous generations ever do without Google? According to Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs, the '60s generation had its own, admittedly primitive, equivalent: a book called the Whole Earth Catalog.
Described by its creator, Stewart Brand, as a collection of tools for living, this handbook for hippies, doit- yourselfers, and early advocates of self-sufficiency is the subject of history professor Andrew Kirk's latest book.
Kirk, who came to UNLV in 1999 to start the public history program, says his interest in the Whole Earth Catalog grew out of his research for his first book on environmentalism, Collecting Nature: The American Environmental Movement and the Conservation Library (University Press of Kansas, 2001).
"Whole Earth kept coming up in discussions about everything from solar energy to organic gardening, and so I did a little research on the catalog and included a brief mention of how the publication became a forum for alternative environmentalism."
Kirk subsequently visited Stanford University to research the Whole Earth collections and wrote several articles about how the work served as "an important voice for the emerging appropriate technology movement that evolved into today's sustainability and ecological design movements."
The historian also traveled around the West, touring commune sites and places like Biosphere II and Arcosanti, two Arizona experiments to develop and research sustainable communities.
"One of the wonderful things about researching Whole Earth," says Kirk, was interviewing the writers and contributors. "Most of those who worked on the catalog were relatively young when they participated and are very much alive and active in their fields of expertise. While Whole Earth was about ‘access to tools,' it was the innovative people behind the tools that really captured my attention."
Stanford University biology graduate Brand first self-published the oversized, iconic, counterculture publication in 1968. Its pages were cheap newsprint; its cover was adorned by a color photo of the earth, staring out moonlike from the black background of space. Kirk describes the format of photos, designs, and drawings, accompanied by short essays and reviews, as "captivating."
"No one could see this remarkable publication and fail to pick it up and flip through its massive pages," he writes.
The first catalog had 51 pages; later editions grew to as many as 608. Almost 2 million people have bought a copy. More than 150 different editions were issued during its 30-plusyear history. Published irregularly, the catalog also yielded a variety of spin-offs. Brand subsequently published several books and most of the primary contributors followed up with at least one book of their own, Kirk notes.
An exhausted Brand quit the catalog in 1972, after winning a National Book Award and after Whole Earth hit its peak circulation, but others carried on the tradition.
Kirk says it "figures very prominently in the history of the ecological design movement" and other, similar efforts. The book's appeal grew largely because Brand focused on solutions, not problems.
History professor Andrew Kirk says the phenomenal appeal of the Whole Earth Catalog grew from the work's practical solutions for everyday living.
Short Stories
Las Vegas: Media and Myth
Lexington Books, 2007
Lawrence J. Mullen, associate professor in the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies, examines the relationship between the Las Vegas mass media and the community via interviews Mullen and his graduate students conducted over seven years with local leaders.
Everyday Law for Latinos
Paradigm Publishers, 2008
Boyd School of Law professor Raquel Aldana joins colleagues from across the nation in this comprehensive guide for the most populous minority group in the United States. The book centers on what the authors describe as the “three flashpoints that contribute to the unique legal treatment of Latino/as — immigration status, language regulation, and racial/ethnic discrimination.
Uncommon Bonds
PublishAmerica, 2006
Dr. Maria Antonia Rabbio, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps, says she has always been interested in writing a novel. After retiring from the Air Force and joining the UNLV School of Dental Medicine, she decided it was time to realize that dream. “It turned out to be one of the most exciting things I have ever done,” she says. Uncommon Bonds, a moving tale of the intersection of genetic heritage, infidelity, cancer, and adoption, promises to be only the start of her secondary career as a novelist.