THE SOULFUL CHILD 12 YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS
I am recommending this book to my readers because it exemplifies resilience in action and how creation and destruction together create progress.
The Summer of Love was a time of breaking boundaries and creating new ways of living in America. It produced fantastic music, art and literature. It established activism methods used by participants in Black Lives Matter and other recent protests.
This past summer was the 50th anniversary of that time, celebrated by KQED San Francisco in interview format. 3 adult survivors discussed their childhood experience of being raised in an atmosphere producing both independence and harm. Their 3 books were showcased on KQED Summer of Love.
Chloe Rachael Galloway’s story differs from the others mentioned because she and her siblings were born and raised in an isolate Forrest. Chloe’s parents set upon Haight Ashbury in 1967 to detach from former lives of privilege and parental edicts. They visited several communes on the way to the southwest including one in Placitas, New Mexico. Their last stop was their homestead which Chloe’s Dad, Jerry, literally purchased from now deceased actor – Dennis Hopper – for a song. The Galloway family lived in a small cabin located far off the grid in the high desert mountains of northern New Mexico. Little contact existed with the outside world and family religious beliefs disavowed medical intervention as well as schooling. However, the intelligence of both parents fostered skills of observation, comparison and analysis in the children. Today, Chloe and her siblings live accomplished and fascinating lives.
I am impressed with Chloe’s ability to compassionately relate her tale. This is the mark of a true writer: crafting story allowing readers to independently form opinions. She captures the isolation of that time and space as well as her yearning for community. The writing of this book was healing for Chloe and will be for her readers interested in the crossroad of family needs and social mandates.
Chloe is a writer and teaches others to do the same in retreats, groups and one on one settings 0.
CONNIE COX: TWO WORLD SHAMAN 