Children of the Sun (Paperback)

~ Gordon Kennedy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Children of the Sun receives our highest recomendation" (Living Nutrition Magazine--Dave Klein, P.O. Box 256, Sebastopol, Ca. 95473 [phone]) -- Living Nutrition Magazine, Dave Klein

Product Description

"Children of the Sun" (1998) is a pictorial anthology from Germany to California...1883-1949, and includes short biographies of 16 individuals and 4 social reform movements. But the story is told mostly through the 144 photos, both color and black and white.

It clearly describes the important links between the German health and nature pioneers, and their latter day California counterparts.

One of a kind compilation this work reveals the true origins of the alternative and natural lifestyles which eventually took root on American soil and have become the huge phenomenon that they are today.

Key words: Nature cure, raw foods, organic farming, naturopathy, eden ahbez, nudism, vegetarianism, Dr. Benedict Lust, Arnold Ehret, paganism.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Nivaria Press (December 31, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966889800
• ISBN-13: 978-0966889802
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,595 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Roots of Counterculture Run Deep, July 28, 2005

By	Alicia B. Laurel "indigo_with_stars" (Kea'au, HI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Until I read Gordon Kennedy's research into the German nature cults that flowered in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but whose roots preceded the Roman Empire, I did not fully understand my own art, writing and music, or my own life. Unbeknownst to me until I read Kennedy's books, my books Living on the Earth and Being of the Sun express fully the health practices and joie de vivre of those bygone frolicking pagan nudists. They are my true ancestors, the parents who would be proud if they could see me now. The naturist subculture lives on, and occasionally has its day in the sun, Children of the Sun being a case in point.

Anyone influenced by counterculture, and all students of history and sociology, will want a copy of Children of the Sun, or, at the very least, Kennedy's scaled down pamphlet version Hippie Roots and the Perennial Subculture, if only for the gorgeous photographs of the freaks of old, and the documentary/psychedelic art by German painter Fidus (1868-1948). No less thrilling are the revelations about Ascona, a counterculture settlement peopled by the likes of Hermann Hesse, Carl Jung, Isadora Duncan, D.H. Lawrence, Arnold Ehret and Franz Kafka in the early decades of the twentieth century. Kennedy notes the influence of the naturists upon Gandhi, and the dawn of the ecology, naturopathy, and youth hostel movements, including an astonishing environmental manifesto by Goethe.

Kennedy points out that feminism, vegetarianism, pacifism, communitarianism, organic farming, earth spirituality, fasting, raw food diets, and nudism flourished among these German counterculturals, some of whom moved to subtropical parts of the USA, often southern California, to avoid the rising imperialism and materialism of their homeland at the turn of the century. Settling in (then) remote areas of pristine beauty, including Tahquitz Canyon, near Palm Springs, they mentored the American naturists known in the 1930's, 40's and 50's as Nature Boys. The most famous of these were eden ahbez, who wrote the jazz standard "Nature Boy," and Gypsy Boots, who appeared often on the Steve Allen Show, and influenced countless baby boomer hippies through his writings, performances, and recordings.

I can easily imagine Kennedy's books inspiring documentaries, dramatic feature films, and museum exhibits.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for those in alternative health, March 3, 2001

By A Customer

This book is a delight from beginning to end and a necessary education for those who think that hippies first appeared in the sixties or that raw foodism is a new thing. I was particularly fascinated to learn of the connections such big names as Mahatma Gandhi and Hermann Hesse had to these early free thinkers, many of whom were vegans, raw foodists, and nudists.

_Children of the Sun_ also has much of interest for students of German history, owing to the fact that most of these alternative health groundbreakers were of German origins and were continuing a long tradition of social and health reform in that country.

Mr. Kennedy has done some excellent research, digging up photos from as far back as 1883 and historical text from much earlier. I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BHUDDISTS, NUDISTS & RAW FOODISTS---PART TWO, May 14, 2003

By	Mort Friedland (MONTREAL , QUEBEC, CANADA) - See all my reviews

Transcript of Radio Broadcast continues...

Of greater interest to us on the Alternative Health Report (radiocentreville.com) are the persons most directly influential in the Nature Cure movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Sebastien Kneipp, Aldolf Just, Louis Kuhne, Benedict and Louisa Lust, Arnold Rikli, Arnold Ehret, Otto Craque, John and Vera Richter. As well, there were other personalities such as Bernarr Macfadden, Henry Lindlahr and a host of local health and healing heroes who followed along.

GORD KENNEDY has saved their names,preserved their legacy, and reaffirmed their spirits and this brings a certain delight to the knowlegable reader. On one hand KENNEDY shows the connection and influence that shaped the Naturopathic movement. On the other the renaissence Raw Food-Vegan movement which is now in the militant forefront of vegetarian food reform. Pioneers in this field include Arnold Ehret, Herman Sexauer, John and Vera Richter and Otto Craque and of course, the original Nature Boys of the 1940's (Eden Abbez, the best known of the group who wrote "Nature Boy"- the big hit of '48 . The book offers short biographical sketches of these pioneers and their contributions.

I found that this book is an easy read with lots of eye pleasing photos and art work. In fact the book is mainly pictures! Overall, a modest GORD KENNEDY, who bills himself as editor, has brought together, in this book, those unique and highly interesting social trends and ideas, like Eastern religions, nudist groups, and organic foods (along with lots of pleasing visuals) which only a short century ago were unusual, radical and revolutionary. Kennedy shows us how it all began. ...And, yet, today it all seems so mainstram America!

WELL WORTH THE PRICE!!! GET & CHERISH YOUR OWN COPY!!!

MORT FRIEDLAND