.A October 1977 RAIN Page ' ,.,_. __________________________________ ....., ___________ the U.S. that_an independent sola.r heating system will be used for cluster housing. In spite of the breadth and variety of local and srate energy activities, major impediments to such planning efforts remain -primari:ly lack of information and a lack of money. Only a small number of cities are aware of the wide range of activities that can be conducted on the local leveL .Although some literature exists on local conservation programs, there is an acute shortage of information on the possibilitie's of local alternative energy development. Ultimately, thd success of national efforts to pull the U.S. out of its energy crisis will be determined within the communities across the country and not in Washington, D.C. Community energy programs could provide the-vital service of not only making the technological information available but also of assisting in its implementation. Each community has the potential for developing energy resources and/or conservation measures that are uniquely suited·tq that area. No federal energy plan could ever be·comprehensive enough to allow for the differing energy needs of ea_ch regio~ ·of the country. - Ken Bossong GOOD THING$ Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay, William W. Warner, 1976, $2.95 from: Penguin Books 625 Madisori Ave. New York, NY 10022 Every once in awhile I stumble on a book that is really special and I can't even remember now how it came to us or why I picked it up. Somehow it just felt good even though I didn't know myself to be interested in the Ches,apeake or tne seafood industry there. But this very gentle and readable book is about people-the skilled watermen who work amazi,ng hours and whose knowledge about the w_ays of the Bay and its inhabitants far exceeds that of the scientist "experts." It's about the blue crabs-their habits, growth stages' and personalities. And it's about a place -it's history, economy and a way of life far from the tour,ists and passen,l:>y. . It is written by an outsider with a patience, love and respect that come through beautifuliy. Now if I could just find such a book about the Oregon coast. - LdeM The Warehouse Catalog, $2 from: Sailing Equipment Warehouse P.O. Box 2575 Olympia, WA,98507 The nearest I've been to sailing is bouncing around with a friend named Do-It who races sailboats on the Minne- . sota puddles, s~ I can't tell you if this is a "best deal" ·for boaters. (Is it?) I do know that boating equipment is one of the best places to check out when looking for a piece of hardware you can't ·find anywhere else to do something special. A good handy reference and dream piece .. . what could I do with that thing? . . . for boaters and nonboaters alike. A nice, small-scale operation. -TB In the People's Republic, Orville Schell, • 1977, $8.95 from: Random House 201 East 50th . New York, NY 10022 There have been many, many books written as a result of visits to the People's Republic, but this is the first one I've ever seen that really talks about the people and how things felt. Orville was lucky-he went over for three months as part of a special group who spent •time working in a Shanghai factory and on Tachai, a farm commune in Northern China. He was in these places long enough to get past the statistics and model projects. He also spoke Chinese, so he could really tall to people, not just to interpreters. What comes through is somewhat,depressing for those of us • who hoped for a while ·that <;:hina might be a model for our dreams._Orville was reprimanded for taking pictures of composting toilets (they'-re "backward") and was shocked to realize that many of the people in the prison he visited were there· for thinking individualistic thoughts that he was thinking. But it's a wonderful book due to Orville'_s very fine ability to capture the spirit of the people he got to know. The little boys in the field, the doctor and his family, the factory workers all come through alive arid clear-a side of China we're not often able to catch a glimpse of. Highly recommended. -LdeM Woodland Park Zoo, Jones and Jones, 197.6, $25 from: 105 So. Main Street . Seattle, WA 98104 What do you think about zoos? Somethi_ng bugs me about them, but I can't pin it down. Are National Parks zoos? Is New York a zoo? Are we all behind invisible bars? There's sometl)ing wrong all along the line, but what? Assuming we have/are in/wish for zoos, this book is an elegant attempt to create a range of realistic habitats that can expose us to some aspects of other inhabitants of our global zoo. -TB
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