Page 2 RAIN August/September 1981 Dear RAIN, Seems like I started hearing about RAIN shortly after subscribing to Manas. Then there was the enthusiastic recommendation in The Next Whole Earth Catalog. And in the last week alone this magazine has been described, by two separate sources, in nothing less than glowing terms. Apparently I've been missing out on something important. Enclosed is a check for fifteen dollars. Count me in. Peter D. Bailey Phoenix, AZ Vol. VII No.10 Dear RAIN, Loved the Rainbook- just got my hands on it last week, and it's going to keep me reading for the next couple years. I hope you're going to update it like The Next Whole Earth Catalog, which should be declared a National Resource by now. It is, by the way, where I got the current info on RAIN, so I can send you $15.00 instead of $10.00. The Rainbook was my first exposure to the appropriate technology movement and the underlying set of values behind it, what "Yith my being way off here in the Alaskan bush and all. My feelings run parallel to those of Robert Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: "When you live in the shadow of insanity, the appearance of another mind that thinks and talks as yours does is something close to a blessed event. Like Robinson Crusoe's discovery of footprints in the sand." Which brings me to the question of why ZAMM wasn't mentioned in.the Rainbook. Is there any work of literature anywhere more relevant to the "underlying set of values" which make appropriate technology appropriate? I assume it has played its part somewhere in the history of RAIN; its mark is all over everything. The bush of Alaska is one place where RAIN technology has long had to be appropriate or else it was sunk (literally-in permafrost). The pipeline was the first megabucks operation to take the bush head on and they paid the price:,how symbolic of the entire technology built on the precious commodity they were after. It has been a pleasure to live and work someplace where appropriateness has always been relative to the lifestyle as well as its technologies. Such experience, and a healthy dose of RAIN, will certainly be of help when it comes to tackling the same problems in the well-entrenched "Lower 48.'' Very Truly Yours, Drummond Reed Nyack, AL Dear RAIN, Thank you for a truly fine June issue, especially "Whose Home on the Range!" Such well-balanced analysis of an environmental question is a rare thing. I am in agreement with Mr. Charles that the "Park or Pillage" mentality is going to lead conservationists into some hard times. Indeed, it may already have done so. Although fostering reasonable use of land is harder (within the American legal and social Aug./Sept. 1981 Journal of Appropriate Technology RAIN Magazine publishes information which can lead people to more simple and satisfying lifestyles, help communities and regions become economically self-reliant, and build a society that is durable, just, and ecologically sound. RAIN STAFF: Laura Stuchinsky, Mark Roseland, Carlotta Collette, John Ferrell, Kevin Bell, Steve Johnson, Steve Rudman, Nancy Cosper, Scott Androes, Tanya Kucak. Linnea Gilson, Graphics and Layout RAIN, Journal of Appropriate Technology, is published 10 times yearly by the Rain Umbrella, Inc., a non-profit corporation located at 2270 N.W. Irving, Portland, Oregon 97210, telephone 503/227-5110. Copyright © 1981 Rain Umbrella, Inc. No part may be reprinted without written permission. Typesetting: Irish Setter Printing: Times Litho Cover Photograph: Ancil Nance
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