book signing with author Iris Keltz at Starr Interiors, Taos, New Mexico
June 29, 2009
by John Lamkin
Author Iris Keltz will be signing her book "Scrapbook of a Taos
Hippie" at Starr Interiors, 117 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos, New
Mexico (2 Doors South of the Taos Inn) from 12 noon until 4 pm, July 12, 2009.
The booksigning is in conjunction with the Taos Summer of Love Celebration.
Her book, "Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie" has become the definitive
reference to the early seventies in Taos during the counter culture
movement of that time. The featured photos by noted photographer,
Paul Dembski, with her descriptive stories of the people portrayed,
capture the magic of those moments in an important chronicle of those
very special times.
This is the second event held by Starr Interiors to feature a
specific artist in the Taos Summer of Love celebration. Don't miss
this special event and the opportunity to meet the author.
Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie
by Iris Keltz
Cinco Puntos Press
Paperback
10-digit ISBN 0-938317-50-4
13-digit ISBN 978-0-938317-50-0
The '6os the music, the clothes, the political and sexual idealism,
the experimentation with drugs, the hunger for peace, creativity, and
sharing were a watershed in the way America sees itself. Hippie
culture was at the very zenith of that watershed, and Taos was its
beating heart, a Mecca that beckoned young pilgrims from all over the
country. Iris Keltz was one of those pilgrims who came to Taos in the
'6os. She stayed to become a folk historian of the tribe.
Iris' book has all the old timey vibes of a family scrapbook, a
marvelous collection of stories and oral histories from the people
who lived in the communes that flourished in Taos Morningstar, New
Buffalo, Lama, Reality Construction Company, and others. Here,
decades later, they talk openly about communal life, about making
adobes and growing gardens, about natural childbirth and raising
children, about New Age mysticism and the Native American Church,
about money and food stamps, about regret and what's been learned.
Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie is full of wonderful then and now
photographs with up to date biographies, newspaper articles, and
other memorabilia that give the reader a true sense of the passionate
life of hippies during the great flowering of communes in New Mexico.
(from book review)
"This is a clear and dedicated account of how we lived and who we
were, written with an alert eye and a big open hearted, humorous
voice. Keltz leads us deep into a particular American landscape with
beautiful prose that makes us want to follow her."
Natalie Goldberg
About Iris Keltz:
Iris Keltz, author of Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie, first arrived in
northern New Mexico the summer that Woodstock was happening on the
East Coast. Fresh from the Lower East Side, Iris and her Palestinian
husband were embraced by the inhabitants of the New Buffalo
Commune. Iris fell in love with the land, the culture and the
diversity of people. She stayed to make northern New Mexico her home
to this day. Although her grown children have left for the East and
West Coasts, Iris still wanders the Rio Grande Valley between
Albuquerque and Taos.
Scrapbook of a Taos Hippie is filled with eye witness accounts, oral
histories, historical photographs, newspaper articles from local and
alternative presses and other memorabilia, creating a clear picture
of the perils and pitfalls of young idealistic city folk trying to
create a utopian back to the land society.
Keltz cut her eye teeth as an activist on the Lower East Side where a
group of New York Jewish and Arab activists held benefits and
teach-ins, trying to raise awareness of the situation back in the
Middle East. She joined Abby Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and thousands of
others at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968 to support the
nomination of Senator Eugene McCarthy who promised to stop the Viet Nam War.
Before the summer of love, Iris was caught in the '67 War, where she
was living with a Palestinian family from Jerusalem. The
repercussions of that unresolved war still festers. While visiting a
Palestinian village near Hebron, Keltz came to understand that
village life was the sustainable antidote to a consumer society that
offers comforts, toys and technology but leaves people alienated and
never satiated. Village life became her ideal. For over forty years,
she has shared stories about her experiences in the Middle East and
the counter-culture of northern New Mexico.
As a reading teacher for the Albuquerque Public Schools for over
twenty-five years, Keltz brought her love of reading, writing and
story telling to her students. Now retired, she is free to harvest
all the stories to pass on to her brand new grandson and the next generation.
For more info:
Starr Interiors
117 Paseo del Pueblo Norte
Taos, New Mexico
575 759.3065
Cinco Puntos Press
http://www.cincopuntos.com/
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