An author’s search for an authentic life

Dan Price worked for 10 years in Kentucky as a harried photojournalist before he reached the conviction that his life was out of balance.

He felt assaulted by over-building, sprawl and the American rat race. For years he had searched for an “authentic” lifestyle among the hill people of Kentucky, but in 1990 he walked away from his conventional life to discover a meadow in Joesph, Oregon.

In his book, “Radical Simplicity,” Dan chronicles his evolution from tipi dwelling to hobbit huts, and the building of “several small structures” and his current underground house. He prefers living in a circular dwelling, even though his work structure — a tightly built office space from which he publishes his magazine, Moonlight Chronicles — is rectangular.

“I’m not afraid of technology,” he explained to a crowded room at Paulina Springs Books on September 16. “I think we should use the best of it, but it doesn’t have to define our lives.”

Price has electricity in his underground home, and in his office structure, to run his massive Xerox machine. He heats with propane, uses a cell phone, and has an e-mail account. An amazingly prolific writer, he has published “How to Journal your Own Life,” “Radical Simplicity,” and the ongoing Moonlight Chronicles.

He still works as a freelance photographer and has partnered in raising his children with his wife, who chose not to accompany him into the wild. Dan’s current book tour brought him to Sisters for only an evening in his buckskin colored van, emblazoned with “Radical Simplicity” across the side.

This is not his first tour – for although Dan Price calls himself a “hobo,” he is definitely not a hermit. He has walked America sponsored by Simple Shoes, and traveled around the continent on his recumbent bike.

His love of travel and work are still active; but Price is convinced he has found a way to authenticate his life by simply not buying in to the consumerism in America.

“Radical Simplicity” is available at Paulina Springs Books, or online at moonlight-chronicles.com. The book gives philosophy and how-to pointers for building, cooking, sweatlodges, travel, clothing and anything else one might need for hands-on self help.