I would love to believe that we all treat each other with respect, value our assets and privileges and help others less fortunate than us. I would love to believe that we all thrive off healthy food, daily exercise and a drive to not live at the expense of nature and our fellow humans. Alas, this is not true!
There are a few, though, and what these people can do is become bigger parts of our community. Like Sunny Keach stated in his letter [“Want Green Cheese with that Whine,” June 11], we can choose to be the beneficial change we read about, talk about and watch documentaries about. We can choose to “become a model of what [we believe] is the proper way to live—and share it.”
There is one person in this community whom I admire for those precise reasons. Eight years ago, he set in motion Asheville’s now-beloved bicycle recyclery—a nonprofit, donation-based community resource and a permanent fixture in Asheville. Since then, the recyclery has enabled countless folks to build, ride and maintain their alternative modes of transportation. I cannot praise it enough.
Also, for the last four or five years this fellow has been helping anyone who wants to learn more about passive-solar, straw-bale/cob/recycled houses, organic gardening and general off-the-grid existence. The occasional [letter] he writes to this paper is just one of the many routes he takes in an attempt to let others understand his point of view. Joseph Crawley is a living asset to our community and he, himself, is a quiet statement against corporate cant.
If there is anything else that Joseph should [hear] about himself, you can find him at the recyclery. He’ll be that friendly looking guy helping your buddy to get her bicycle up and running so she doesn’t have to waste so much cash driving to and from the world-saving drum circle.
— Daria Uporsky
Asheville
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