Arts

Jamaica Plain’s Chuck Collins on New Book ‘Altar to an Erupting Sun’

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Jamaica Plain's Chuck Collins new book Altar to an Erupting Sun is partially set in JP and includes several local things including the Wake Up The Earth Festival, Paul Gore Street, Doyle's, and more. Collins answered questions about his newest book, which was released on May 9. What is your new book Altar to an Erupting Sun about? 
Collins: Altar is the story of a charismatic woman named Rae Kelliher who is a veteran human rights and environmental activist who later in her life becomes a pioneer in the death with dignity movement. Her partner Reggie, who grew up in Dorchester, calls her a “weaver of social change” and an “instant party in a box.” 
The future fiction part of the story chronicles how Rae faces climate disruption. Instead of a gloomy Mad Max apocalypse vision, Altar envisions how humanity begins to turn the corner toward survivability in what environmentalists call “the critical decade” ahead.  The story also has elements of “coming of age” as it looks back several decades at the people and movements that shape Rae’s identity and actions. 
Why did you want to write this book? 
Collins: I had this story and character knocking on my inner door.

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Neighborhood Life

State Lab Community Garden Members Dedicate Little Free Library Honoring Co-Founder

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Members of the JP State Lab Community Garden came together to dedicate a Little Free Library to honor Detlev Koepke, a garden cofounder, who fought to keep the garden when it was threatened. Led by Koepke, the garden was established in 1987 thanks to the community organizing of the Asticou Martinwood South Street Neighborhood Association (AMNSNA). Today the community garden remains active, producing several tons of produce every year. There are more than 40 active gardeners comprised of neighborhood residents and state lab employees. Koepke’s brother Jens played an audio clip of an interview with Detlev in his final weeks, said Chuck Collins to Jamaica Plain News.

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Jamaica Plain People

Book Reading, Launch Party for Newest Book by Inequality Expert and JP Resident Chuck Collins

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Jamaica Plain author and inequality expert Chuck Collins is hosting a book reading and launch party for his new book, "Born on Third Base," Friday, Oct 21, at 7 pm at the First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist at 6 Eliot St. Books will be provided by Papercuts JP. Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and directs IPS’s Program on Inequality and the Common Good where he co-edits Inequality.org. He is an expert on U.S. inequality and the author of several books on the topic. His new book about inequality and privilege includes lots of scenes set in Jamaica Plain and lifts up local examples of the work of Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition. According to Collin, his new book is written with the heart of an agitator and the soul of a storyteller, upending assumptions about America’s deep wealth divide—one that, for the first time in recent history, locks the nation’s youth into a future defined by their class and wealth at birth; limits our ability to address crises like climate change; and creates a world that no one, not even the rich, will ultimately want to live in. In his book, Collins calls for an end to class war, busts the myths that define views of rich and poor, and offers bold new solutions for bridging the economic divide and re-engaging the wealthy in rebuilding communities for a resilient future.

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JP residents at the People's Climate March, September 2014
Environment

People’s Climate March, NYC: Jamaica Plain Was There

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Hundreds of Jamaica Plain residents were among the estimated 400,000 participants in this weekend's People's Climate March in New York City. Here is a roundup of photos from JP people and organizations who made the trip. [View the story "Jamaica Plain Represents at Climate March" on Storify] [selfie]

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