Douglas Stevenson

Douglas Stevenson is the principal spokesperson for The Farm, an intentional community located on 1750 acres in rural Tennessee, founded in 1971 on the principles on nonviolence and respect for the earth, known around the world as a living model for a sustainable lifestyle.

He is a photographer, videographer and producer, as well as an author, with 3 books and over 1000 published articles on subjects ranging from digital technology to spirituality.

Douglas has had the opportunity to travel and live in many parts of the world. Douglas, his wife, and their two young children, spent two years in Guatemala, serving as volunteers after a devastating earthquake. He’s installed satellite dishes in Africa, documented the inner workings of factories in Belarus, climbed volcanoes in Guatemala and Bali, and did photography for UNICEF in Belize.

Serving as a board member, president and principle grassroots fundraiser for the nonprofit Swan Conservation Trust, he was instrumental in raising $1.5 million to establish a 1400 acre nature preserve that surrounds his home in Tennessee. As a founding member of PeaceRoots Alliance, he oversaw a billboard national campaign and helped establish the Farmer Veteran Coalition, a nonprofit which provides funding for veterans seeking education and employment in agriculture, and as a path for healing.

Douglas is also a singer/songwriter, performing professionally for over 45 years in many different genres, including folk, country, bluegrass and rock, using music to open the heart, spreading a message of hope, celebration, and as an essential tool for building the bonds of community.

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Published Works

Books

• Voices from The Farm (1998) with Rupert Fike
• Creating PC Video (2000)
• Out to Change The World: The evolution of The Farm Community (2016)
• The Farm Then an Now: A model for Sustainable Living (2016)

Over 1000 magazine artilces

• Satellite Dealer (mid-1980s)
• Satellite Entertainment Guide (mid to late 1980s)
• Home Satellite Television (late 1980s)
• Camcorder and Computer Video (1990s to mid-2000s)
• Digital Photographer (mid-90s to mid-2000s)
• Communities Magazine
• Sacred Fire

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Media

• 2018 TEDx Wilson Park, Florence, Alabama My Life as a Hippie activist
• 2018 StyleBlueprint A whole new meaning to "I grew up on The Farm"
• 2016            The Ledger, Nashville, TN                         The Farm Still Thrives After 45 Years
• 2016            The Ledger, Nashville, TN                         Outreach, from Midwifery to Foreign Aid
• 2016            News Ch 2, Nashville, TN                          Making Salsa with Douglas Stevenson
• 2016            CNN                                                           United Shades of America, Off the Grid CNN page
• 2015            Lawrence Co Advocate, TN                              An Original Member of The Farm Shares Its Story
• 2015            Democrat Union, Lawrenceburg, TN     A book review and interview with Douglas Stevenson
• 2014           Mountain Xpress                                         Author Douglas Stevenson at Malaprops Bookstore
• 2012           CNN                                                             American Journey
• 2011` Nashville PBS / Rudder Productions 40 Years on The Farm
• 1991 USA Today Communities- Still havens for Spirituality

In 1991, Douglas became the primary media and public relations interface for The Farm Community. His experience as a writer and in video production, as well as a thorough knowledge of the subject, allowed him to function as both a spokesperson and producer, interfacing with producers from news teams, television networks, an reporters from newspapers and magazines from all over the country. For a full listing, visit Press Listings on thefarmcommunity.com

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Early Life

Douglas Stevenson was born November 5th, 1953, in Louisville Kentucky. He showed an early talent for singing, learning World War 2 Navy songs from his father, Bernard Almer Stevenson.

In the fourth grade Douglas was exposed to Beatlemania and soon began taking guitar lessons. By Junior High, he was playing and singing for bands and performing as a folk singer in his high school.

Douglas also showed promise as a talented young artist, working in all mediums, including oil and acrylic paints, watercolors and pastels. In the 11th grade, he was founder and president of the school's Art Club, where he met Deborah Flowers, who would become his wife two years later.

He bumped up against his high school’s dress code by having hair that touched his ears, and incited the wrath of a former Marine drill sergeant turned high school principal, when he began showing up at school wearing armbands to protest the Vietnam War. He dropped out at the age of 16, but received his diploma later that year through correspondence courses. Ordered by his parents to get a haircut or get a job, he found employment at the downtown public library, and kept his hair.

Now firmly implanted in the hippie movement, Douglas left home at 16, moving in an apartment complex in downtown Louisville occupied by the staff of an underground newspaper called F*** the Army, along with women at the forefront of The Liberation movement, lesbians and gays, and interracial couples.

After some months, he moved back with his family in order to be closer to his high school sweetheart, Deborah flowers. After receiving her father's permission and signature at the County Courthouse, they were married April 8th, 1972, when Douglas was 18 and Deborah was only 17, .

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Spiritual Journey

Douglas and Deborah spent their honeymoon that summer of 1972 riding 10 speed bicycles and camping in the remote canyons of the Red River Gorge, in Kentucky's Daniel Boone National Forest. Over the course of the summer, they biked over 700 miles. It was during this time that their love of nature grew stronger, cementing their desire to live off the land as homesteaders.

With  cool weather approaching, they purchased a Volkswagen van and headed west, settling down for the winter in Phoenix, Arizona, landing in a yoga ashram that was part of spiritual teacher Yogi Bhajan network. About a month into their stay, the ashram was visited for a week by Richard Alpert, better known as Baba Ram Dass, author of Be Here Now. Ram Dass provided insight and direction, but had no ashram of his own . Not long after, Yogi Bhajan arrived to reassert authority over this flock, but Deborah and Douglas had left the ashram shortly before his arrival. Determined to save money for the purchase of land and begin their life as homesteaders, the two drove back to Kentucky in the spring of 1973.

They first learned of The Farm in Mother Earth News magazine. In June of that summer, Stephen Gaskin arrived in Louisville, the first stop of a speaking tour. The Farm’s band played for about an hour, and then Gaskin gave a talk, along with a slideshow of images depicting life in the community. Not long after, Douglas and Deborah drove to Tennessee to visit the community. They immediately decided to move there and arrived in August of that year.

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The Farm Community 1973-1983

• Arrived at The Farm in Summertown, August, 1976
• Became co-manager of The Farm Salvage Crew, acquiring the steel trusses for the Community's dome
• Jody Stevenson, born June 16, 1974
• The Green River Farm, December 1975 to December 1976
• Leah Stevenson born July 12, 1976
• Received Advanced Radio Operator License
• The Longest Walk - ambulance driver, 1978
• Guatemala, volunteer radio operator for Plenty International 1978-1980
• Production Manager SE International 1981
• Founded Nashville Satellite Electronics 1981

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The Farm Community 1983-Present

• Became Nashville Video Publications 1987
• Became Village Media Services 1994
• Board member The Farm Community 6 years
• Media representative for The Farm Community 1991
• Volunteer for Plenty International in Belize, 2000
• Board member for Swan Conservation Trust 2002-2016
• Manager of The Farm Community 8 years
• Founding member of PeaceRoots Alliance 2002, board member 2002-2006
• Founded GreenLife Retreats 2001
• Began hosting the annual Conference on Community and Sustainability 2004-Present

References

This article "Douglas Stevenson" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Douglas Stevenson. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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