Wendell Berry, Local Culture, and Cobb Hill, by David Hackett

Artwork by Chicory Miller

When Wendell Berry died this August, our community listserv came alive with tributes and reflections. Berry’s message of staying in one place, connecting to the land and building community resonated widely among us.

In his essay The Work of Local Culture Berry explains how communities thrive through living responsibly in a particular place. They know the land and its seasons and the growing and preparing of food. They develop skills that allow for greater self-reliance. They are in continuing conversation with their neighbors on how to take better care of their farms, forests, homes, and communities. They maintain local traditions, stories, songs and celebrations and pass this knowledge from one generation to another.

In his poem The Peace of Wild Things, Berry describes finding peace in nature when he feels despair about the world. His poems remind us that nature and a sense of belonging can help us face life’s challenges with patience and hope.

Berry’s poems and essays are part of the unspoken curriculum at Cobb Hill. His ideas challenge us to look beyond our individual lives and consider what it means to belong to a community and to a landscape. We do not always live up to his ideals, and the distance between our aspirations and our everyday practices is real. Yet his work helps us recognize the direction in which we hope to travel.