Living Up to Visionary Statements In the past year the E. F. Schumacher Society has often been in the spotlight of national and international press interested in exploring the BerkShares local currency project. The staff of the Society has been answering questions and ushering press crews around Great Barrington, Massachusetts to demonstrate the effect BerkShares are having on our community. The resulting stories from Reuters, The New York Times, The London Times, ABC World News, CBS, BBC, TF1 (France), NTV (Moscow), Dutch Television, and many others have not only popularized the idea of local currency issue, but also initiated a dialogue around the world on local self-sufficiency and economic independence. While responding to press inquiries, the E. F. Schumacher Society staff has also been busy implementing and further developing this model program. This work is often consuming and sometimes handling the necessary details takes our minds away from the thinking that culminated in the launch of BerkShares. In his 1984 essay, "The Role of Local Currency in Regional Economic Development" Bob Swann wrote, "when a region begins assuming the power to support their own business needs by issuing their own currencies then we will have taken great strides toward regional self-reliance, greater security, full employment, and an economy of permanence." There is great excitement in watching BerkShares begin living up to these visionary statements. Bob's dedicated work in solidifying the theory behind implementing a local currency has made the reality of the work at hand a joy to undertake. Every year the Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures are an opportunity to bring together visionary thinkers and further consider our course as individuals and as a community. With more hard work ahead of us we are fortunate to step back and again engage in the enlightening and evolving discussion around building sustainable local economies. This year we are especially pleased to have three outstanding speakers, all leaders in developing just and thriving local economies. Majora Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx (http://www.ssbx.org) in 2001 to fight for environmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by community needs. Bill Clinton stated that her "example in the Bronx ought to become a title wave." Her vision, drive, and tenacity earned her a MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 2005. Carter also co-hosts Sundance Channel's "The Green," television's first regularly scheduled programming dedicated to the environment. Michael Shuman is a noted economist, attorney, author, entrepreneur, and vice president for Enterprise Development for the Training and Development Corporation (http://www.tdc-usa.org). Shuman is widely recognized for his research into the economic advantages of small-scale businesses in an era of globalization as well as the often over-looked benefits of building local economies in an era of big-box retail chains. He is the author of "The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition" and "Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age." Charles Turner has been a Boston City Councilor (http://www.cityofboston.gov) since 1999, well known for challenging education inequality, discrimination, neighborhood gentrification, and the war in Iraq. He has championed and been actively involved with cooperatives and worker-owned enterprises, a leader for many years at the Industrial Cooperative Association (now the ICA Group) (http://www.ica-group.org). Turner recently sponsored a resolution asking the Mass Congressional Delegation to seek policies that lead to a withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as policies that put a larger share of our federal dollars into domestic priorities that benefit the people of Boston and the United States. The resolution passed 8 to 3. The 27th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures will be held on October 27th, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Castle Street, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The event starts at 10 am and tickets are 20 BerkShares/dollars and 15 BerkShares/dollars for members/students/seniors and can be purchased through the E. F. Schumacher Society by calling (413) 528-1737, visiting (http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/events/07lecturespeakers.html) or through the Mahaiwe Theater Box Office (http://www.mahaiwe.org) Sincerely, Michael Gordon, Kristen Fix, Susan Witt and Christopher Lindstrom E. F. Schumacher Society Staff 140 Jug End Road Great Barrington, MA 01230 (413) 528.1737 Board of Directors: Jessica Brackman, Starling Childs, Merrian Fuller, Hildegarde Hannum, Eric Harris-Braun, Constance Packard, Joseph Stanislaw, Nancy Jack Todd, and Charles Turner. Board of Founders: Ian Baldwin, David Ehrenfeld, Satish Kumar, John McClaughry, and Kirkpatrick Sale. Advisory Board: Tanya Berry, Thomas Berry, Wendell Berry, Lisa Byers, Olivia Dreier, Hazel Henderson, Wes Jackson, Amory Lovins, John McKnight, David Orr, Michael Shuman, Cathrine Sneed, Lewis Solomon, John Todd, Greg Watson, and Arthur Zajonc.