Program culminates with memoirist's inspiring tale

Like This? Click Here to Recommend It View larger image Logan Ward, author of "See You in a Hundred Years" signs copies of his book and talks with attendees about the "One Book, One Community" event at Daniel Morgan Middle School on Wednesday. Dennis Grundman/Daily View larger image Ward speaks at the event Wednesday. Dennis Grundman/Daily

By J.R. Williams -- jrwilliams@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- Magazine writer and memoirist Logan Ward isn't from the Shenandoah Valley, but for one year, he got about as close as he could get.

Handley Regional Library's seventh annual "One Book, One Community" program culminated Wednesday in a visit by Ward, the author of this year's book selection.

In "See You in a Hundred Years," Ward tells of a life-changing decision by he and his wife, Heather, to radically simplify their lives. In 2000, they decided to leave the trenches of New York City and move to the Shenandoah Valley.

What attracted them was not necessarily its comforts: The Wards lived off the land in Augusta County for one year as early 20th-century residents. They abandoned electricity, survived on food they grew themselves and tested the boundaries of their modern-day upbringing.

A reception was held at Berryville Graphics on Wednesday afternoon in a celebration of the program, and Ward spoke to a crowd of about 200 people at Daniel Morgan Middle School on Wednesday night.

Since 2003, the program has encouraged residents of Winchester, Frederick County and Clarke County to read the same book each year.

Ward crafted the book from recollections and scribbled notes from his time on the farm.

"We were working too much and not spending enough time outside," he said. "We were feeling bogged down by all this technology that is supposed to be making our lives easier.

"We wanted to practice self-reliance."

So Ward and his wife went to work. He spoke about the extensive preparation it took to live in the 1900s, from buying an antique coffee grinder and wood stove to reading Thomas Jefferson for inspiration.

"We had six months to learn what subsistence farmers learned in a generation," he said.

Through milking the goats, pumping well water and driving the horse, the experience "ultimately strengthened our resolve," he said.

Ward said they never gave in to the temptations of their old lives. Rather than make phone calls after Sept. 11, 2001, he said, they wrote only letters to family and friends in New York.

The library reports that participation this year was strong -- several book vendors struggled to keep multiple orders of the book in stock, and there was a waiting list for more than a dozen library copies, they said.

Audience members had a chance to pose questions to Ward during Wednesday's event.

"For me, this book was a vicarious trip to my grandparents' time," one attendee said. "It really reminded me how much I waste, and how much we take for granted."

Karen Swortzel, a new One Book, One Community committee member, said she and her colleagues are working on the library's choice for 2011.

"They try to get someone that they can get the author here," she said. "Personally, I loved [the book]."

Discussion and group activities centered around the book choice are encouraged. This year, journal and blog-writing workshops were held in advance of Ward's visit. On Oct. 14, guest speakers told of their own experiences roughing it in the Shenandoah Valley.

"I've always thought of books as having a transformative power," Ward said. "To see a community come out in support of a book is overwhelming. Keep it going. I look forward to hearing about it every year."