Saved: An Evening with Ben Hewitt

saved-cover Regular contributor to Taproot Ben Hewitt's new book, Saved: How I Quit Worrying About Money and Became the Richest Guy in the World was published yesterday. To celebrate, he had a reading at our local independent bookstore The Galaxy Bookshop. The chairs were all filled well before the 7:00 start time and the event became standing (and sitting-on-the-floor) room only well before Ben was introduced by Galaxy owner Linda Ramsdell. For half an hour, Ben provided context and background for the development not only of the book, but the transformation of his own perceptions of money. A lively discusion followed between the audience, Ben and one of the primary subjects of the book, Erik Gillard, an artist and mentor to children who, at the time of the writing, lived quite comfortably on less than $10,000 per year. (Erik has also graced the pages of Taproot in ISSUE 2::PATHS, illustrating Ben's piece on dropping out of school.) I encourage you all to pick up a copy at your (local, independent) bookstore (I hope you still have one!) or have your library get a copy for your community to share. Like his previous books The Town that Food Saved and Making Supper Safe, this is no dry tome, but one filled with the humor, self-deprecation and empathy, all conveyed in lively prose, that we have come to expect from him. -jason