Grailville  will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Hope for the Flowers, written, drawn and now read by Grail member Trina Paulus, on Thursday evening, November 20, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. in the Caravansary.  Trina will share stories, sign the books and even autograph the new, just-released audio tape itself!  Hope for the Flowers (Paulist Press) has sold two million copies and has been translated into Spanish, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Japanese.  The book won the Christopher Award as the best inspirational book when it was first published in 1972.  Despite little advertising or fanfare, word-of-mouth publicity about the book has spread through the years.

Trina is excited about the audio of her inspirational classic,  just released. 'Besides the fine quality of the tape itself, we have created a unique cooperative  business arrangement.  Two publishers and the author are publishing together.  The original publisher, Paulist Press (no relation), Listening Library, which specializes in quality audio books, and I all share the project.  Listening Library has people like Judy Bloom and Madeline L’Engle reading their work;  Paulist Press has a range of inspiring books from children to the whole history of Western spirituality.  Its a privilege to be in the company of authors and publishers such as these. Creating this arrangement has taken more time, money and energy than the production of the tape itself, but so far the cooperation seems to be working.

The musical illustrations are just right, and I’ve discovered an unexpected talent.  The other publishers liked my reading of the book so much that they pushed me to tell the story behind the book on the second side.  This was scary, but such an honor.  I used this opportunity to get two main points across.  The first, Spirituality/The Grail, is an extraordinary, world-wide movement which gave birth to Hope and is still my main life-family.  Second, I believe composting is one of the most important things a human can personally do for the earth.  I wait to see how people will respond to the story behind the story, and am glad to be building a website to aid the sharing.  I want to make it into a place where folks can share positive possibilities for the healing and celebrating of the earth and our spirits.  Maybe it will even encourage folks to get OFF the Web and INTO THE GARDEN!  Between this tape and the 3000-word interview with New Leaf distributors, I think the flavor of my years at Grailville, which gave birth to Hope, emerges.  I hope Grailville is simply overwhelmed with new interest and I am thrilled to put you first as we plan the years celebrations!î

Hope for the Flowers is an enduring fable about two caterpillars, Yellow and Stripe, and their struggle to climb to the top a  ìcaterpillar pillarî only to discover they were meant to fly.

”Yellow risked the only life she knew after seeing another caterpillar go into a cocoon.  She triumphed and could then show Stripe and the others what their life was really all about just being herself and flying around.“ Trina said in a recent interview.

Trina lived and worked more than a decade at Grailville, contributing her artistic talents and participating in a rich community experience.  The international focus of the Grail drew her to work in Egypt, France and Portugal.  While in Akhmim, Egypt, she worked with a weaving and embroidery co-op run by more that 100 women to support themselves and their families.

Trina is a knowledgeable advocate of organic farming, composting, holistic health and spiritual search.  She is presently vice-president of the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute in Basalt, Colorado.  Her home in Montclair, New Jersey has become a hub of environmental action and learning.  As vice-president of Cornucopia network of New Jersey, Trina is engaged with local and worldwide teams involved in improving and preserving the quality of our soil, water and food supply.

For Trina, a primary theme is keeping natures cycle of life intact and flowing.  Composting is one of her passions.  ìLeaves, grass, food scraps, old cardboard - all can be transformed by trillions of eager microorganisms into food for the soil, on which the next generation of life depends,î she said.  ìAt first glance composting may seem a far cry from caterpillars, cocoons and butterflies, but its really the same theme of transformation - what looks ugly moving through seeming death to new life.  Processes that break the cycle, like incineration, for example, move toward death that has no resurrection, like caterpillars that die without becoming butterflies.”

From the September, 1997 Grailville Newsletter