Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
Publisher: Chapman Park (September 11, 2017)Category: Memoir, Non-Fiction, Social Activism, Women Empowerment Tour dates:
ISBN: 978-0999046302
Available in Print and ebook, 299 pages
The true story of a life intertwined with the utopian ideas of an American genius. A mind-blowing two-day interview with iconic futurist Buckminster Fuller in 1982 Chicago leads an overeager advertising copywriter to promise she’ll share his urgent messages with the world. She has no idea what she is getting herself into, scarcely understanding what he is talking about. When his dire predictions come true on America’s worst day (9/11) she must face up to her commitment, which morphs into a fiery obsession thanks to unsettling discoveries about Bucky's archives further confirming the truth of his warnings. Her outsized passions threaten her relationships and her sanity as she grapples furiously to bring his ideas back into the world. This heartrending karmic tell-all memoir is about climbing out of comfort zones to find your own voice and make a difference in the world. It also gives readers a charming introduction to the ideas of a long lost genius you've probably never heard of.
Review Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
Review by Betty B. ‘The Girl From Spaceship Earth’ is a memoir and a call to action that was originally led by futurist Buckminster Fuller. Patricia Ravasio was just an 11 year old girl when she attended a talk by Buckminster Fuller. She didn’t understand everything he talked about but was inspired. Fast forward to 1982 she does an interview with him that lasts two days. It is then that she promises to share his urgent message to the world. Then in 2001, one of his predictions comes true, in the form of 9/11. Buckminster Fuller is dead by then but the event reminds of her of her promise. A result of that promise is this book. ‘The Girl From Spaceship Earth’ is a great introduction to Buckminster Fuller and his warning. It is inspiring and empowering. It is also a call to action to climb out of your comfort zone and help save the planet and its inhabitants. I highly recommend it to all and give it five out of five stars.Excerpt Girl From Spaceship Earth by Patricia Ravasio
“What is a Buckminster Fuller?” Not long after my un-diagnosis I was gobsmacked by yet another Bucky prediction coming true, that he would be rendered invisible. The messenger was a friend of Alyssa’s. Lisa, a tall blond collegiate swimmer-turned-CEO of an Internet startup, had come to dinner on Sunday. Over Rob’s fresh porcini risotto and glazed salmon, she looked right at me through her chlorinated bangs and said her passion was to use her excellent education from Stanford, in science and history, to save the world. I raised my wine glass to her in a salute. “Cheers to that, Lisa. You fill me with hope. Our generation kind of blew it for you guys. I hope you’ll be able to undo some of the damage.” “Uh yeah, there is a lot to do,” she said, half laughing, half grimacing. “So, like, you’re the first person I’ve met from your generation who accepts responsibility for the mess we’re in. Usually people want to blame it on anybody else.” I let out a long slow breath. My gut had long churned with guilt—plain old wow-we-sure-screwed-that-up guilt. “I’m thinking we baby boomers owe the world a major mea culpa for falling for so much nonsense during the last couple of decades,” I said. “President Reagan accused the Democrats of voodoo economics, but it was his trickle-down theories, whipped up out of thin air that justified all the profit-taking by the super wealthy.” I looked over at Rob’s skeptical face. Lisa sat chewing her risotto and listening to me thoughtfully, something I wasn’t used to. I softened my tone. “The baby boomers were also bamboozled about climate change. We didn’t know the oil guys knew the seriousness of greenhouse gases all along, while pretending the opposite.” “Maybe you guys should be renamed the bamboozled generation,” Alyssa said. I laughed. Rob raised his glass. “Okay, take a drink everybody, then duck and cover. Time to prepare for the end of the world.” Lisa looked confused. Alyssa explained. “Dad has created a new drinking game. Every time Mom mentions climate change, everyone over twenty-one has to take a drink.” This was sadly true, and his taunting infuriated me. He seemed intent on undermining me, not to mention the ninety-nine percent of scientists who were on my side. He’d been a lot nicer to me back when he thought I might be just a little bit mentally ill. “Wait,” said Lisa, “I don’t know what this drinking game is all about, but Pat is right. The foxes moved into the henhouse when Ronald Reagan was elected president. He tried to demolish the EPA and rolled back all kinds of environmental regulations. He turned the job of writing these regulations over to the very corporations that needed regulating. Now, thirty-five years later, we’re still paying for the side effects of his trickle-down nonsense, including poverty, endless wars, and lowered life expectancies. Not to mention the climate situation, which is, of course, happening even faster than scientists thought it would.” I wanted to kiss her feet for the look on Rob’s face. A Stanford grad was putting old Adam Smith in his place. It was pure redemption to know there was a person at the table who saw things exactly as I did, which made me remember Bucky’s archives. They were at Stanford. “Wait, Lisa, I almost forgot you went to Stanford. While you were there, what did you learn about Buckminster Fuller?” Her face went blank. She frowned and shook her head. “What is a buckminster fuller?” I couldn’t move. I glanced at Rob. His eyebrows shot up his forehead and he shrugged as if to say I told you so. How was this possible? Bucky’s massive archives had been at Stanford since 1999. He had predicted he would become invisible, and now here was a bright Stanford graduate sincerely asking me, “What is a buckminster fuller?” She was still waiting for an answer. When my clenched jawbone finally released itself, cracking like an old lady’s knees, I stammered like an idiot. “Well, he’s, um, a genius, um, a comprehensivist, and a great social philosopher. He, um, invented a new kind of math called synergetic geometry...” “Okay, so—” I tried to pull myself together. “Okay, for starters, Steve Jobs called him the Leonardo da Vinci of the twentieth century. And his archives are right there at Stanford.” “Huh? How could that be?” She was obviously not used to being stumped. “Why wouldn’t I even know his name?” “I don’t know. I can’t imagine. Bucky created a new math called synergetic geometry. It basically deciphers nature’s own design principles, with which he said we must realign ourselves—which means, among other things, transferring to clean energy as soon as possible.” “Renewable energy? At Stanford? Ha! Then I’m not at all surprised.” Future wrinkles lined her brow. “Stanford is fossil fuels all the way. They don’t believe much in solar or wind.” We both took long sips of wine, giving me time to think. “Bucky said that fossil fuels’ obstruction of clean energy was a crime against humanity. The greatest crime ever. Are you sure you never heard of him?” “No, not ever. Buckminster Fuller? I would remember a name like that.” Feeling thunderstruck, I rose from the table, took my plate to the kitchen, dropped it into the sink, and kept walking. Heidi padded behind me and flopped down heavily next to me on the garden steps. We took some long deep breaths together. It wasn’t just that Bucky had disappeared; his ideas had, too. The deliberate, orchestrated denial of the conservatives—or more specifically the corporatists—had been a success. Fracking was booming all over the globe. Big oil had convinced the world that fracking was necessary because solar and wind were futile. The accompanying methane leaks, poisoned water supplies, and earthquakes were not just rare accidents; they were an expected part of the process. What big oil should have explained to us all was that solar and wind were indeed futile, as investments, for energy companies. Heidi placed her paw in my lap. I thanked her and rubbed her greying head. I looked down into the ivy, the very spot where I’d lost my breakfast on 9/11. A decade had passed. I had accomplished exactly nothing.
About Patricia Ravasio
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I'm so glad Betty was inspired by 'The Girl From Spaceship Earth'. It speaks to everyone but especially women. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen! So glad you liked my book! It was a labor of love — for the planet!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! Good luck with the book!
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