American Nudist Culture Book Version Released

Now available in paperback at Amazon.com

The Same Old Question

In the last week I have come across no less than a half dozen new articles predicting the end of nudism. Each focused on what now should be a familiar theme ─ the aging of nudists resulting from the inability of the nudist establishment to attract young adults to the lifestyle. Although the question, "What can be done to attract young adults to the nudist lifestyle?" has been discussed to the point that some may see broaching the topic again as beating the proverbial dead horse, this new round of articles prompted me to revisit the topic once again.

Young Adults Reject Old School Nudism

One article in particular noted that adults who are members of Generation Y and Generation X (the 18-43 age groups) simply have little interest in traditional nudist clubs and resorts. At least with regard to the nudist venues I visit regularly, the points of the article seem valid. Very rarely have I encountered men or women of the younger generations. As a member of the Baby Boomer generation in my mid-fifties, frequently I find myself among the youngest at the landed clubs I visit.

It is no secret that membership in major nudist organizations has been flat or declining over the past several decades. Both AANR and Naturist Society membership stopped growing years ago. Many people now in their twenties and thirties simply aren't interested in joining. Another article noted that even the operators of nudist cruises and upscale nudist resorts are now starting to feel the pinch of a declining nude recreation industry that can't simply be attributed to economic circumstances.

With nudists growing more grayed and wrinkly and many even dying off, is America in danger of running out of nudists? Nicky Hoffman, head of The Naturist Society believes it could happen. Quoted in the May 2, 2011 Wall Street Journal article, "Wearing Only a Smile, Nudists Seek Out the Young and the Naked," she stated, "The whole lifestyle will just disappear unless we attract a younger crowd." Also according to Ms. Hoffman, "The problem is most of these resorts aren't geared to young people. They've become like retirement homes; they've sort of calcified."

Defining the Problem by Examining the Question

“How can we attract more young adults to nudism & naturism?” When I consider this question, I think it all boils down to the word "attract" and what we mean by attracting them. Both AANR and The Naturist Society have attempted to reach out to young adults and have tried to find new ways to appeal to the younger generation. Both have asked their younger members to reach out to their peers. AANR has organized an entire program, Vita Nuda, aimed at the under 35 demographic. Yet the slick videos produced by Vita Nuda that I've seen on You Tube seem an attempt to market nudism in the same old ways using younger spokespeople.

The thing is, the two big American nudist organizations seem to be searching for a program or solution to bring young adults into the existing nudism structure and therein I think we find the problem. If the under 35 crowd doesn't find the existing structure greatly appealing, to borrow a campaign quip from Barack Obama, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig." To gain any real attraction among young adults, there will have to be some fundamental changes to the existing nudism structure. I'm not suggesting that the more than 250 nudist clubs and resorts in the U.S. need to go away. I do think there are ways that the existing clubs and resorts can find to appeal to a younger generation. But I also think it is time that nudists accept that nudism isn't defined by clubs and resorts. No matter how trendy, grand, amenities-intensive, or whatever they may be, clubs and resorts are only incidental to the survival of nudism. Nudists are nudism and it's the lifestyle that is fundamentally important.

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In the next post, I will share some suggestions that I as well as others propose for improving the attraction of existing clubs & resorts. In a third and final related post, some new, unconventional strategies that have shown success in attracting young adults will be examined.

My eBook Has Been Published

Since retiring last October I have made a lot of changes. Not only did I bid a found adieu to the work force, I have moved to a quiet, rural area where I can have more freedom to enjoy the Naturist lifestyle uninhibited by urban crowding. I'm in the process now of literally building a new home as in cutting every piece of lumber and driving every nail. I have a modest pension but since I'm well short of the traditional retirement age, assuming there is such a thing anymore, I needed something to supplement my income and so turned to freelancing by writing web content. That had become in itself almost a full-time job and that along with building a house explains why I haven't done much with this blog during the past year.

As a part of my freelancing networking activities, I happened to meet some other writers who had taken to writing and publishing eBooks. After asking lots of questions, between the freelancing and building I started on a project I have been thinking about for a couple of years, writing a book about the nudist culture.

There are of course a number of good and authoritative books on the topic, but usually they relate to nudist & naturist culture in Europe. So what I wanted to produce was a book about American nudist culture. My intent was to hopefully clear up some of the persistent misconceptions and myths about nudists and the lifestyle in general, at least among the more open-minded folks in clothed society. I also wanted to write something useful for people who have heard about nudism, felt intrigued enough to consider trying it but who might need just a little more factual information about it before deciding to take the plunge.

A couple of weeks ago I finished the book, satisfied that it was a fairly good and straight forward explanation of nudist culture and something those contemplating the lifestyle might find as a useful guide. I submitted it first for publication as an eBook and as of today it is available at a couple of e-commerce sites including Smashwords and Barnes & Noble. Smashwords offers several different formats both for those who have an electronic reader and those who don't. The Barnes & Noble version is specifically for Nook Reader owners. They do however have free Nook PC and MAC readers available for download at the site for those who don't own a Nook.

In a day or two, the eBook will also be available at Amazon for Kindle owners. And I just submitted the manuscript yesterday for consideration to a paperback book publisher.

The book is a basic introduction to wholesome, non-sexual nudism & naturism, sort of a Nudist 101 approach. After fifteen chapters, I decided I had to stop somewhere to get it published but envision I will be revising and adding additional chapters in the future. Of course I'd love for people to buy the book. After all selling books is the best way an author can find out whether he or she has written something people find useful. But the point of this post isn't an appeal for readers to buy the book but a request that readers who have the time, take a look at it and provide some feedback.

Both Barnes & Noble and Smashwords allow readers to sample the book without buying it. That seems fair to me since it makes the eBook buying experience similar to actually going to a brick and mortar store, browsing the stacks and flipping through a physical book that catches your interest. If anyone chooses to read the samples I welcome any comments - good, bad or different. Find something you don't agree with? Think of something I should have included that was left out? Were you left with unanswered questions? These are the exact kind of things that will help me produce a better book in the next revision. Assuming everything goes well with the paperback, once I have copies in hand I have in mind to give a few away via a contest for readers of this blog so stay tuned. Sometimes we know people we would like to explain nudism & naturism to and why we find it appealing and meaningful but sometimes just can't seem to come up with the right words. This book, American Nudist Culture could do that job for you if passed on to someone you would like to see get involved in the lifestyle or at least understand it better.

Here are the current links to the book and I'll add one for Amazon when it becomes available;

Barnes & Noble Nook Version

American Nudist Culture

Get the free Nook for PC reader here

Get the free Nook for MAC, iPhone, iPad and Android readers here

Smashwords Version

American Nudist Culture

At Smashwords the book can be downloaded in several different formats or simply read online.


If you should read the sample or perhaps decide to buy a copy, don't forget to let me know what you think by either posting a comment here, with an email or by rating the book through the e-commerce sites. And if you enjoy the book and find it useful, please mention it to other nudists you know.