The Conran Community/Preface & Acknowledgements

This book has been in the minds of many 'Conran people' for many years. It cannot be a definitive or exhaustive account of the Conran Community. Nor can it capture a single true version of this history: there are bound to be natural subjective variations in recalling events and 'facts'. What we can do here, is collect, preserve and share this indelible and unique period of so many people's lives.

Where possible, we draw on historically rigorous sources, though these are sparse. However, these would only reveal a small sliver of the picture, bereft of all the subjective, rich, unreliable memories and stories needed to describe something of the essence of this era.

The main focus of this book is on a few decades that seem short in retrospect, but which seemed much longer living through them. Like many others, I developed a profound attachment to the place from early childhood, spending my first two dozen summers there, and as much time in between as possible. Most of my dreams continue to be located in or around Conran, perhaps an indication that most people can also have a soul-deep connection to place.

I know I'm not alone in still feeling the deep loss of this place that was home for many formative years. Annual cycles of spiritual replenishment became permanently integrated into our personal and collective consciousness.

Little seems to be known, or at least documented about the original custodians of the Conran area. The authors acknowledge that the Conran Community occupied land that had been cared for by the Ganaikurnai and Bidawal nations who were traditional custodians for at least 10,000 years.