In May 1999 Jay and Eileen Beedle set out to raise their children off the grid on Shelter Island, a skiff ride from Juneau. Yearning to escape the stress from constant work and the bustle of Alaska\u2019s capital, Beedle quit his job with the state and moved his family in an attempt to offer his children the best life he possibly could. Now, after almost 20 years off the grid, fueled by his desire to share with others the benefits of living a more simple life, Beedle has written a memoir.<\/p>\n
Beedle\u2019s book tells a story of disregarding nay-sayers successfully. He also gives readers specifics on what it\u2019s like to clear land for and construct cabins, become homeschooling parents, fail at living remotely once just to try again, and what it takes to adapt to life away from society.<\/p>\n
Shelter Island is nine miles long and has no roads or any cultivated areas. Its dense woods mean it\u2019s normally used just for hunting and camping. It is about a 15-minute boat ride from Juneau\u2019s Auke Bay harbor.<\/p>\n
Beedle writes, \u201cBombarded with stock market reports every 15 minutes, non-stop current news on the radio and television about the latest killings and the sick disgusting things humans do to each other around the world, it seemed to me the media was addicted to scum and bound and determined to suck every bit of hope out of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
He first published his memoir, \u201cSouth Shelter,\u201d in 2014 after three years of writing and editing. When asked why it\u2019s so important for him to try and get this book out now. Beedle answered, \u201cI believe in it. I believe the message is there. It\u2019s true people need to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This book shares insight on what Beedle calls, \u201cA different lifestyle that not very many people have lived.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beedle doesn\u2019t try to sugarcoat living a remote life and makes sure to write about all of the hardships that go along with the good times.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have dreams to live remote, not everything\u2019s going to be perfect. But realize how good things are, and make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beedle said honesty is the most important aspect to living a happy and successful life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re brainwashed in America. It\u2019s materials and it\u2019s capitalism. There\u2019s got to be a balance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In \u201cSouth Shelter,\u201d many times through his family\u2019s quirky stories, Beedle emphasizes the importance of hydrating with water, the use of solar energy, the benefits of recycling and many other tips for an overall more healthy, enlightened life.<\/p>\n
From a killer whale\u2019s majestic head shot to his children kayaking out homemade, chocolate chip cookies to tourists, the colorful photos inside \u201cSouth Shelters\u201d pages bring the Beedle family, and their experiences with nature, to life.<\/p>\n
Motherearthnews.com, which is geared toward being \u201cthe original guide to living wisely\u201d was first to respond to Beedle after publication and added an entire chapter into one of its issues.<\/p>\n
Beedle has written multiple articles in line with his convictions about sustainable living and protecting the environment. \u201cSolar energy in Southeast, is it for real or is it a joke?\u201d, published in the Juneau Empire Outdoors section in 2012, focuses on the possibility of solar energy in Southeast Alaska. In a 2013 My Turn published in the Juneau Empire\u2019s opinion pages, \u201cI love my Ford F-250 4×4,\u201d addresses the issue of air pollution. As the former co-owner of Harv and Marv\u2019s whale watching tours, he\u2019s also written 16 \u201cWeekly Whale Features\u201d IDing whales by their tails for the Empire.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth Shelter\u201d is currently offered at Hearthside books in Juneau. Interested readers can also email Beedle at jislandimages@gmail.com.<\/p>\n
An aside: After my interview with Beedle I was happy to find he wasn\u2019t all just talk. As I turned on my car in hopes of heating it up enough to melt the inches of snow off its windows, Beedle trudged through the parking lot and without a word began wiping off each of my car\u2019s windows. Good people do exist.<\/p>\n
Mackenzie Fisher, a senior at the University of Alaska Southeast, is the Capital City Weekly\u2019s spring semester intern.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In May 1999 Jay and Eileen Beedle set out to raise their children off the grid on Shelter Island, a skiff ride from Juneau. Yearning to escape the stress from constant work and the bustle of Alaska\u2019s capital, Beedle quit his job with the state and moved his family in an attempt to offer his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":32791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[74],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-32790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","tag-arts-and-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32790"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=32790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}