Kathleen Kinkade | Commune founder, 77 Posted on July 22nd
Kathleen “Kat” Kinkade, 77, one of the founders of the rural Twin Oaks commune in Louisa, Va., died July 3 at the commune from complications from bone cancer.
Her involvement with communal living started when she was a 36-year-old secretary and single mother who read Walden Two, a utopian novel by Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner.
Ms. Kinkade quickly discovered communal living was difficult, rife with personality clashes. She also found herself swamped with administrative chores and complaints that she was too authoritarian.
Eventually, Twin Oaks used facilitators to mediate the power struggle, and their recommendations resulted in more democratic governance.
Eighty-five adults and 15 children now live at Twin Oaks. Each member gets food, housing, health care and a personal allowance from the community, which receives most of its income from making rope hammocks, casual furniture and tofu, and indexing books.
- AP