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CARLA EMERY

"The School of Country Living is in its annual period of bankruptcy," the lady explains, half smiling. For someone who's just lost two years of hard work and $100,000+ in a mudslide, this author/ mother/educator seems unusually buoyant. But then, that's CARLA EMERY for you.

The bankruptcy of which Carla speaks has a long history behind it. In fact, the story really goes back to the summer of 1970, when Ms. Emery first conceived of—and began to advertise—her now-legendary Old Fashioned Recipe Book.

The Recipe Book —a mammoth collection of information on how to grow, cook, preserve, and serve hundreds of foods and beverages—took three and a half years to write, and made publishing history soon after its appearance in March of 1974. (The Guinness Book of World Records lists Carla's five-pound manual as the largest mimeographed volume in general circulation, and also cites Carla for having sold more copies—45,000 to date—of a self-published guide than anyone in history.)

Two years ago, Carla and her husband, Michael, could easily have retired on the proceeds from their super-cookbook ... but they didn't. Instead, the couple used their earnings to open (in June 19751 the School of Country Living in Kendrick, Idaho . . . a place where people of all ages and backgrounds could come to learn farming, cooking, construction, and other skills.

From the beginning, the School operated at a loss. (It had to. State requirements effectively prohibited Carla from charging tuition.) Then, about a year ago, Bantam Books paid Carla $115,000 for publishing rights to her Recipe Book. . . and—for once—things were (financially speaking) looking up for the School.

All that has changed, however. For on August 2, 1976, the School of Country Living was hit by a giant mudslide . . . a disaster which left over a hundred animals dead and the School's buildings destroyed.

When asked if the School (which is now $0,000 in debt! would ever be revived, Carla told MOTHER: "It may never rise again. I can't predict that I can go on making the kind of money that's needed to keep the School open. All I can say, at this point, is that I've learned a pretty good lesson in reality."