Trina Paulus, already an artist, philosopher, sculptor and community builder when she wrote Hope for the Flowers,
has lived an unconventional life including over a decade at Grailville, an educational center and organic farm
in Loveland, Ohio. She has spent time abroad with the international Grail Movement in France and Akhmin, Egypt,
where she helped start a women's weaving and embroidery co-op. She is vice-president of Central Rocky Mountain
Permaculture Institute and Cornucopia Network of New Jersey. Her home in New Jersey is a hub of environmental action
and learning.
Review
"A wonderful new myth book."
--Woman's Day
"I read it with deep appreciation for its message and for Trina Paulus' skill in communicating in words
and pictures."
--Coretta Scott King
Paulist Press Web Site, September, 2000
Summary
Hope's theme of life, moving through seeming death to a new and more beautiful life, has touched the hearts
of millions of people and is as relevant now as when it was written twenty-five years ago. Hope for the Flowers
is for young and old, lovers, husbands and wives. It's a book to learn to read with, or to comfort those who are
dying or grieving. In the tale, the caterpillar heroes, Stripe and Yellow, want something more from life than eating
and growing bigger. They get caught up in a "caterpillar pillar," a squirming mass of bodies, each determined
to reach a top so far away it can't be seen. Finally disillusioned, they discover that the way for the caterpillars
to find their particular "more," who they really are, is to enter the cocoon and "...risk for the
butterfly." Hope for the Flowers has helped people gain the courage to leave jobs, change their lives and
explore their love for another human being. Two million copies in print.
