Colin Miller – författare

As local communities and public services reel under the impact of global economic turmoil, it is vital to find more creative ways for the services to work together with those who depend on them and who also, as citizens, ultimately govern them. Community practice is the name for that growing part of the relationship by which service providers and local residents collaborate flexibly and economically to meet needs, boost community strengths and service effectiveness, and link participative and representative democracy.Combining re-examination of theory with practical tools and approaches, Chanan and Miller provide a new framework for local involvement strategy, for policy-makers and practitioners alike. They show how this innovative but still amorphous movement can become more coherent, both on the ground and in public policy: reforming community development, building new kinds of neighbourhood partnership, measuring outcomes objectively, and combining the best innovations of the past three decades into a new synthesis. This is an important new perspective for all local public service agencies, all practitioners working in communities, and academics and students concerned with these fields.

As local communities and public services reel under the impact of global economic turmoil, it is vital to find more creative ways for the services to work together with those who depend on them and who also, as citizens, ultimately govern them. Community practice is the name for that growing part of the relationship by which service providers and local residents collaborate flexibly and economically to meet needs, boost community strengths and service effectiveness, and link participative and representative democracy.Combining re-examination of theory with practical tools and approaches, Chanan and Miller provide a new framework for local involvement strategy, for policy-makers and practitioners alike. They show how this innovative but still amorphous movement can become more coherent, both on the ground and in public policy: reforming community development, building new kinds of neighbourhood partnership, measuring outcomes objectively, and combining the best innovations of the past three decades into a new synthesis. This is an important new perspective for all local public service agencies, all practitioners working in communities, and academics and students concerned with these fields.

An immersive photographic tour of the legendary Chelsea Hotel, whose residents share their stories and reveal the delirious history of this landmark.Jackson Pollock, Robert Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, Dylan Thomas, Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan, Arthur C. Clarke, Andy Warhol, William S. Burroughs, Janis Joplin, Eugene O'Neill, Rufus Wainwright, Betsey Johnson, R. Crumb, Thomas Wolfe, Jasper Johns - these are just a few of the figures who at one time occupied one of the most alluring and storied residences ever: the Chelsea Hotel. Born during the Gilded Age and once the tallest building in New York, the twelve-story landmark has long been a magnet for artists, writers, musicians, and cultural provocateurs of all stripes. In this book, photographer Colin Miller and writer Ray Mock intimately portray the enduring bohemian spirit of the Chelsea Hotel through interviews with nearly two dozen current residents and richly detailed photographs of their unique spaces. As documented in Miller's abundant photographs, these apartments project the quirky decorating sensibilities of urban aesthetes who largely work in film, theater, and the visual arts, resulting in deliriously ornamental spaces with a kitschy edge. Weathering the overall homogenization of New York and the rapid transformation of the hotel itself - amid recent ownership changeovers and tenant lawsuits - residents remain in about seventy apartments while the rest of the units are converted to rentals (and revert to a hotel-stay basis, which had ceased in 2011). For the community of artists and intellectuals who remain, the uncertain status of the hotel is just another stage in a roller-coaster history. A fascinating portrait of a strand of resilient bohemian New Yorkers and their creative, deeply idiosyncratic homes, Hotel Chelsea is a rich visual and narrative document of a cultural destination as complicated as it is mythical.

In an era where social media metrics dominate our sense of connection and happiness, Colin Miller presents a refreshing perspective in We Are Only Saved Together. Drawing from the rich traditions of the Catholic Worker movement, Miller illustrates how true fulfillment lies not in virtual validation but in authentic relationships, shared experiences, and the pursuit of the common good. This timely reminder shows us how the joy we are made for is found in the practice of the Gospel, in the company of others, and especially in friendship with the poor.

While completing his doctoral work in theology at Duke, Miller befriended a group of homeless men who were living outside their church building. As these encounters led to conversations that led to friendships, Miller realized that the Gospel was not primarily about feeding the homeless or meeting their physical needs but about being a community, and this is the antidote to the loneliness, isolation, and emptiness that plagues our world. Along the way, he discovered Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the Catholic Worker movement. Inspired by their work, he cofounded a Catholic Worker House dedicated to common prayer, material simplicity, fellowship with the poor, good work, and everyday community.

This book is not a call to become a strange, marginal, or fringe Catholic; it is a call to become fully Catholic by embracing the essential traditions that have always been at the heart of the Church and finding Christ in the places he promised to meet us: in worship, in community, in the poor. Following the little way of St. Thérèse of Lisieux (one of Dorothy Day’s favorite saints), Miller shares practical ideas to consider when seeking to encounter Christ in these places, such as

exploring the power of shared meals and feasts; reframing our encounters with people in poverty through a surprising look at the Good Samaritan parable; ideas on how to live close to the land; discerning the qualities that bring dignity to our work; and steps to embrace voluntary simplicity.  

We Are Only Saved Together is not about becoming a Catholic Worker; it’s about becoming a disciple who discovers friendship, adventure, and joy in the Gospel. It’s about pursuing a holiness so old it looks new.

Are you ready for an adventure filled with meaningful friendships, community with the poor, and good works? It might not always be easy, but it is definitely worth it. Let’s go!