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David Michael Oehler (; January 2, 1938 February 2, 2016) was an American
environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
and author. He was a proponent and designer of affordable and sustainable alternative forms of housing. He became well known for his appearances in episodes of
Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...
's
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary series '' Weird Weekends'' (1998).


Early life

David Michael Oehler was born in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
on January 2, 1938, the son of Polly and Chet Oehler. He grew up in nearby
Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
and had three sisters named Patricia, Gretchen, and Sioux. He graduated from
New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school, with its main campus for sophomores through seniors located in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, and a campus in Northfield, Illinoi ...
but dropped out of college to pursue his writing career, then served in the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
before working on fishing boats. He then worked in gold mines in
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, joined the U.S. Forest Service, cruised around
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and finally ended up in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, where he embraced the
hippy A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
movement and lifestyle.


Career

Oehler partook in the 1960s
back-to-the-land movement A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffic ...
. He lived on a 40-acre homestead in the
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
mountains. He wrote numerous books and appeared as a university lecturer, as well as a TV and radio guest, on topics related to
self-sufficiency Self-sustainability and self-sufficiency are overlapping states of being in which a person or organization needs little or no help from, or interaction with, others. Self-sufficiency entails the self being enough (to fulfill needs), and a self-s ...
and housing. In 1998, Oehler appeared in an episode of
Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received two British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduating fro ...
's
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary series '' Weird Weekends'', in which Theroux visited Oehler's underground home in the mountains. Later that year, he appeared in the follow-up special episode "Weird Christmas", in which he and three others who had appeared in their own episodes (a
Christian fundamentalist Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...
, a porn star, and a
ufologist Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and ...
) met up with Theroux in New York and engaged in various activities. The episode saw Oehler being taken by Theroux to a recording studio, where he recorded a song under the
stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...
of Mountain Mike.


Death

On February 2, 2016, at the age of 78, Oehler died of natural causes at his home near
Bonners Ferry Bonners Ferry (Kutenai language: ʔaq̓anqmi) is the largest city and the county seat of Boundary County, Idaho, United States. The population was 2,543 at the 2010 census. History When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of British ...
in Boundary County, Idaho.


Bibliography

* 1981: ''One Mexican Sunday'' () * 1982: ''The $50 Dollars and Up Underground House Book'' () * 1999: ''The Hippy Survival Guide to Y2K'' () * 2007: ''The Earth-sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book: How to Build an Energy Free Year-round Greenhouse'' ()


See also

*
Off-the-grid Off-the-grid or off-grid is a characteristic of buildings and a lifestyle designed in an independent manner without reliance on one or more public utilities. The term "off-the-grid" traditionally refers to not being connected to the electrical gr ...
*
Permaculture Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
*
Survivalism Survivalism is a social movement of individuals or groups (called survivalists or preppers) who proactively prepare for emergencies, such as natural disasters, as well as other disasters causing disruption to social order (that is, civil disor ...


References


External links


Oehler's underground house website'Permies' permaculture website and forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oehler, Mike 1938 births 2016 deaths American non-fiction environmental writers Organic gardeners People from Bonners Ferry, Idaho Permaculturalists