Ilsley Heads North To Canada This week, Ilsley travels all the way to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to visit Sunny Chinooks Association. Sunny Chinooks is a small community of friendly, fun-loving campers composed of families, couples, and singles. The grounds are rustic but well serviced, and located on 18 acres of land along the James River at the foothills of the Rockies. There are 25 developed sites, two tenting areas, and groves of poplar and pine trees bordered on one side by a meandering river, where visitors can swim or fish. As a family nudist club, Sunny Chinooks plans many special events. The Ilsley is a traveling trophy commissioned to commemorate AANR's 75th Anniversary as the credible voice of reason for nude recreation in North America. Ilsley is traveling to nearly 40 AANR clubs and resorts across the U.S. and Canada. Throughout his tour, special themed events and celebrations are planned at host clubs along the way. The award is named for the late Rev. Ilsley Boone, the founder and first Executive Director of AANR's predecessor, the American Sunbathing Association. Boone is perhaps best remembered as the flamboyant clergyman who served as plaintiff in the 1958 case of Sunshine Book Co. v. Summerfield. That case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and established, once and for all, First Amendment protection for nudist publications. Ilsley ends his tour in August 2006 at the Association's 75th Anniversary Convention at Deanza Springs Resort outside San Diego, California. You can track Ilsley's weekly progress on his year-long tour right here on the AANR website. 
Skinny-Dipping Book Features Famous Writers, Artists Literary buffs or those who just enjoy reading about the nudist experience should check out New England author R.E. Smith's new book Naked in Nature:Great Skinny-Dipping Moments in Literature and Art. The book is a collection of the best writing depicting nudity outdoors with hyperlinks guiding to illustrations by great artists and photographers. This electronic book includes great writing from renowned authors that reads like a Who's Who of the literary canon, including John Fowles, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, E.M. Forster, George Orwell, and Vladimir Nabokov. The illustrations are by some of the most respected artists ever assembled and include Andrew Wyeth, Robert Mapplethorpe, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gaugin, and Paul Cezanne. Many of the artists describe their experience producing the illustrations, and the book contains great scenes of men and women enjoying nudity. Readers may go online and print out this ebook at Naked in Nature for a special introductory price. For a limited time, a print version with full-color illustrations is available from the same address. Nuke Activists Pose Nude Taiwan Headline reports that the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU), a Taiwanese conservationist group, unveiled a short film featuring a nude model to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident and to oppose a nuclear power plant under construction. The unnamed model, purported to be a university student, holds a banner reading "Better Nude Than Nuke." According to the alliance, many people called to complain about the film because they feel it objectifies women. A parents' group also opposed using naked models to protest nuclear power. TEPU defended its decision to use the nude model, stressing that using naked bodies depicts an "innocent way" to voice a dissenting view. Undeterred by critics, the group plans to recruit 100 nude models for its plan to save Fulong Beach, which the group claims is disappearing because of a nuclear power plant being built down the road. Read more at Nude Protest. Summer Travelers Desire Nude Vacations Just in time for summer travel, two new surveys reveal an increased interest in nude recreation for vacations this year. The National Leisure Travel Monitor, conducted annually by public relations firm Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell, is regarded as one of the most accurate barometers of the travel habits of Americans. Results show that 15% of respondents consider a resort that offers a nude recreation experience extremely desirable. What is especially interesting about the survey is that it breaks down respondents by age and ethnicity. According to the results, younger adults in the so-called Echo-Boomer and Gen-X demographic are expresssing interest in nude recreation. Another signficant statistic is the high percentage of non-white and African Americans who would consider a nude vacation, suggesting an increased diversity in nude recreation. A recent TripAdvisor survey of more than 2,300 travelers worldwide reveals that 92 percent of repondents plan to take a vacation this year. The clear winner in the type of vacation desired is a location that offers swimming and sunbathing. Nearly 10 percent plan to visit a nude venue this summer.  |
