Free at Last is also chock-full of stories that illustrate the many unique features of this highly original model.“Age mixing is Sudbury Valley’s secret weapon. I never could make heads or tails of age segregation. People don’t live their lives in the real world separated by age, year by year. Kids don’t all have the same interests or abilities at a particular age.“Anyway, we soon found out how children mix when they are left to their own devices. They mix. Just like real people. The principle is always the same: if anyone wants to do something, they do it. Interest is what counts. If the activity is on an advanced level, skill counts. A lot of little kids are much more skillful than older ones at a lot of things.“When the skills and rate of learning aren’t all on the same level, that’s when the fun begins. The kids help each other. They have to, otherwise the group as a whole will fall behind. They want to, because they are not competing for grades or gold stars. They like to, because it’s terribly satisfying to help someone else and succeed at it. And it’s terribly pleasing to watch. Everywhere you turn at school, age mixing confronts you.”

    The text, recounting Hemingway's life and times between 1939 and 1960, is a remembrance by Norberto Fuentes, who was Hemingway's good friend during that period. In the book's vivid photographs, we see Hemingway on African safaris, in Venice with his wife Mary Welsh, fishing for marlin in the Gulf Stream, socializing at his favorite cafes, and relaxing at his homes in Cuba, Key West, and Idaho. Still other dramatic candid shots show Hemingway on movie sets, for instance with Spencer Tracy during the filming of The Old Man and the Sea, and with Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman during filming of For Whom the Bell Tolls. The more than 150 candid black-and-white photos of Hemingway and friends at work and at play, were taken by his friend and associate, Roberto Herrera Sotolongo, and had never appeared anywhere until the publication of this book. Another 50 full-color photos taken more recently capture the different atmospheres of the writer's several homes.

    With contributions by 32 experts in the field, it addresses new developments in curricula, assessment strategies, & teaching methods.