Archives West Finding Aid

Carla (Carlotta Louise Harshbarger) Emery was born on January 19, 1939 in Los Angeles and died in Odessa, Texas, on October 11, 2005. Her family moved to a farm in Montana while she was still an infant. Carla became a firm believer in self-sufficiency and the “back to the land” philosophy. Throughout her life, she tried to live by a creed of organic gardening and old style homesteading skills.

In 1970, she began distributing segments of herself-published book, An Old Fashioned Recipe Book, which went through several editions throughout the 1970s. Her notoriety took her on the road where she distributed copies of her book and was featured on “Good Morning America,” "The Mike Douglas Show,” and “The Tonight Show.” Bantam Books eventually published her book in 1977, then in its 7th edition.

Carla Emery opened the “School for Country Living” with her first husband Mike on property purchased in Kendrick, Idaho in 1976. Within a two-year period, the school became victim of a devastating flood, washing out the property and most of the outbuildings. Her first marriage ended in divorce in 1985. Carla married Donald DeLong in 2000 and moved to Arizona. She remained active in spite of health concerns and toured the country speaking about gardening, raising livestock, and environmental issues. She continued to write profusely, producing manuscripts, publishing articles and another book in 1998, Secret, Don’t Tell: The Encyclopedia of Hypnotism.

On her webpage, Carla wrote down how she would like to be remembered: “She was responsible. She loved a job. She loved being a wife, a mother, and a writer. She worked hard and did her best.”