author
Zebina Forbush
Best known for The Co-Opolitan, this elusive late-19th-century writer left behind a utopian novel that imagines a cooperative commonwealth in Idaho. Very little biographical information appears to be firmly documented, which gives the work an added air of mystery.
1 Audiobook
The Co-opolitan: A Story of the Co-operative Commonwealth of Idaho
by Zebina Forbush
About the author
Zebina Forbush is credited as the author of The Co-Opolitan: A Story of the Co-Operative Commonwealth of Idaho, a novel first published in 1898. The book belongs to the tradition of utopian fiction and explores the idea of building a cooperative society in the American West.
Some reference sources list the name as a pseudonym rather than a clearly identified historical individual. Because reliable biographical records are scarce, it is hard to say much with confidence about the person behind the name beyond the surviving publication itself.
That uncertainty has become part of Forbush's appeal for modern readers. What remains clear is the imaginative reach of The Co-Opolitan, which offers a glimpse into the hopes, reform movements, and social experiments that shaped its era.