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When Feeling Called to Write a Life Story
Stories bind us. Stories help is find our place in the world. ~ Mary Ann Kirkby, author of I Am Hutteritie I just responded to a LinkedIn Women's Memoir Writing group discussion and then realized this is a great blog post to end the year with. Kathleen Pooler asked a great question: "How do you handle…
Read MoreTo Stay or Leave?
I was doing some perusing of websites tonight that are administrated or written by former Amish people. Once I started reading “Letters to and from Former Amish” by the Mission to Amish People website, I could not stop reading. I was pulled into the intensity of the letters. First there is a letter from someone who…
Read MoreSnow and About Anna
Yesterday morning I awoke to what sounded like a convoy of trucks going across the bridge over the Connecticut River. It was the wind roaring all around the house. The snow had been coming down all night apparently, and from the sound of that wind, we were having the blizzard that had been predicted. At…
Read MoreThe Juncture of Three Cultures
Ever since I’ve gotten to know Anna Miller, the young woman who lives with us, I’ve said that the difference between her Swartzentruber community and the Amish community where I came from is about as great as the difference between my community and the outside world. In fact, Anna’s group called anyone who is not…
Read MoreThe Amish, Misunderstood Again
Many of the misconceptions of the Amish come about because someone misunderstands their ways and then imposes their values on the Amish. This is how the misconception of “rumspringa” became so widespread… the people making a documentary The Devil’s Playground misconstrued the idea of what “rumpspringa” is all about. Now the misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the…
Read MoreLanguage and Thought
Does language influence thought or do thoughts influence language? Or both? These are questions I had debated in a linguistics class at Smith College several years ago. Now these questions come to mind again because of the young woman living with us who is adjusting to the English world. And in this case I mean…
Read MoreFrom a Farm Boy to the Outer Limits of a University Education — Meet Henry Troyer
Because of the publicity that I’ve received for both my memoir and the PBS American Experience film “The Amish” that I was featured in, I occasionally receive emails from people who have read or heard my story and want to let me know how they’ve related to it. Very often these people have an Amish…
Read MoreNovember Transitions
Thirty-five years ago tonight my life changed irrevocably. At this time of the night that many years ago, I had just donned my first “English” clothes, had the first haircut in my life; and I was about to be driven to the train station to take a night train out of Cleveland. Thirty-two years ago…
Read MoreThe Ramifications of Wisconsin v. Yoder, Part 4
Here is another segment of my paper. I have put in bold the arguments I find the most compelling. Professor Joel Feinberg assessed this case. Like Justice Heffernan, he understood the intricacies involved. First he acknowledged the case for the exemption: The case for the exemption was a strong one. The Amish sincerity is beyond…
Read MoreIn Our Backyard
There is no surer sign of the seasons changing than that of birds migrating. David and I have had the privilege of living in homes on migratory routes. Once, while we were living in Fairfax, Vermont, we had our windows open for the first time in early June. At supper, I heard birds that were…
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