Donald Kraybill is the author of over a dozen books on the Amish, and currently serves as Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. I asked Don if he’d answer some questions for us today on the Amish and his newest book, called Simply Amish: An Essential Guide from the Foremost Expert on Amish Life. From the…
Mark Louden is a linguist, educator, and author of Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language. Mark recently answered some questions on Pennsylvania Dutch. We’ve got that interview for you today, plus a chance to win a copy of his book (the contest has now ended – you can find the winner here). If you’ve ever wondered about things like how close PA Dutch is…
Speaking recently with someone wanting to film the Amish, I realized it’s been 5 years since the release of PBS’s excellent documentary “The Amish”. This is one of the films I most often recommend on the Amish, and it struck me that some of you readers might not be aware of it. After previewing the film in 2012, I wrote the following: Adding to the Amish commentary is that…
One of our readers recently came across some issues of the Amish publication Young Companion, dating to the early 1970s, at a local thrift shop. He’s offering the two issues pictured above in our latest giveaway. I’m calling it a “retro” giveaway, but as a look at the contents shows, most of the subject matter would probably be just as appropriate today. A little background first. Young Companion is…
The latest issue of the Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies was recently released. The way this academic journal works is simple: all content is available for free online (there is also an option to order a print copy if you like). Started in 2013, this is the fifth issue of the biannual journal (read an interview with one of the editors, Cory Anderson, here). Topic…
Chances are you’ve read a book or two to try to better understand the Amish. In today’s post, Richard Stevick shares his experiences with the people who write those books, starting with John Hostetler, through some of today’s authors. — Growing up in a working class community and in a family from which nobody had ever gone to college, I never imagined that I would write a book,…
Loren Beachy has delivered a second batch of answers to your questions, so we’ll get right into them. Today’s questions include queries about Loren’s favorite writers, how he manages eight grades at once, and how many single Amish ladies he is currently fending off. You asked some good ones. With these and his previous answers, Loren got to over 30 of your questions, so I think he did alright….
The book you see here just came in the mail. It’s called Chasing the Amish Dream: My Life as a Young Amish Bachelor, and its author is Loren Beachy. You might know Loren already from his Goshen News column “The Plain Side” or other writings. More about Loren: Loren Beachy is an Old Order Amish auctioneer and elementary schoolteacher. Born in central Ohio, Beachy became a Hoosier at…
On a recent post reader Jim S commented: “Would love to read a more in-depth treatment of the Amish.” Jim Cates and Rich Stevick replied with some good suggestions. I’d like to chime in as well. The past few months, I’ve been building a huge guide to my favorite non-fiction books on the Amish (also linked at “Good Books” up there on the right in the main menu). On the list you’ll find 27…
If you missed it, Serving the Amish author James Cates answered your questions in the comments section of our previous post. I’ll share a couple of them here (plus three of my own at the end of this post). First, from Loretta: Amish often have large families and children are considered a blessing from the Lord. What I haven’t understood is why it is hush-hush…