Pennsylvania Plain People
Pennsylvania has a fascinating and complex history of welcoming religious reformers and visionaries. The commonwealth also has a rich contemporary culture of "plain people," which includes the large and diverse Mennonite tradition, its conservative schismatic Amish, and the Society of Friends who helped create such an accommodating refuge from European wars of religion. Here I feature some of the standards of the store, including a well-regarded mystery series by P.L. Gaus set in Ohio.
Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World
Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World
Little Shirley Hershey, named for a movie star, grew up with her nose pressed to the window of the glittering world. Three locations shaped her-a family farm, a country school, and Lititz Mennonite Church. She later became a college president and then a foundation executive, but the rosy-cheeked, barefoot farm girl never quite disappeared.
As Willa Cather said, "Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen." This childhood memoir tells the story of a girl who might have left the church but found another way.