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Linda Egenes had no idea she was writing a book when she chronicled her first experiences with the Amish. What started as an assignment for her M.A requirements grew to be a heart-warming celebration of life among these spiritual, practical "plain" people.
In that assignment, which serves as the opening chapter in Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life, Linda not only shares her impressions of the visit, but reveals the challenges and triumphs, the worries and dreams of a farming family--the Herschbergers--and their no-frills existence. Linda launches her book with the piece, and, with woodcut illustrations by Caldecott-medal winner Mary Azarian throughout the book, delivers an enthralling adventure for the reader.
Here's what Linda says about the creation of this colorful saga of Amish life.
Mary Zeilbeck: Linda, how did you come to write this book, and how did Iowa State University come to publish it?
Linda Egenes: I started the first story 14 years ago as a student in M.A. in Professional Writing program at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, and it was first published in The Iowa Source. I then marketed the piece to Cobblestone Magazine, which published it in 1987. Scott Savage, the editor of Plain Magazine, saw the story and invited me to be Plain's young people's editor. During that time, I wrote 11 vignettes for Plain. Scott encouraged me to put the pieces together as a book.
I had in mind that this book would be perfect for Iowa State University Press. When I wrote to them, they said, "Sounds exciting." It's worked out really well. The editors understood what I was trying to do and completely supported me in keeping the book authentic.
Mary: Were you always interested in the Amish?
Linda: I've always been curious about cultures that live without electricity, cars, and other modern conveniences. But, in writing these pieces, I wanted to do more than satisfy my curiosity. I wanted to discover the heart of these very spiritual people, find out why they stay with it, find out what their inner lives are like.
Mary: What was the most surprising thing you discovered about the Amish?
Linda: When you see an Amish family passing by in a covered buggy, they seem so solemn and serious. The people I met were so light-hearted. The families are typically large, with ten or more children, and gentle teasing and joking is common. The adults laugh a lot and love to socialize--it's their main entertainment.
I was also surprised at the openness of Amish parents, considering that their society is closed to outsiders. They invited me into their homes, let me interview their children, and shared their thoughts.
Perhaps part of it is that they don't feel they have anything to hide or show off. They speak simply and honestly about their way of life. They are the first to admit that their lives have challenges, and that they are not perfect.
Mary: You depict the uniqueness of each person or family so vividly. Do you have a favorite visit among those in the book?
Linda: I think the Yoder family was my favorite. I visited them many times over the years, and watched their children grow up. I became friends with the mother, and I cherish our last visit. We chatted in her living room while she mended her son's shirt. That talk about marriage and family life appears in the final chapter of the book. She was very open and intimate with me. She is a good friend, and I wish she lived closer so we could visit more often.
So many visits were memorable, like the time I looked up a Kalona woman who was related to an Amish family I met in North Carolina. She had just married for the first time in her sixties, and her sister was with her to do some quilting. We hit it off, and chatted and laughed until tears streamed our faces.
At another visit to a church service, I heard the haunting, never-recorded Amish hymns sung a capella by the entire congregation.
On each visit I felt like I had entered a time warp, where time slowed and life became simpler, more human, without the buzz of telephones and TV. The Amish focus on family, community, and God--and that devotional quality, that connectedness--tugged at my heart.
Mary: You now teach in the Professional Writing program at Maharishi University of Management. Do you share your writing techniques with your students?
Linda: In my literary journalism courses, I tell my students to immerse themselves in the lives of their subjects. When you spend time just talking to the people you're interviewing, helping them with their work, sharing food with them, getting them to talk about what they do, think, and feel each day, you can uncover universal truths in the details of their existence. This was especially true about the Amish. They have fashioned their everyday lives to express their love for God.
Author Linda Egenes invites everyone to a reading and book signing on Wednesday, May 17, in the meeting room of the Fairfield Public Library, 2nd and Adams Street, at 8:00 p.m. Linda will read from her book and answer questions on Amish life based on her experiences with the Amish community. Refreshments will be served.
On Wednesday, May 24, Linda will read at Prairie Lights Bookstore, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City, at 8:00 p.m. The reading will also be broadcast on "Live from Prairie Lights" on radio stations WSUI AM 910 and WOI AM 640.
