Volume 4, Issue 2 of the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities is now available. Like previous issues, it offers readers a variety of topics. For example, the lead article by Rachel Stein, Professor of Sociology at West Virginia University and Mark Dewalt, Professor Emeritus at Winthrop University, examines the prevalence of accidents in smaller Amish communities using reports found in the monthly publication, The Diary.... The post New JPAC Issue Out Now: Amish Crime Experiences, Accident Study, Women & More first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Some very nice news came in since the Christy Otto book giveaway post went up. A reader who wishes to remain anonymous has very generously chosen to donate copies of one of Christy Otto’s books of artwork to the first 50 people who left comments on the previous Q&A post. Call it an early Christmas gift in appreciation to the readers here. Wow! Below you’ll... The post Christy Otto Giveaway Surprise: First 50 Commenters On Previous Post Get A Book (Thanks to an Anonymous Reader) first appeared on Amish America ..read more

The Budget, published in Sugarcreek, Ohio since 1890, is a correspondence paper popular in Amish and Mennonite communities. This is one of the best articles I’ve seen on the paper, a fairly deep dive into how the Budget gets made, who reads it, what it covers, and more, by Sophie LeMay of thereportingproject.org. The intro: SUGARCREEK, Ohio – Of all print newspapers in the U.S.,... The post “Facebook on Paper”: A Closer Look at The Budget Newspaper first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Linda Byler is one of the most successful of all authors of Amish romance novels. One thing that makes Linda stand out is that she herself is Amish. Linda recently spoke to the UK Daily Mail. For those unfamiliar, that is a tabloid paper. And the article has a tabloidy feel, but that aside it’s interesting – in part because of how frankly Linda speaks.... The post Amish Author Linda Byler Rejects Blame For Sexual Abuse Placed On Her Novels first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Back in May we heard from Brad Igou on Amish Voices Volume 2: In Their Own Words, 1993-2020, a collection of writings from the Amish publication Family Life, which Brad compiled. Brad also shared some unused selections at that time. Today we’ve got another batch of writings that didn’t quite make it into Amish Voices 2. As Brad explained, choosing which ones to include and... The post More Amish Voices first appeared on Amish America ..read more

The new book Amish Voices Volume 2: In Their Own Words, 1993-2020 is the sequel to Amish Voices. These two books are comprised of selections from the Amish monthly publication Family Life. If you missed the interview we published last week with compiler Brad Igou, you can check that out and get up to speed here. In that discussion, Brad shared his monumental task of... The post Amish Voices Volume 2 – Book Winner & Unused Selections first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Brad Igou is the compiler of a new book, Amish Voices Volume 2: In Their Own Words, 1993-2020. This follows up the original Amish Voices. Both volumes are based on collected writings of Amish people in the publication Family Life. While Amish Voices covers the first 25 years of that monthly, Amish Voices 2 picks up where that left off. If you’d like to know... The post Brad Igou on Amish Voices 2 (Interview & Book Giveaway) first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Joseph Donnermeyer shares word that the latest issue of the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC) has been released. If you wanted to make it to the Amish conference at Elizabethtown College this past summer but weren’t able to, this issue ought to be well-received – it features articles from the conference, as Joe explains: The new issue includes articles on population growth and new... The post New Issue of JPAC (Volume 3, Issue 1) Now Available first appeared on Amish America ..read more

Christy Otto is an Amishman living in the LaGrange-Elkhart County settlement in northern Indiana. He is known for his artwork. Being an artist and Amish is not the most common combination, but there are more and more people who can describe themselves that way. Christy has become quite well-known in Amish circles for his drawings and paintings. David Arment, who helped put this Q&A together,... The post Q & A with Amish Artist Christy Otto (Book Giveaway) first appeared on Amish America ..read more

We’ve got a winner of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women by Judy Stavisky today. If you didn’t catch last week’s Q&A with Judy, you can find that here. She has done a nice job of answering a number of your questions in the comments there. But first here’s an excerpt of the book, courtesy of Herald Press. This is from pages... The post In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women Book Winner & Excerpt first appeared on Amish America ..read more