The Plain Language of Love and Loss: A Quaker Memoir

The Plain Language of Love and Loss: A Quaker Memoir

On November 16, 1965, Beth Taylorâ€™s idyllic childhood was shattered at age twelve by the suicide of her older brother Geoff. Raised in an â€œintentional communityâ€ north of Philadelphiaâ€”a mix of farm village, hippie commune, and suburbâ€”she and her siblings were instilled with nonconformist values and respect for the Quaker tradition. With the loss of her beloved brother, Taylor began her complicated journey to understand family, loss, and faith.
Written after years of contemplation, The Plain Language of Love and Loss reflects on the meaning of death and loss for three generations of Taylorâ€™s family and their friends. Her compelling portrait of Geoff reveals a boy whose understanding of who he was came under increasing attack. He was harassed by schoolmates for being a â€œcommie pinko cowardâ€ and he tried to appease fellow Boy Scouts after he abstained from a support-the-troops rally. Touching on the timely issues of bullying, child rearing, and nonconformity, Taylor offers a rare look at growing up Quaker in the tumultuous 1960s.
Taylor tells how each stage of her life exposed clues to the subtle damage wrought by tragedy, even while it revealed varieties of solace found in friendships, marriage, and parenting. As she struggles to understand the complexities of religious heritage, patriotism, and pacifism, she weaves the story of her own family together with the larger history of Quakers in the Northeast, showing the importance of family values and the impact of religious education.
Beth Taylor says that she learned many things from her childhood, in particular that history is aliveâ€”and shapes how we judge ourselves and choose to live our lives. She comes to see that grief can be a mask, a lover, and a teacher.

Country	USA
Author	Beth Taylor
Binding	Paperback
EAN	9780826218452
Edition	0
ISBN	0826218458
Label	University of Missouri
Manufacturer	University of Missouri
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	160
PublicationDate	2009-04-08
Publisher	University of Missouri
Studio	University of Missouri
ReleaseDate	0000-00-00

The Plain Language of Love and Loss: A Quaker Memoir

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