Author: rtrube54

Review: The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians

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Cover image of "The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians by James Patterson and Matt Evers

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians, James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. Little, Brown, and Company (ISBN: 9780316567534), 2024.

Summary: A collection of first-person accounts from booksellers and librarians about why they love doing what they do.

“I want to make sure people keep getting books they want, books they like. I call it Book Joy, matching people with books that will bring them the most happiness.” –Kelly Moore

Kelly Moore is just one of the many booksellers and librarians who contributed first-person accounts of their love of working with books to this delightful book compiled by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann. In case you didn’t know, Patterson is not only a hugely successful and prolific writer of thrillers, he is a huge fan of booksellers and librarians–those who get books into the hands of readers. He’s given generous support to literacy efforts and grants to independent booksellers.

Here he lets them tell the story of why they love what they do. Kelly’s statement captures a common theme–connecting people with books they love. Some of their greatest joy comes when they help reluctant readers find books they love, turning them, degree by degree into readers. Part of the work is careful listening, picking up the cues that signal what a person may like. And sometimes it involves being a detective, using the few clues a patron or customer can offer to help them find that book they are looking for.

The other big theme is that these people love books and reading. It is so much more than checking out books or ringing up sales. They enjoy talking books, sharing something they’ve read that someone else may like. A friend of mine who is a bookseller is mystified by people who think they can be booksellers without loving books.

Perhaps this needs to be so because it is a challenging life. Both librarians and booksellers have a variety of administrative tasks that allow them to do what they love, from reading publications on new releases to select what they think their patrons will like, to unpacking and shelving, tracking sales and inventory and scheduling events. It’s awesome to meet authors at booksignings but there is a lot of setup to make it work for everyone.

Some started young, working as a page or a clerk and eventually managing a department of a library or owning a store. Others describe mid-career changes, often when a job was lost. Many had always been readers and even dreamed of pursuing working in a library or bookselling and realized they could no longer wait.

There was one serious note, which was the growing number of efforts to remove books from libraries that a small group deemed objectionable. It meant a job loss for one writer and courageous stands for others. One thing was clear, when communities heard and protested, this was often decisive.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to work in a library or a bookstore? This book will give you a good picture of both the joy and the work. If nothing else, it should give you an appreciation for what a special breed any dedicated bookseller or librarian is. If you haven’t noticed, this book is a good education. And if you have, this book will serve as a good reminder to find ways to support and appreciate their work. There are book deserts. if you are not in one, thank the people who make that possible and support their efforts to sustain their presence!

Review: End the Stalemate

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Cover image of "end the Stalemate" by Tim Muehlhoff and Sean McDowell

End the Stalemate, Sean McDowell and Tim Muehlhoff. Tyndale Elevate (ISBN: 9781496481153), 2024.

Summary: Addresses how we move past impasses around disagreements to have meaningful conversations.

Our highly polarized cultural atmosphere has led to the breakdown of civil discourse, a rancorous political atmosphere, and sadly, friends and family who no longer talk to each other. It has led to a situation where many do not feel free to share their opinions in their families, workplaces, or in public discussions. It just doesn’t feel safe.

The authors of this book are both engaged in dialogue with those with whom they would disagree, including at times, each other! Sean McDowell, a professor of apologetics, frequently engages in discussions and debates with those who do not agree with his reasons for believing. Tim Muehlhoff is a professor of communication who directs the Winsome Communication Project. Both host podcasts focused on conversations with those who differ on important questions. This book, to which each have contributed chapters focuses on how we may both prepare to engage with those with whom we differ and how we may have those conversations in ways leading at very least to civil disagreement and perhaps growing mutual understanding.

They begin by contrasting a transmission versus ritual view of communication. The transmission view has problems with myside bias that doesn’t reckon with counterarguments and often leaves everyone more entrenched. The ritual view looks for points of commonality where there is an emotional connection, sympathy, with the views of another. This requires understanding the way both we and those we engage with see the world. The writers describe this as bricolage, because often worldview is pieced together from disparate pieces into a whole that makes sense to the person, whether or not consistent. Some of the pieces include our communities, families, hinge moments in our lives, narrative injuries that may have altered our lives and beliefs, and influencers. The goal of understanding as much of this as possible is perspective-taking, where we try to see the world as the person we are engaging does.

All this lays the groundwork for constructive conversations. How then do we have these conversations? One basic principle Sean McDowell uses is: “Show as much grace and charity as you can without violating your conscience.” He believes one has to approach issues with clarity (what it actually is), charity, and critically. But many conversations approached this way still explode because we aren’t ready emotionally, the physical environment is not right, we are not intellectually prepared, and perhaps most important, there is not relational trust.

Tim Muehlhoff says there are actually three conversations. The pre-conversation focuses on getting our hearts in the right place by discerning our snap judgements, cultivating curiosity about the convictions of the other party, and recognizing the power of the words we choose. In the actual conversation he encourages inviting the other to share their perspective first, summarize their main points where they feel heard and understood, acknowledge where there is common ground and ask for clarification. The post-conversation is how we describe it to our friends–how we speak about people privately will be reflected in how we treat them publicly. One of our challenges of talking about others is we often present strawman versions of their arguments rather than “steelman” versions. They even suggest roleplays of arguing the strongest case of the other side. This, I thought, was one of the most valuable ideas of the work, and something we should be prepared to do if we have been attentive to perspective-taking.

One of the other things the authors do is model engaging over differences in questioning each other about their different views of using preferred pronouns. The discussion itself is illuminating, no matter how you approach this and they both model grace and conviction while differing. Then in the final chapter, they put it all together, offering checklists as one prepare for difficult conversations.

Part of what is winsome in this presentation is that the authors share their own failures and convey that, while we will fail at times, there is real hope for meaningful dialogue across differences, where friendships are forged rather than alienated, where understanding grows alongside respect. With a fraught election season approaching, it is a good time for this book.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: From Broken Boy to Mended Man

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Cover image of "From Broken Boy to Mended Man" by Patrick Morley.

From Broken Boy to Mended Man, Patrick Morley. Tyndale Momentum (ISBN: 9781496479860) 2024.

Summary: The author takes us through his own journey of healing childhood wounds and leads through a process of reflection to identify childhood wounds, the ways they manifest in destructive behaviors, to finding healing and to shift perspective toward parents, other adults and one’s own children.

Patrick Morley, leader of an effective ministry with men called Man in the Mirror discovered something was off in his own life. His mother died of cancer when he was 53. And he felt nothing. This led him to seek counseling which revealed wounds in his life from his childhood. He was never hugged, told he was loved, or that his parents were proud of him. And so he washed his hands of them. But those experiences of abandonment turned up in unexpected and unhealthy ways in his own work marriage and parenting. As the old saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.”

Morley believes healing of these wounds is possible, leading to changes in how we relate to those closest to us–and in some instances, even with those who inflicted the wounds. In this book, written primarily for an audience of other men, he guides through a process of unraveling childhood wounds, of healing, and breaking the cycle. The book is designed as a text one interacts with, with short chapters interspersed with reflection exercises and concluding reflection and discussion sections. This makes it ideal for working through with a supportive group of men. It’s not meant to replace therapy, which the author sought out in his own life but as a helpful adjunct to that process.

In the first part, Morley describes his own process, calling the outcome both healing of wounds and “walking with a limp,” but with joy. He explores the different ways parents wound and naming wounds. Often, the out-of-character or disproportionate ways we react as adults point to the wounds of childhood. He spends two chapters on naming wounds, things like “you are oversensitive and often misread what people intend” or “you can’t get rid of the negative voices in your head.”

Part two explores the process of healing. He walks people through stages of healing. Overcoming denial and facing the truth of how one has suffered. Grieving what one lost or missed out on and working toward acceptance. Rethinking the stories of one’s parents and forgiving–hurt often passes from generation to generation until the cycle is broken. Making amends for what we have done without accepting responsibility for another’s abusive behavior. Working to rehabilitate the relationship where possible (he offers very helpful guidelines for when this is appropriate) and setting boundaries against further wounding.

Part three is about breaking the cycle. Here, he returns to face honestly the fact that healing may or may not be totally. We may walk. Our pain may be less. But we may limp–we may always struggle with abandonment or other wounds. But we may know the joy of God’s strength in our brokenness, like kintsugi pottery, where cracks are repaired with gold. We own the ways we’ve weaponized our wounds with spouses and children, sincerely apologizing for the wrong we’ve done. We learn to husband and father from a healed and loving heart that affirms the great worth and unique gifts of those we love. Finally, we realize that there are other men facing similar childhood wounds and walk as “wounded healers” among these wounded men.

I appreciate how Patrick Morley models this throughout this book, transparently sharing his own wounds, the ways he has inflicted pain, and his own process of healing. As noted earlier, the book is of greatest benefit if one does and discusses the reflection exercises with a group of men. Morley taps into something often overlooked in a culture that highlights men’s failures. That is that there are a number of men who want to be better colleagues, husbands, and fathers yet are a mystery to themselves as they engage in self-defeating behaviors that connect back to childhood wounds. Morley offers a path toward unraveling the ways men are mysteries to themselves and toward healing and transformed relationships. He avoids traps of self-pity or bitterness as he coaches men in how they may exercise both agency and self-care in their healing process.

Morley debated how public to make his own journey. Yet by doing so, he has offered hope and a pathway for others who harbor within a “broken boy.”

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Henry K. Wick

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Henry Wick, noting the challenge of keeping the various Wicks straight, particularly when Henry had a cousin, Henry Kirtland, or H.K. Wick. Henry K. was born August 31, 1840, the son of Col. Caleb B. and Maria Wick. He had eight siblings plus a brother who died in infancy and two half siblings. His education was exclusively in the Youngstown schools. At sixteen, in 1856, he began working as a clerk at the Mahoning National Bank.

Like Henry, H.K pursued a number of business interests including a process of planishing iron, producing sheets with a high polish. He owned a mill near Niles the grew into a large concern which he sold to a group led by James Ward. He also had timber and mining interests as well as serving as a director for the P., Y., and A Railroad and for the Youngstown Dry Goods Company. He was also the first president of Republic Rubber. But his big interest was coal, essential for the growing iron and steel industry. and from 1869 on focused major efforts on the coal industry, forming the H.K. Coal Company, one of the leading coal companies in the country, making him a multi-millionaire. The business interests extended far and wide and some of the largest were headquartered in Buffalo.

He was known as a gregarious man who loved to entertain. In the early 1880’s, he and his brother Caleb built what was known as the Wick Log Cabin in what was then the wooded area that eventually became the Wick Park district.

Wick Log Cabin from an 1889 photograph.

H.K. married twice. He married Clara Wells in 1886. She passed in 1899. He then married Millicent Rathbone Clark in 1900, moving first to a stately home on Wick Avenue and later building a lavish estate, named Ainwick, on Logan Avenue in Liberty Township. It took four years to build, being completed in 1914. A seven page spread appeared in the February 22, 1914 edition of the Vindicator, including the photograph below.

H.K. Wick helped found the Memorial Presbyterian Church and the Mahoning Institute of Art, a predecessor of the Butler.

Sadly, H.K. did not get to enjoy his Ainwick home for very long. He had struggled with failing health but felt well enough to visit his Buffalo headquarters in March of 1916. He became ill upon arrival on a Tuesday. By Saturday, it was clear he was fighting a serious case of pneumonia and Mrs. Wick rushed to be at his side. He died on March 22, 1916, three months to the day after his cousin Henry’s death from the same cause. He was transported to Youngstown and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, as are many of the Wicks. Millicent lived until 1953 but the couple had no children.

It is my understanding that the Ursuline nuns came into possession of the house and estate, eventually selling it off for development, resulting in the demolition of the mansion. What a loss, both architecturally, and as visible evidence of the life of H.K. Wick.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Review: Local and Universal

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Cover image of "Local and Universal" by C. Ryan Fields

Local and Universal: A Free Church Account of Ecclesial Catholicity (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture), C. Ryan Fields. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514006719), 2024.

Summary: A theological exploration of the contribution of churches in the free church, locally governed tradition, to the wider church’s understanding of catholicity.

I am a member of a Brethren Church. I am writing this review after a meeting of our church’s governance team. As a governing body, in consultation with our congregation, we make decisions on everything from building use to the calling of pastors and commending them for ordination. We host food pantries, community gardens and support ministries in collaboration with other churches in our community as well as participate in denominational matters from planting new churches, to supporting mission efforts in other countries and theological training at our seminary.

Given our grassroots up, local character, can it be said that we are in any sense “catholic,” that is, truly a part of the universal church over which Jesus is Lord? Some may contend that while we may be in Christ, we are not catholic, because we are not part of a hierarchy, particularly one that may trace its roots through its succession of bishops back to Peter. C. Ryan Fields, in this book, makes the case that while this may be an aspect, or particular expression of catholicity, it overlooks other expressions of catholicity that may be evident in other bodies and particularly those understood as within the “Free Church” tradition. “Free Church” is defined in the book as including congregational polity, a “low” liturgy, eschewing adherence to creedal statements, valuing individual conscience and religious freedom and insisting on a separation of church and state.

Fields goes about this by first establishing the biblical warrant for the doctrine of catholicity. He then considers the development of this doctrine from apostolic to present times, summarizing this in a ten-fold taxonomy:

  1. Holistic Catholicity: connected to the whole vs. sectarianism
  2. Geographical Catholicity: embracing “all places” vs. provincialism
  3. Missional Catholicity: reaching “all peoples” vs. exclusionism
  4. Chronological Catholicity: commonality through “all times” vs novelty
  5. Orthodox Catholicity: doctrinal faithfulness vs. heresy or apostasy
  6. Institutional Catholicity: visible mediation vs. invisible conceptions and schismatic impulse
  7. Differentiated Catholicity: diverse identity and contribution vs. uniformity
  8. Christological Catholicity: emphasis on Christological connection vs. ecclesial minimalism
  9. Liturgical Catholicity: sacramental continuity vs. ingenuity
  10. Numerical catholicity: greatest adherence vs. minority status

Fields then takes the rest of the book to contrast the Anglican church with the Free Churches. Fields sees Anglicanism fulfilling many aspects of the taxonomy but argues that this may be at the expense of a certain uniformity that fails to express the true unity in a differentiated diversity that also marks catholicity. In the three following chapters, he explores Free Church Catholicity. He starts with its different Reformation expressions: Anabaptist, Puritan, and Baptist. Each of these he sees as characterized not as starting something new but retrieving something ancient that is missing. They revealed a Reformation ecclesiology, interacted with the broader tradition and claimed to preserve catholicity in essentials. He then proceeds in the two following chapters to develop the idea of Free Church catholicity as local catholicity–that where one finds catholicity embodied is in placed, local congregations that express in word and sacrament the diverse, yet united catholicity of the church. Yet this also requires the local body to embrace connectedness to the rest of the body, including other local churches.

This last strikes me as important. Without lived connection, we cannot embody catholicity locally, where it can have meaning for others. At the same time, Fields’ argument affirms not only the possibility of catholicity in the Free Church tradition but also the essential contribution to a robust catholicity these churches (my church among them!). While the Free Church may humbly learn from Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox believers, they needn’t be ashamed but also come bearing gifts of catholicity, enrich the whole body of Christ.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: Dancers in Mourning

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Cover image of :Dancers in Mourning" by Margery Allingham

Dancers in Mourning (Albert Campion #9), Margery Allingham. Open Road Integrated Media (ISBN: 9781504087315), 2023 (originally published in 1937).

Summary: Mean-spirited pranks against the star actor-dancer in a musical becomes something more when as has-been actresses body is thrown of a bridge in front of the actor at his home.

Have you ever looked into a situation only to sense that if you go further, you will find something that you and others would rather not know? That is the dilemma confronting Campion in the ninth of Allingham’s Campion mysteries.

His friends, “Uncle” William Faraday and Jimmy Sutane, are involved in a musical production of a book written by Uncle William in which Jimmy is the lead actor and dancer. Someone has been performing a series of mean-spirited pranks aimed at Jimmy and they have persuaded Campion to find the culprit.

He joins Faraday and Sutane at a weekend house party interrupted when guests arrive with invitations to a reception Sutane had never planned. His wife and the household staff manage to pull it off, but the butler left, disgusted with irregularities like this and the temperamental houseguests who show up, like composer Squire Mercer or the washed up actress Chloe Pye, who wears outfits to show she still has “it.” It’s a bit of a puzzle how Pye made it into the production. One of the more amusing parts of the story is how Lugg fills the role of butler and befriends the Sutane’s daughter.

Things take a more serious turn the night of the impromptu reception. Sutane had been out in his car and as he approaches home a body falls from an overhead bridge right in front of his car and he cannot avoid running over her. The police find him innocent. Pye had already been dead of a medical condition. Campion, who saw both the body and the scene is not so sure that this was an accident. And the more he looks at the case of Chloe Pye, the more he fears discovering truth he does not want to find. He absents himself, pleading other business, leaving Lugg behind.

When more deaths follow, both Inspector Oates and Sutane’s wife, for whom Campion has developed a fondness, want him to return and help figure out what is going on, compelling Campion to pursue the trail of evidence where it leads, as hard as it may be. How will Campion negotiate the path between love, friendship, and uncovering a killer?

In addition to exploring this classic moral dilemma, Allingham portrays a cast of theatre characters in an unflattering light. I wonder if it was just for the story or if Allingham had deeper reservations with the theatre set of her day. Uncle William, the writer (!), seems the only one who truly comes out well here.

Review: Beyond the Clinical Hour

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A cover image of "Beyond the Clinical Hour" by Sells, Trout, and Sells.

Beyond the Clinical Hour, James N. Sells, Amy Trout & Heather C. Sells. IVP Academic (ISBN: 9781514001042), 2024.

Summary: A proposal for collaborative efforts between mental health professionals and congregations to multiply the resources available to address the burgeoning mental health crisis,

Wherever I turn, I read about the rising incidence of mental health needs for every age group. Every counseling center I know has long wait lists to see a counselor. And clinicians are running hard and face issues of overwork and burnout. And sometimes our unaddressed mental health crises spill into the news in mass shootings, road rage, or people who died “unexpectedly” or of “undisclosed causes.” More quietly, millions struggle with depression or various forms of anxiety that sometimes constrain the full expression of their gifts.

The writers of this book contend that the mental health crisis is far outstripping the available resources of mental health professionals and the traditional model of the clinician meeting for 50 minutes once a week with a client (the clinical hour), serving roughly 200 clients in a year. They propose that by collaborating with local faith communities, they can multiply the resources available to meet this crisis. This can take various forms from consultations with pastors on pastoral care with people with mental health needs to providing or supporting facilitation of various support groups, to working with churches to set up “para-professional” care ministries with trained and supervised volunteers. In the latter model, clinicians might scale back their own caseload to work with such ministries, multiplying their own efforts.

They address a concern raised in churches with how “Christian” counseling is. The second part of the book addresses integration. The authors propose a “thick,” embodied type of integration where theology is relationally fleshed out. They begin from a trinitarian base of what it means as counselors to be attached to the Father (coram Deo), Son (Immanuel), and Spirit (Paraclete) and then to draw upon one’s clinical training to most effectively care for people. They advocate for training that fosters both theological acuity and clinical excellence and is embodied in hospitality, justice, and compassion.

The third part of the book addresses how a collaboration with the church can thrive, avoiding the result of well-intentioned but poorly trained and supervised people doing harm in the name of good. They elaborate the theological foundations of Christian care and delineate what is necessary for good oversight of church counselors. The growing field of consultation and the various ways from informal consultation to workshops and training to planning and consultation to set up church-based programs of mental health care. They introduce practices of church development and program development–extending mental health to the corporate life and mission of the church. And they discuss both the economics of creating sustainable programs and ethical standards that should govern all such efforts.

I missed any discussions of legal liabilities and legal compliance issues. Perhaps these are too specific to address in this book but it seems they might be acknowledged. I also wondered if there might be some scaling of what sorts of collaboration might be possible for churches of different sizes. It seemed to me that some forms, like a church-based, trained “para-professional” counselors staffing a care ministry would necessitate a congregation of some size and financial resources whereas informal consultation arrangements might serve smaller congregations well.

The authors of this work offer an intriguing proposal. We just can’t train enough professionals fast enough to meet our current mental health crisis. But there may well be a hidden resource in the church and the possibility of collaborations that both multiply the efforts of clinicians and enhance the ministry and mission of congregations. They offer enough stories of examples of where this is happening to make the case for exploring these possibilities more widely. And might such a collaboration renew the church’s ancient practice of the “cure of souls” bringing both theological and psychological insight into this honored calling?

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse

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Cover image of "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse" by Charles Mackesy

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, Charlie Mackesy. HarperOne (ISBN: 9781529105100), 2019.

Summary: A graphic novel of the friendship of these four creatures who affirm the basic values of friendship, kindness, self-worth, and the love of cake!

I was in a group recently talking about books when someone asked if I had read The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse and I had to admit that I had not heard of it and joked that it sounded like one of those cognitive tests our docs like to give the over-65 crowd to test our short-term memory. Several others in the circle nodded and raved about how good this was for anyone from 8 to 80. I could stop my review right here and say, “what they said.” But I won’t.

What is it that makes so wonderful this roughly sketched (and occasionally painted) book with hand-written text supposedly smudged where the dog placed its paws and a tea cup stain left its mark? The boy and the three animals remind us of Christopher Robin and his ensemble.

The story traces the gathering of the four as the boy first meets mole, who lives in search of cake. Then they encounter a fox, caught in a trap, threatening to eat mole if he gets loose. Realizing the plight of the fox, mole gnaws the wire holding the fox. Later, they encounter a wise horse is winged.

But I think there are two things that captivate. One is the simple but profound responses of the creatures to each other, often to questions.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

” ‘Kind,’ said the boy”

” ‘What do you think success is?‘ asked the boy.”

” ‘To love,’ said the mole.”

We learn not to compare oneself to others, of the unique worth of each one, and to listen to dreams more than fears. We learn of the kindness of being kind to and forgiving oneself. The horse tells us the bravest thing he ever said is ‘Help” and that he was strongest in his weakness. He tells the boy he knows all about him and loves him still.

The other thing is that each is on a quest, the boy for home, the mole for cake, the fox in search of prey and the horse to fly without making others jealous. In each other they find what they seek, and yet that which is more–unconditional love.

Perhaps I’ve already said more than enough about a book you may read in 15 minutes but may savor for a lifetime, a contemporary Little Prince. This is a wonderful book to give those who aren’t readers. The author describes himself as such a person and yet has spun a captivating tale that in its simplicity, its quiet, reflective voice reminds us of what matters most, what endures, and is most true of each of us.

Review: Dancing in My Dreams

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Cover image of "Dancing in my Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner

Dancing in My Dreams (Library of Religious Biography), Ralph H. Craig, III. Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. (ISBN: 9780802878632), 2023.

Summary: A biography of the life of Tina Turner, centering on how her embrace of Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism was transformative in the fulfillment of her dreams, including that of becoming a religious teacher.

If you remember Tina Turner, most likely your memory of her was in performance, singing “Proud Mary” or “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, often beginning low and slow and climaxing in a frenzy of dancing by her and her backup singers as she belted out powerful vocals–a revival service at a rock concert.

Maybe that should have cued me to powerful spiritual roots in her life. Even so, there was much new for me in this spiritual biography of Turner’s life. What should have been evident, knowing the stories of other, was her Black church experience, beginning at the Woodlawn Baptist Church in rural Nutbush, Tennessee, and later Pentecostal Church of God in Christ churches in Nashville. Growing up as Anna Mae Bullock, she was the child of a strict religious mother and absentee father who died young, She also lived part of the time with an aunt Zelma and her uncle Richard, who she eventually would live with after her mother left, moving to St. Louis where she encountered the clubs, sang for Ike Turner, eventually becoming part of his act, becoming “Tina” and marrying her.

On one hand, Ike Turner turned Tina into the professional who could walk into a studio and lay down a vocal track in one take. But it came at the tremendous cost of physical abuse, making her life a study of partner abuse and the psychological fear and dependency that kept her from leaving for many years, even as Ike further descended into drug addiction.

What distinguishes this book is Ralph Craig’s account of the turning point in her life, resulting from a number of spiritual practices including consulting with readers, astrology, and most significantly, Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism. Through Wayne and Ana Maria Shorter and their friend Valerie Bishop, she was introduced to the chanting associated with this Japanese form of Buddhism and the peace and focus she gained from this practice and their support helped her leave Ike for good, and over several years, launch her solo career, pursuing a dream of performing in stadiums. Craig goes into depth concerning the history of this branch of Buddhism and the embrace of Buddhism in Black America.

He also describes what he calls Turner’s “combinatory religious repertoire” in which she draws upon all her religious influences although Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism remains central. A quote from Vanity Fair (1993), cited by Craig may give a sense of this:

“I do something about my life besides eating and exercising and whatever. I contact my soul. I must stay in touch with my soul. That’s my connection to the universe….I’m a Buddhist-Baptist. My training is Baptist. And I can still relate to the Ten Commandments and to the Ten Worlds [a concept from Soka Gakkai]. It’s all very close, as long as you contact the subconscious mind. That’s where the coin of the Almighty is….I don’t care what they feel about me and my tight pants on stage, and my lips and my hair. I am a chanter. And everyone who knows anything about chanting knows you correct everything in your life by chanting every day” (p. 175)

Craig goes own to recount how she used chanting to prepare herself to connect with audiences in concerts. And he recounts the slow climb from smaller venues to arenas, the struggle and prejudice she encountered with getting recording contracts with American companies and the much more favorable reception she enjoyed in Europe leading to her move to England and eventually Switzerland, where she married again.

The final chapter records her retirement after her Wildest Dreams concert tour, where she filled stadiums, in 2009. In her remaining years, she pursued one final dream, to teach what she had learned, releasing several recordings sharing religious teaching. Her life after 2013 became increasingly a struggle with declining health as she suffered a stroke, kidney disease and later, cancer. Her last US appearance was in 2019 at the New York debut of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. She died May 24, 2023.

Craig offers an in-depth account of how Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism profoundly shaped the second half of Turner’s life, and offers her as an example of the experience of other Blacks who followed her path into Buddhism. One senses that for Turner, and perhaps others, the church remained culturally formative but failed to offer the spiritual resources found in Buddhism. As much as I wished she would have found the support to leave an abusive partner from the church (even her mother supported Ike against her) and found in the spiritual practices of the church, what she needed to sustain her in her performing life, I’m grateful for the solo career she achieved, her body of work, and the preservation of her life from the violence many women do not survive. Ralph H. Craig, III has added an important, though religiously divergent account, to Eerdmans Library of Religious Biography.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Mother’s Day Gifts from the Nursery

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A picture of the vacant lot where my house once stood and the Mother's Day maple that has survived
Where my house once stood. The tree on the left is the Mother’s Day maple

The house where I grew up in Youngstown is no longer standing. There is one thing that is still there–the maple tree we bought my mother for Mother’s Day, probably around 1970. You can see the trunk to the left side of the picture. I forget the name of the nursery where we bought it out in Austintown. All I remember is picking it out with my father and digging a very big hole in our devil strip (tree lawn for some) to give the roots plenty of room to spread out.

My mom loved that tree, guarding it as a young sapling and enjoying the shade it provided for our front porch in the late afternoons. In later years, it grew big enough that parts had to be trimmed out near the phone and power lines. The branches spread from our driveway to our neighbor’s. Mom passed in 2010 (though she’s forever in my heart). The picture reminds me of not only that particular Mother’s Day but all the pleasure that tree gave her over the years.

Mother’s Day for many of us meant a trip to the nursery. Maybe we would buy a rose for her rose garden, or a rhododendron (my mother-in-law used to have a big one in front of her house that was probably a Mother’s Day. Maybe you’d buy a flowering lilac, or perhaps like us that one year, a tree. And don’t forget the corsage for church! This J & J Gardens and Greenhouse ad from 1974 may remind you of some of those gifts.

A Mother's Day newspaper ad for J & J Gardens in Boardman from 1974

That J & J ad also reminds me of many trips there with my mother-in-law on visits home. Sometimes, we’d take her to mass at St. Lukes, and then drive down the street to pick up some plants for around the Brownlee Woods house she lived in until she was 84 and moved near us in a losing fight with cancer.

I was delighted to learn there is still a garden center at that location, now operated by Petitti’s. We lived for nine years in Maple Heights near Cleveland in the 1980’s and bought many plants for our garden from the Petitti’s nearby. So learning they are in Boardman at the old J & J site brought two sets of good memories together.

We’ve carried on the tradition of buying flowers on Mother’s Day, usually perennials that we don’t have to re-plant each year, a reminder of our perennial love. We were at the nursery on Tuesday. So remember to honor the mothers in your life. And mothers–you are simply the best and I wish each of you a special day this Sunday!

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!