Q&A with Ira Wagler, Author of Growing Up Amish

Ira Wagler is the debut author of Growing Up Amish, a memoir about his Amish childhood and eventual departure from the Amish church and community.

Ira answered a few questions about his book, experience as a first-time author, and Amish culture . . .

On your blog you’ve said that you will become a published author or “die trying.” Now that this dream has been realized, what would you say is your favorite part of the publishing process? Least favorite?

Favorite part must have been the moment Tyndale offered me a contract for a book. Without that, there is nothing else, not publishing-wise. At that instant, I realized I had a real shot at my dream. One of the least favorite parts has been the glacial passing of days since late January, after all the edits were finished, and I’m waiting for the book to come out. I’ve experienced a lot of different kinds of stress at different stages of my life. Not for many years have I experienced the level of the deep, deep persistent stress that accompanies the long wait between the time the book is written and the time it is released.

Often memoir authors say that it took them many years after the fact for them to be ready to tell their story. At what point after leaving the Amish did you say, “It’s time to write about this”?

Back in the early 1990s, when I was in college, I wrote an intense ten-page outline, describing what I want to write and how I want to write it. However, a description of what you want to do is a lot different than actually doing it.

I wrote that outline shortly after I first read Thomas Wolfe. You Can’t Go Home Again spoke deeply to me, and I knew after reading it that I would one day write my story. I wasn’t sure of the timing, though. It was a vague and distant thing. But the power and passion of his words, and his honesty, greatly influenced my own writing. Looking back over all that has transpired since, I think the current timing is just about ideal. I’m now far enough away that I can see, respect, and write honestly of the good things in the Amish culture, as well as the bad.

Most authors read many books in the genre they intend to write in. Did you read a lot of memoirs before you began writing your own? If so which ones impressed you and influenced your style the most?

Strangely, I never planned to write a memoir. I’ve probably read less than half a dozen memoirs in my life. Periodically, on my blog, I wrote what I called “sketches,” short stories of certain events and/or personalities. My agent pitched a series of those sketches to Tyndale. But Carol Traver, senior acquisition editor at Tyndale, insisted on a continuous story. A memoir. I was terrified at the thought, but my bargaining position was, well, very weak, so I smiled and promised to produce whatever she wanted. Turns out she was very wise. Growing Up Amish is vastly more powerful as written than it could ever have been in the form of short, loosely connected sketches.

Thomas Wolfe has been, hands down, the greatest influence on my writing style. Why describe something in five words, when it can be so much better described in fifty?

The popularity of “Amish fiction” has boomed in recent years. Mainstream Evangelicals have taken a great interest in the simple ways of the Amish and Christian publishers have profited greatly from novels which often idealize the Amish lifestyle. To quote one major Christian book retailer, “Warm bread, freshly baked shoofly pies, lush rolling hills, and handmade quilts are hallmarks of the Amish way of life.” As someone who was raised in an Amish community and experienced the upsides and downsides of Amish life, what do you think about the portrayal of the Amish in fiction today? How do you feel about the raving popularity of Amish fiction among born-again Christians?

Most “bonnet fiction” is just atrocious, when it comes to accuracy. I’m not saying the authors are not good writers; many of them are. But they are trying to describe and define a culture from the outside, a culture that they will never truly experience. And that is pretty much impossible, so they insert a lot of inaccurate fluff. I have a few very close friends who are Amish, and almost to a person, they deeply despise bonnet fiction.

I think bonnet fiction is wildly popular, partially because the Amish have been romanticized to near impossible heights, and partially because outside society as a whole longs for at least the mirage of simplicity and peace.

As a follow-up to my last question, what are three things about Amish life/culture you think the outside world would be wise to adopt? What are a couple of things you think are unhelpful and/or harmful that you would caution Amish-loving English folk to steer clear of?

Three things? Family. Faith. And work ethic. I can’t stress enough the work ethic, because it affects all else. Amish children are taught to work from almost the time they can walk. Little simple chores. And they get more responsibility as they grow. They learn to work hard, earn their bread by the sweat of their brows, and know no other way. That’s the primary thing society has lost, at least western society. Work. Pull your own weight. Expect nothing you haven’t earned. Help those who can’t work with your free will offerings. It’s a beautiful thing, and it’s a real shame that so much of it has been lost in the outside world.

Steer clear of romanticizing the Amish to impossible standards. They are humans, with normal human flaws. Some of the little blog reviews out there have been a bit down on my book. Reading between the lines, I believe my depiction of the Amish as normal and flawed human beings was more than some reviewers were willing or able to accept. Or maybe they just didn’t like my writing style.

Growing Up Amish is not light reading, so if you are expecting a breezy stroll through an ideal setting, you will be disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, though. I deeply respect the Amish. They are of my blood and will always be. But to me, being honest is the highest form of respect. Not bitter. Not bashing. But honest.

In Growing Up Amish, you mention that both you and your brother, Titus, had fairly substantial home libraries. I never knew that the Amish read much besides the Bible. Was this love of literature that you and Titus shared unique in Amish culture? What types of books do Amish bibliophiles read?

A lot of Amish people read quite extensively. The level of actual quality of reading depends on the individual person, of course. I have Amish friends here in Lancaster County, I mean middle-aged married friends, who are among the most highly educated people I have ever known. Their libraries are a joy to behold.

Amish Home Library

That said, we were in a rather unique situation in our home. My father was an Amish writer and intellectual, so we always had books around. Mostly syrupy didactic stuff, when it came to fiction, but also some very good nonfiction – history books and such. Everyone in my family read. Of course, my brothers and I soon snuck in all kinds of contraband, hockey magazines, westerns, etc. If caught with such stuff, we were in a bit of trouble and the verboten material would be confiscated. Eventually I worked my way into real literature on my own. At 17, I was struggling through the Old English of Shakespeare’s plays. My brother Titus has always been a huge Michener fan; I think he owns a copy of every book Michener ever wrote.

Not surprisingly, probably, when I finally got my GED at age 27, I was at college level in all but math and science-related subjects.

Now that you’ve broken into the publishing world, can readers expect to see another book from you in the next few years?

I hope to write more and be published again, of course. Whatever happens, I will always write on my blog at www.irawagler.com.

But right now, I’m waiting for my first book to be released. When and if I write another book will depend on the sales of the first, I suppose. I haven’t made any noises to anyone, including my agent, about another book. What will come will come, all in its time.

Learn more about Ira’s memoir by reading my review of Growing Up Amish and purchasing a copy here.