Ex-Amish at the Library

-News Alert-


Date: July 18, 2012

CONTACT: Gina Rozier

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

919-560-0151 or grozier@durhamcountync.gov

Durham County Library Hosts Award Winning Fiction Writer Alice J. Wisler

Program: Meet the Author: Alice J. Wisler
Date: Tuesday, July 31
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St.
Cost: Free and open to the public

About: Durham County Library welcomes Alice J. Wisler as she launches her latest novel, Still Life in Shadows, on Tuesday, July 31 at 7 p.m. at the Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St. A book signing will follow the reading.

In this work based upon the true story of ex-Amish member, Moses Gingerich, the novel‘s protagonist leaves his Amish community, settles in the mountains of North Carolina and helps other Amish relocate to life in modern America. The book captures many of Wisler’s interests: all of her novels revolve around North Carolina settings, and according to Wisler, “…have components of Southern fiction like sweet tea, grits and other things...” She also notes that “...if you find some parts that make you cry, well, that's an added bonus.” This latest work, however, departs slightly from thematic tones found within many of Wisler’s earlier novels. The subject matter in Still Life in Shadows is serious in nature, as it portrays protagonist Gideon Miller helping those choosing to leave the Amish faith and struggling to adapt to a new and unfamiliar modern world.

Wisler was raised in Japan, and returned to the United States where she graduated from Eastern Mennonite University. She has traveled and lived throughout the world, choosing to serve with organizations that minister to people. Through her travels, Wisler acquired experiences as diverse as her characters: She taught English as a Second Language in Japan and in refugee camps in the Philippines, worked in educational nonprofits with disadvantaged children and ran a cake-decorating business. Wisler now teaches grief writing courses to help others cope with the experience of losing loved ones. A Christy Award finalist for “Excellence in Christian Fiction,” Wisler resides in Durham, North Carolina.

For more information about the program, contact Joanne Abel at 919-560-0268.

Durham County Library provides the entire community with books, services and other resources that inform, inspire learning, cultivate understanding and excite the imagination. For more information, visit your local library or visit us online at durhamcountylibrary.org.