[Dialogue] Order Kids Speak!

[David Marshall]

Fellow Order Alums,

Here is my latest Substack article, reviewing five full-length memoirs or
articles from the Order emerging generation, now all grown up. And I
preview some more "Order Kids" books or media works I've been hearing about.

David Marshall, Moraga, California

*ORDER KIDS SPEAK!*
Past & Future Memoirs from Order: Ecumenical Children

I’m not sure of the exact count, but in its heyday in the 1970s, “The
Order: Ecumenical” had upwards of 3,000 full-time members around the world,
500+ of whom were children or teenagers. When I published IRON BOY last
June, I exchanged email with a former youngish “Order Adult” (joined as a
college student versus 30-somethings as my parents did), who reminded me
that my memoir about growing up in the Order was only the third such
full-length work among 200 books and periodicals he’d obtained and read
from former or current members of the Order: Ecumenical, Ecumenical
Institute, or Institute of Cultural Affairs. I was already familiar with
two other “Order Kids” memoirs, and shared one more I’d recently read, but
was surprised that the “Order Adults” had written so many. I knew some of
them, but I had to go on the ICA Global Archives alumni publications page
<https://icaglobalarchives.org/resources/> to see for myself. He was right.

By and large, the 200 works by Order Adults were very complimentary of what
these three interrelated organizations had done, attempted to do, or were
still doing. Most were long on mission-speak and intellect, but short on
personal narratives and feelings. I’ll give you the names and links to two
books by or about founding members that show personal sides as well.

The four books and one article I’ll review in this piece are *Hey, White
Girl!*, *Grits, Green Beans and the Holy Ghost*, *From the Rockies to the
Windy City*, *Iron Boy*, and* Growing Up in the Order*. They are each
valuable in describing their personally witnessed chapters of a
three-decade experiment that still exists in derivative form today. The
chart below shows the approximate timing of when each of us was in the
Order and our ages at the time. Each also includes a book review that
resonated with other readers. I’ll also mention several projects underway
by Order Kids that will certainly add yet more color to this fascinating
and troubling story.

Authors Years & Ages in Order
[image: Timeline-OrderKids-Memoirs.jpg]


For the full review, please see my latest Substack article:
https://open.substack.com/pub/marshallbooks/p/order-kids-speak?r=23ftwm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer
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