<div>This is delightful thank you </div><div><br clear="all"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div>Regards,<br></div>Colleen Haithcock<br></div></div></div></div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, May 5, 2026 at 2:49 PM David Marshall via Dialogue <<a href="mailto:dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net">dialogue@lists.wedgeblade.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204)"><div dir="ltr"><div>Fellow Order Alums,</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>David Marshall, Moraga, California</div><div><br></div><div><font size="4" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><b>ORDER KIDS SPEAK!</b></font></div><div><font size="4" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Past & Future Memoirs from Order: Ecumenical Children</font></div><div><br></div><div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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 <a href="https://icaglobalarchives.org/resources/" style="text-decoration:underline;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;color:rgb(5,99,193)" target="_blank">ICA Global Archives alumni
publications page</a> to see for myself. He was right.<span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">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.<span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">The four books and one article I’ll review in this piece are
<i style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Hey, White Girl!</i>, <i style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Grits, Green Beans and the Holy Ghost</i>, <i style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">From the Rockies to the Windy City</i>, <i style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Iron Boy</i>, and<i style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> Growing Up in the Order</i>. 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.<span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"> </span><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif">Authors Years & Ages in Order<span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"></span></p>
<img src="cid:ii_mosz9ixe0" alt="Timeline-OrderKids-Memoirs.jpg" style="width:693px;max-width:100%"><br><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><br></p><font size="2" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">For the full review, please see my latest Substack article:</font></div><div><font size="2" style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/marshallbooks/p/order-kids-speak?r=23ftwm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer" target="_blank">https://open.substack.com/pub/marshallbooks/p/order-kids-speak?r=23ftwm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=post%20viewer</a></font></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div>
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