Dear Ken, Thank you. I recently had a very special afternoon with Rhonda Robins and her daughter Jenny. You will remember them, Rhonda and Brian were Priors in the Montreal House and we were all together at the Lorne de L’Acadie Consult. Thank you for your words Ken. Iron Boy has been a blessing to me, & thank you again David for pouring your soul in its stories. With my love, Isobel Isobel Bishop Mob. 0412 129 425
On 20 Jan 2026, at 2:47 am, Ken Fisher via OE <oe@lists.wedgeblade.net> wrote:
Colleagues,
I am six months late writing this. I must say that David's song reference at the beginning of each chapter spun me out. Reengaging took its own pace. As well, in that time I came very close to edge and now have a pacemaker.
Hugs, Ken
Iron Boy Review
From the blackness of Chicago’s West Side comes the odyssey of IRON BOY. David Marshall writes out of his youth’s microcosm and in the last chapter, holding a knife, he gives life to himself and his peers.
Like Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political theorists of the twentieth century, David Marshall was also influenced by Soren Kierkegaard, Rudolf Bultmann and Paul Tillich. For the first time ever, within itself, the west encountered fascism and went through the paroxysm of World War Two killing 75 million to put our monster back in a box, allowing humanity new life.
In the 50s and 60s the impulse of utopianism was everywhere - decolonialization, Black Power, feminism, student power. In Europe and North America, the forces of renewal in Christianity were widespread. David’s Iron Boy allows one to experience the blood and guts of a white boy growing up and growing through this utopianism in the form of The Order Ecumenical, the families and individuals who staffed the Ecumenical Institute from the 60s through the 80s.
On the one hand, the secular impact of this 60s community continues globally through the services of the Institute of Cultural Affairs active in about 50 countries. On the other hand, many of the youth who grew up in the Order Ecumenical intentional community suffered deeply. As a young parent, I was there too. My sons are still meeting these challenges with grace.
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