Richard E Kelly

Esther Royer Ayers, the author of “Rolling Down Black Stockings”, and I were invited to participate in the 2009 Tucson Festival of Books, which is sponsored by The Arizona Daily Star in association with the University of Arizona. This is quite an honor for both of us as they have invited only 300 writers and are expecting over 50,000 people to attend. An hour has been allotted to us on Sunday, March 15 at 4:00pm. After the session there will be a half hour for us to sign our books.

Esther and I have chosen “Two Remarkable Stories of Growing Up in Cults – Told with Compassion & Humor” as the title of our presentation. The format will be a lively interactive discussion between us talking about growing up in two totally different cults – Old Order Mennonites and Jehovah’s Witnesses – with surprising and shocking commonalities between these two very unique and secretive groups.

One of the most asked questions by readers of “Mama’s Club” is about my wife, Helen. Yes, that seventeen-year-old young lady that you see on this post who would become my wife on April 11, 1964. And that question is: Did she leave the Club shortly after you were married? The answer is “no.” It wouldn’t be until 1986 before she could break the stranglehold of the Club’s cult-like beliefs and practices. But our challenges for the next twenty-two years will be the fodder for my sequel, “Ghosts From Mama’s Club.” In the meantime, Helen and I will be celebrating our forty-fourth wedding anniversary next month. Ironically, my sister, Mary Lyn, was murdered on April 11, ten years ago.

A revised and expanded Third Edition of Growing Up In Mama’s Club will be available for purchase on March 14, 2008. This third printing includes an additional thirty-eight pages of new stories, a glossary of Club jargon, and a short history of the Club. And, it reflects my commitment to continuous improvement.

My website has been updated to reflect the introduction of this new Third Edition, as well as additional retail outlets where the book can be purchased online. And if you interested in reading excerpts of the book, you can do so by linking onto text found in the “Notes” section of the website.