Letters from Samaria : The Prose & Poetry of Louie Crew Clay 1974-2014

The definitive collection from one of thethe leading voices on LGBTQ issues in the Episcopal Church.
Letters from Samaria gathers together much of Louie (Crew) Clay’s best and most influential prose and poetry, written from 1974 until the present day, including an essay composed especially for the volume. Much of the material has not appeared since its original publication in newsletters and other ephemeral sources. It is crisply written, and often surprising for its bravery, matter-of-fact self-disclosure, insight, and love. Louie played a pivotal role in transforming The Episcopal Church – and, indeed, Christianity – over the past 40 years. This collection provides a window into Louie Clay’s unlikely and at times shocking ministry throughout the years as history was unfolding.

LOUIE CLAY (né Louie Crew), Ph.D., who took his husband’s surname upon their marriage in 2013, was born in Anniston, Alabama, in 1936. He founded Integrity, a group that has taken leadership in transforming The Episcopal Church’s stance towards LGBT people, in 1974 and has remained an active campaigner for this and varied other causes since that time. He earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Alabama (1971), and is professor emeritus of English at Rutgers University. He is the author of four published volumes of poetry. He died in 2019.

Phyllis Tickle (1934–2015) was an authority on religion in America and a much sought after lecturer on the subject. Founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers Weekly, she has been frequently quoted by media sources including USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, PBS, NPR, the Hallmark Channel, plus innumerable blogs and websites. In addition to lectures and numerous essays, articles, and interviews, Tickle is the author of over two dozen books in religion and spirituality, including The Great Emergence, How Christianity is Changing and Why, and The Words of Jesus, A Gospel of the Sayings of Our Lord.