Blog No 36 A Memoir by Ira Wagler

My first cousin, Ira Wagler, published a New York Times best-selling memoir titled, Growing up Amish (2010) that tells the story of leaving his Old Order Amish family and church at age twenty-six.  Ira was torn by family ties and the attachment to his church so that in the following years he returned home repeatedly but after leaving for the fifth time, he settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he started a business and wrote a weekly blog.  

Ira writes primarily about relationships within his large family, his religious upbringing, and the customs and practices of the Amish church. In a subsequent book published ten years later, Broken Roads, Ira addresses the turbulent relationship he had with his father during his younger years and now takes every measure to achieve rapprochement with his elderly father.  Ira has received wide acclaim for his story telling, and his books are worthwhile reading for anyone interested in learning more about Amish.