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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt" align="center"><b><span
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color="#000000">Quaker pastor to speak
at library</font></span></b></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
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color="#000000">The 2014 Spring Literary Arts Festival,
“The I’s Have It: Inspired, Imagined, and Illuminated,” will
host Philip Gulley
as a keynote presenter on Saturday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. in
Central Elementary
on Jefferson Avenue in McArthur.</font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
style="font-family:"Garamond","serif";font-size:14pt"><font
color="#000000">Gulley, a writer and speaker from
Danville, Indiana, has published 18 books, including the
acclaimed <i>Harmony</i> series chronicling life in the
eccentric Quaker community of Harmony, Indiana and the
best-selling <i>Porch Talk</i> series of inspirational and
humorous essays.<span> </span>Gulley’s memoir, <i>I Love
You, Miss Huddleston: And Other
Inappropriate Longings of My Indiana Childhood</i>, recounts
his coming-of-age
years in Danville, Indiana.<span> </span>In addition,
Gulley and co-author James Mulholland describe their
progressive worldview in
their books <i>If Grace Is True</i> and <i>If God Is Love</i>,
followed by Gulley’s
books <i>If the Church Were Christian</i>
and <i>The Evolution of Faith</i>.</font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
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color="#000000">In his most recently published book<i>, Living
the Quaker Way: Timeless Wisdom for
a Better Life Today</i>, Gulley offers the opportunity to
participate in a
world where the values of the Quaker way bring equity, peace,
healing, and
hope.<span> </span><i>Living the Quaker Way</i> invites
readers to encounter the defining
commitments of the Religious Society of Friends—simplicity,
peace, integrity,
community and equality, and shows how those ideals can be
incorporated in
personal and public life to bring renewal and eliminate the
clutter that is
keeping us from deeper spirituality.</font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
style="font-family:"Garamond","serif";font-size:14pt"><font
color="#000000">Gulley was raised in Danville, Indiana
where he lives today with his wife, Joan, and their sons,
Spencer and Sam, in a
comfortable house with a welcoming porch. Many of his
characters and
recollections are taken from his boyhood in this small
Midwestern town. </font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
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color="#000000">Gulley attended Marian College in
Indianapolis where he studied theology and sociology.<span> </span>He
then enrolled at Christian Theological
Seminary where he received his Master of Divinity in 1992.<span>
</span>While in seminary, he became the pastor of
Irvington Friends Meeting in Indianapolis and began writing
essays for the
church’s newsletter.<span> </span>Paul Harvey, Jr.
received those newsletters and shared them with a publisher.<span>
</span>A few months later, the publisher invited
Gulley to publish his essays, which became his first book, <i>Front
Porch Tales</i>.<span> </span>He has
been writing ever since.</font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
style="font-family:"Garamond","serif";font-size:14pt"><font
color="#000000">Gulley is currently a co-pastor at
Fairfield Friends Meeting near Indianapolis.<span>
</span>Additionally, he hosted the television program <i>Porch
Talk</i> with Phil Gulley on the Indiana PBS affiliate WFYI
and
their flagship show Across Indiana, for which he received two
Emmy®
Awards.<span> </span>He also writes the popular
monthly “Home Again” column for <i>Indianapolis
Monthly</i> and is a regular contributor to <i>The
Saturday Evening Post</i>.<span> </span>In 2010,
Christian Theological Seminary awarded Gulley an honorary
Doctor of Humane
Letters degree.</font></span></p>
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<p style="margin:0in 0in 0pt;text-align:left" align="left"><span
style="font-family:"Garamond","serif";font-size:14pt"><font
color="#000000">For information about the festival,
contact the library at <a href="tel:%28740%29%20596-5691"
value="+17405965691" target="_blank">(740) 596-5691</a> or
visit the library’s calendar of events
at </font><a href="http://www.vintoncountypublic.lib.oh.us/"
target="_blank"><font color="#0000ff">www.vintoncountypublic.lib.oh.<wbr>us</font></a><font
color="#000000">.
The Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library serving Vinton County and
the Friends of
the Herbert Wescoat Memorial Library are also on Facebook.</font></span></p>
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