Katie Funk Wiebe: The Voice of a Writer
April 24th, 2010 § 1 Comment
There’s a broad view of green fields and blue sky from my window at the Country Haven Inn, here in Hillsboro, Kansas. I’m here to attend the gala Festschrift event being hosted for my mother Katie Funk Wiebe by the Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission. Last night, as the sun was setting over the farm fields, at a dinner at the Milk and Honey Bed and Breakfast just northeast of Hillsboro, co-editors Doug Heidebrecht and Valerie Rempel presented mom with the book, The Voice of a Writer: Honoring the Life of Katie Funk Wiebe, which describes her life, writing and impact on the world. I have a copy too, which I started reading at breakfast this morning.
From the back cover, by Linda Huebert Hecht: “Katie Funk Wiebe has shown great leadership, from the time she was elected president of the young adult group in her Saskatchewan Mennonite Brethren Church to the present day. She wrote about her own experience, addressing both women and men and became a strong and prophetic voice in the Mennonite community and beyond. Although no one mentored her, Katie became a trailblazer and a model to others. The variety of approaches in this book enrich Katie’s story and make it an appealing and excellent book to read.”
In coming days, I’ll be posting on this blog the chapter I contributed to the book, Chapter 3: What would mother do?
Book launch for Katie Funk Wiebe April 24
April 14th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Katie Funk Wiebe 2007
A reception and program honoring the life and work of Tabor College Emeritus Professor of English Katie Funk Wiebe will be held on Saturday, April 24, at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas.
That’s my mom, for those of you who don’t know!
The highlight of the evening will be the unveiling of a new “Festschrift” book, The Voice of a Writer: Honoring the Life of Katie Funk Wiebe, published by the Mennonite Brethren Historical Commission.
I wrote a chapter for the book, describing life with Katie Funk Wiebe as our mother. It’s a page-turner!
Mom, who is 85, began teaching at Tabor in 1966 and remained 24 years as professor of English and Journalism. Author of numerous books about the role of women in the church, she was named one of the 20 most influential Mennonites of the 20th century.
Aside from that, I love her just for being herself — questing, curious, perseverant, loyal, invitational, brave, true, a great story-teller, and always learning and growing.
More information:
Give me more food
April 13th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Give me more food
for this fire
that leaps out
of its cell
free and amused.
Joanna Wiebe, June 17, 2006, Princeton, New Jersey
I wrote this poem while at a Fellowship in Prayer conference at Princeton. This event was life-changing for me. I learned to love the act of prayer, and I learned more deeply just exactly what prayer is in my life. Basically, anything I do with my body.
As I recall, by the end of the event, I felt truly educated, and liberated, and . . . hot. It was a very warm weekend at the University and the rooms were not air conditioned. I met persons of dozens of faiths from around the world, and danced, sang, meditated, walked the labyrinth, participated in a Taize service, chanted — and prayed in the traditional ways I learned as a child, too…”Our father…” and the blessings before meals, and more.
The photo is a shot of a redbud in the crevice of a limestone wall of a house my friend Liz rented for awhile in Lawrence, Kansas. It is said this house was lived in once by famous beat poets and writers, and before that, a Swedish immigrant farm family. I visited Liz a couple of years ago in mid-April, and the buds opened that weekend.
