Amish Traditions

By: Joseph Warren Yoder

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Synopsis: “Joseph Yoder (September 22, 1872 – November 13, 1956) was an educator, musicologist, and writer, the first successful Mennonite literary figure in the United States, especially known for his semi-fictional account of his mother's life, Rosanna of the Amish (1940), and for his investigation of the sources of the Amish tunes of the Ausbund, along with his efforts to record and preserve traditional Amish music.”-Wiki“I felt that someone who knows the Amish should write a truthful book about them and show the world their good qualities, instead of magnifying; their peculiarities. So, after thinking about it for about twenty years, and after reading a book called “Straw in, the Wind,” which I thought was very unfair, I determined to write my book, “Rosanna of the Amish.” But may I say that writing a book is no small job. First, it takes a lot of work; second it takes a lot of money to have it printed, but those are not the worst things to think about. What are you going to do if the people do not like your book, do not buy it, and you lose everything you put into it? Even though these discouraging things stared me in the face, I wrote it anyway, and may I say without boasting, that since seven printings have already been made and the book is still selling well, and every now and then I receive a letter from some far off country saying how much they liked Rosanna of the Amish, I am not sorry that I wrote it.”-From the Author’s introduction.