Journey of the Wild Geese: A Quaker Romance in War-Torn Europe - Softcover

Stephenson, Madeleine Yaude; Stephenson, Edwin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0964804239 ISBN 13: 9780964804234

Publisher: Intentional Productions, 1998

Synopsis

Two young Quaker relief workers meet and fall in love while rebuilding devastated communities in post-WWII France and Poland. Journey of the Wild Geese is comprised of letters written by Madeleine Yaude and Edwin "Red" Stephenson to one another and friends back home, as they experience the highs and lows of offering relief to war-damaged communities, test their beliefs and their faith, and build a lifelong love affair. The book is handsomely illustrated with more than 50 photographs, plus maps and notes from over forty years of successful marriage.

About this title

About the Author:

Madeleine Yaude was born in September 1918 in Rochester, New York, where she attended high school and Rochester University, graduating in 1940. Following brief employment at the Eastman Music School, she moved to Philadelphia to work for the American Friends Service Committee. Edwin Stephenson was born in April 1918 in Wayne County, North Carolina. He graduated from Guilford College in 1941 and following a brief period in graduate school at the University of Michigan, joined Civilian Public Service (CPS) as a conscientious objector to the war. Madeleine and Red met on the USS Brazil, bound for Europe and relief work, in 1946. Journey of the Wild Geese documents their experiences in France, Germany and Poland. They were married in Switzerland in 1947, and in 1948 they moved to Berkeley, California where they joined the Society of Friends (Quakers) and raised a family while working for peace and social justice, at the American Friends Service Committee and Planned Parenthood among other places. In 1978 along with several other Quaker families they built an intentional community in Santa Rosa called Monan's Rill, where Edwin Stephenson currently resides. Madeleine Stephenson died in September 1993.

Review:

Long-distance relationships don't work, we're often told. But the passionate exchanges captured here match the intensity of many face-to-face relationships. In an age of quickie e-mails, it's thrilling to read the work of two intelligent people writing at length about their lives. Some of this is deeply personal stuff: When the couple decides to consummate their relationship, Madeleine writes with delicate wit about searching for birth control. But the letters also open a wide window onto post-war Europe. The authors' words paint a vivid picture of the continent's struggle to recover from devatation. [They] have left us with a rich record of their experiences, a book that is both a contribution to history and a damn fine read. (Patrick Sullivan, the Sonoma County Independent, December 23-30, 1998.

One does not normally associate the quietly spoken, gentle members of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, with romantic flights of epic proportions. Indeed to many, "Quaker Romance" may sound like an oxymoron. Madeleine and Red are observant, sensitive, caring people working for a cause that transcends, winnows and refines their personal desires into a work of art of enduring beauty. Whether this book ever reaches the best seller lists is less important than the fact that it is available as a guide and support to the earnest seeker of a richer spiritual experience, in the world, rather than detached from the trials and challenges of everyday human existence. (David Bradwell, Ph.D, Economic Research and Consulting, December 6, 1998)

On the recent occasion of the take-off of the Discovery with John Glenn aboard, Dan Rather said something to the effect that the event gives people reason to believe there will be a future and the future will be good. For me, such reassurance is given by a book like this. As long as we can produce young people such as the Stephensons were in the 1940's there is hope for us. (Margo Kothe) -- Publisher Comments

About this edition

• Publisher: Intentional Productions
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0964804239
• ISBN 13: 9780964804234
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 316