Category Archives: Remarkable Friends

“Passing the Torch” – “I did a year in prison for that . . .” “Passing The Torch” Authors Speak #2

Carter Nash is one of the authors of the new book by and about American Quaker elders, Passing The Torch: I’m a 65-year-old gay man of African descent. I was born in Huntington, West Virginia at a time when Jim Crow laws were still in effect. The hospital I was born in was segregated and … Continue reading “Passing the Torch” – “I did a year in prison for that . . .” “Passing The Torch” Authors Speak #2 →

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“Passing The Torch” – “Pray for Segregation!” The Authors Speak (First in a series)

I went looking for interesting Quakers with interesting lives and stories for the new book Passing the Torch, which is now out. Barbara Bernsten certainly qualifies. She has lived in Norway for many years. But she’s American born, and I first heard of and from her more than ten years ago, in an email to … Continue reading “Passing The Torch” – “Pray for Segregation!” The Authors Speak (First in a series) →

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Dog Days & Frank McCourt: “Threaten Them with the Quakers!”

Souperist practices, reported at the time, included serving meat soups on Fridays – which Catholics were forbidden by their faith from consuming, and by the fact that they could not afford meat in the first place.

Soupers were frequently ostracised by their own community, and were strongly denounced from the pulpit by the Catholic priesthood. On occasion, soupers had to be protected by British soldiers from other Catholics.

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