Another person Kline quotes in his book is Gene Logsdon. The self-styled ''contrary farmer'' writes and blogs about sustainable agriculture and living in a ''sort of hostile harmony with the wild food chain.'' His nonfiction books have covered topics like organic whole grains and the relationship of alcohol and farming. His new novel Pope Mary and the Church of Almighty Good Food is a wicked satire of religion and small-town oddballs.
The central character is Father Ray Tulley, a modern-day circuit riding-priest who is quite satisfied with being assigned to the joint pastorage of two rural churches, as it will enable him to live in the country with a large garden and small flock of sheep, which interests him as much as his vocation does. The farmers markets he has added to each church's summer festivals have been popular, and Ray is happy to have encouraged the local economy.
But trouble is on the horizon. The bishop has told Father Ray that his parishes are going to be ''clustered,'' or merged into a third parish. Already, the door to one church has been locked, and at the beginning of the book an unseen person has broken the lock in defiance.
Just arrived back in Vinal County is Mary Barnette, who's been working in a Chicago commodities brokerage. She's a nonbeliever, but so self-assured that her family recruits her to be their spokesperson in a meeting Ray is holding about the situation. The confrontation does nothing but cause the church members to choose up sides: Those who will do whatever the bishop says, and those considering suing the church.
Logsdon's characters demonstrate greed, fanaticism, enterprise and a variety of other rustic traits. Mary's enlightenment is Logsdon's point: ''Small churches shutting down in favor of large ones was a reflection of the same kind of economy that shut down small farms in favor of large ones.''
Pope Mary and the Church of Almighty Good Food (193 pages, hardcover) costs $24.95 from Wicker Park Press. Gene Logsdon lives in Upper Sandusky.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
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