On Tues, April 3, Ira Wagler gave a lecture on his book “Growing Up Amish: A Memoir.” The talk was part of the VU College of Humanities Film and Lecture Series.

Wagler was born in 1961 in the small Old Order Amish community of Aylmer, Ontario in Canada. He was the ninth of 11 children.

His family moved to Iowa after some of his siblings had left to join the Mennonite community;  his father was afraid of losing his family.

He decided to leave the Amish community for good at age 26. Torn between his heritage and the freedom and possibilities of the outside world,Wagler left and then returned to the community numerous times over five years.

Wagler attended Vincennes University between the years of 1989 and 1991.

He eventually decided to write a book about his life history.

Wagler sent his last batch of his book to the editors on October  2010.

Ira Wagler described his memoir as a “journey at its core, no different than many coming-of-age journeys.”

He was inspired by his favorite writer, Thomas Wolfe. Wagler’s book is a true story of self-discovery and seeking where he belongs.

Wagler said in his epilogue, “I have no regrets for the road I chose. And I rarely wonder how life would have been on the road not taken.”

Wagler dedicated his book to his mother, Ida Mae, who “never wavered in her deep love for all her children, even and maybe especially- for her wayward sons.”