Overview

The Essential Dale Suderman Reader draws from essays, correspondence, personal journals, and newspaper columns written by one of the most dynamic Mennonite thinkers of his generation. A Kansas native, Suderman served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam during the Tet offensive and returned to the United States a committed peace activist. His voice embodies both gonzo journalist wit and comic gravitas. He saw the world as a country boy and then embraced his Chicago citizenship. He would boldly affirm his Christian faith and gay identity. To read him is to travel the terrain of war, social class, men's studies, addiction, urban street life, and political engagement. Running through it all is ringing affirmation of friendship as the cardinal virtue, and of the timeless pleasures of conversation and introspection. This volume will introduce new readers to one of the enduring and unique voices in the American Anabaptist tradition. It is essential reading for pastors, educators, therapists, addictions counselors, and peace activists. It includes eight essays by some of his closest colleagues, who grapple with the meaning of his life and achievement: Keith Harder, Elva Suderman, John Kampen, Ben Hartley, Tim Nafziger, Ruth Harder, Clint Stucky, and Delbert Wiens.

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Reviews

"""Dale Suderman was a remarkable character. His essays and journals will enlighten conventional insider Mennonites about the possibilities of outsider identity."" --James Juhnke, professor emeritus of history, Bethel College ""Coffee with Dale Suderman might have been an alternative title for this absorbing, wide-ranging reader. People who had the good fortune of meeting Dale will hear the voice of a supremely gifted conversationalist jump off the pages as he reflects on topics that extend from being a Mennonite soldier in Vietnam to male identity, to homelessness, addiction, and the challenges facing the Christian church."" --Murray Hiebert, author of Under Beijing's Shadow: Southeast Asia's China Challenge ""The Essential Dale Suderman Reader offers a much-needed distillation of the life and mind of one of the great underground intellectuals to emerge from the American Anabaptist tradition. The writings and interpretations gathered here serve as the nearest approximation of what it was like to sit for hours with Dale in some greasy spoon, his agora, engaged in the co-construction of his two favorite things: deep conversation and abiding friendship."" --Adam Schrag, senior lecturer of communication, University of Minnesota ""In some ways, Dale Suderman lived against the grain of his traditional Mennonite upbringing: he served as an American soldier in Vietnam; he was a gay man; he struggled and overcame an addiction to alcohol; he smoked incessantly. But The Essential Dale Suderman Reader reveals how deeply and profoundly Suderman manifested Anabaptist values of nonconformity, hospitality, empathy, peacemaking, and loving God by loving others. Those who knew Suderman through his words will be enriched by this volume, as will those encountering him here for the very first time."" --Melanie Springer Mock, professor of English, George Fox University ""Daniel Born has assembled an intriguing and varied collection of texts that allows access to an astute and candid observer of history and culture. Dale Suderman's writings present, and then undercut, an easy reading of his world, highlighting the primacy of the observer--in this case a nomadic, questioning, and evolving Mennonite Kansas farm boy--as he attempts to make sense of inscrutable political, theological, and cultural realities. This 'most subjective reminiscence' is certainly worthy of attention."" --Christopher M. Dick, professor of English, Tabor College"

"""Dale Suderman was a remarkable character. His essays and journals will enlighten conventional insider Mennonites about the possibilities of outsider identity."" --James Juhnke, professor emeritus of history, Bethel College ""Coffee with Dale Suderman might have been an alternative title for this absorbing, wide-ranging reader. People who had the good fortune of meeting Dale will hear the voice of a supremely gifted conversationalist jump off the pages as he reflects on topics that extend from being a Mennonite soldier in Vietnam to male identity, to homelessness, addiction, and the challenges facing the Christian church."" --Murray Hiebert, author of Under Beijing's Shadow: Southeast Asia's China Challenge ""The Essential Dale Suderman Reader offers a much-needed distillation of the life and mind of one of the great underground intellectuals to emerge from the American Anabaptist tradition. The writings and interpretations gathered here serve as the nearest approximation of what it was like to sit for hours with Dale in some greasy spoon, his agora, engaged in the co-construction of his two favorite things: deep conversation and abiding friendship."" --Adam Schrag, senior lecturer of communication, University of Minnesota ""In some ways, Dale Suderman lived against the grain of his traditional Mennonite upbringing: he served as an American soldier in Vietnam; he was a gay man; he struggled and overcame an addiction to alcohol; he smoked incessantly. But The Essential Dale Suderman Reader reveals how deeply and profoundly Suderman manifested Anabaptist values of nonconformity, hospitality, empathy, peacemaking, and loving God by loving others. Those who knew Suderman through his words will be enriched by this volume, as will those encountering him here for the very first time."" --Melanie Springer Mock, professor of English, George Fox University ""Daniel Born has assembled an intriguing and varied collection of texts that allows access to an astute and candid observer of history and culture. Dale Suderman's writings present, and then undercut, an easy reading of his world, highlighting the primacy of the observer--in this case a nomadic, questioning, and evolving Mennonite Kansas farm boy--as he attempts to make sense of inscrutable political, theological, and cultural realities. This 'most subjective reminiscence' is certainly worthy of attention."" --Christopher M. Dick, professor of English, Tabor College"

Author Information

"Dale Suderman (1944-2020) graduated from Tabor College and earned a master's in religion from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary. Coauthor of a hardboiled crime novel with Daniel Born, Unpardonable Sins (2021), published under the shared pen name David Saul Bergman, he wrote essays and articles that appeared in publications including The Post-American, The Common Review, The Mennonite, Books & Culture, and the Hillsboro Free Press, where his regular column, ""View from Afar,"" was a popular feature."

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