Local Iowan Bill Douglas will read from his newest book, The People Are Kind: A Religious History of Iowa. Starting with Iowa’s origins as an indigenous territory and tracking this land’s religious trends throughout the path to statehood, The People are Kind addresses “many questions the reader never thought to ask” and “paints a tapestry that contributes not just to religious history but argues for its importance to the history of Iowa” (wipfandstock.com). Jeff Bremer, author of New History of Iowa, praises The People Are Kind as “the first comprehensive survey of Iowa’s religious history” and asserts it’s “a thoughtful, humane, readable, and deeply researched book,” while Barbara Lounsberry, emerita professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, says, “The People Are Kind offers the first comprehensive history of religion in Iowa from the land and its indigenous peoples to the present. The breadth and depth of Douglas’s research will astound: the most obscure belief system is tracked. A fascinating read.”

Bill R. Douglas has been a political organizer, delivery worker, and award-winning freelance historian. His personal religious saga has included membership in Presbyterian, UCC, Methodist, and Disciples congregations in Iowa as well as regular attendance with Friends and Mennonites. He has written for Minnesota History, Annals of Iowa, Quaker History, and Baptist History and Heritage. He lives in Clutier, Iowa, with his wife Barbara Morrison and cats Suckow, Cerina, and Taylor (wipfandstock.com).