About the Author

Richard Paul Poethig was a retired Presbyterian minister. Richard devoted his life and ministry to urban and economic justice through the Presbyterian church’s “social creed”—a “vision of a society that shares more and consumes less, seeks compassion over suspicion and equality over domination.” He wrote extensively on the church’s relation to the working poor and on labor issues both in the Philippines, where he and his family lived as missionaries for 15 years, and in the United States. You can learn more about Richard on his website richardpoethig.com.

Richard died on November 22, 2021 (read his obituary here). He outlived his wife of 66 years, Eunice Blanchard Poethig, also a retired Presbyterian minister. He was survived by his five children and three grandchildren.

About the Production

Richard wrote this memoir more than twenty years ago shortly after he retired. In 2010, Richard’s daughter Margaret Poethig registered the book with the copyright office, scanned it into pdfs and posted it on her website (and now here). A year later she began recording her father reading the book, chapter by chapter. Podcasts of Richard’s reading, mixed with music that punctuates the humor and drama of his story, are available on Apple and other podcasting platforms and on the Public Radio Exchange (PRX).