Plain Secrets

by Joe Mackall

Joe MackallPlain Secrets: An Outsider Among the AmishA journalist writes about his surprising friendship with an Amish family trying to live a simple life in a complex worldJoe Mackall has lived surrounded by the Swartzentruber Amish community of Ashland County, Ohio, for over sixteen years. The Swartzentrubers live without gas, electricity, or indoor plumbing; without lights on their buggies or cushioned chairs in their homes; and without rumspringa, the recently popularized "running-around time" that some Amish sects allow their sixteen-year-olds.Over the years, Mackall has developed a steady relationship with the Shetler family (Samuel and Mary, their nine children, and their extended family). Plain Secrets tells the Shetlers’ story over these years, using their lives to paint a portrait of Swartzentruber Amish life and mores. During this time, Samuel’s nephew rejects the Amish way of life; his bright young daughter reaches the end of school for Amish children; and Samuel faces diff