Days 22-23---On Wednesday Bas and I entered the land of books at Tyndale House Publishers in Wheaton, Illinois, where I worked as a senior editor for 12 years.
Tyndale, now one of the country's largest Christian publishers, began because of one man's love for the Bible and his love for his children.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when Ken Taylor read the Bible to his ten children every night after dinner, he found that the language of the King James Version was too formal and archaic for them. So, every day as he commuted by train to and from his job at Moody Press in Chicago, he paraphrased the passage he would read to his children that night. Those paraphrases eventually became The Living Bible. Initially, Ken could not find a publisher that would take the risk of publishing the paraphrased Bible, so he began Tyndale House. In the early 1970s, The Living Bible became the bestselling book in the country.
In the 1950s and 1960s, when Ken Taylor read the Bible to his ten children every night after dinner, he found that the language of the King James Version was too formal and archaic for them. So, every day as he commuted by train to and from his job at Moody Press in Chicago, he paraphrased the passage he would read to his children that night. Those paraphrases eventually became The Living Bible. Initially, Ken could not find a publisher that would take the risk of publishing the paraphrased Bible, so he began Tyndale House. In the early 1970s, The Living Bible became the bestselling book in the country.
Every day when I stepped off the elevator at the third floor in the Tyndale building, I saw these two art pieces below, which reminded me of the legacy Ken Taylor left to all of us.
During my years at Tyndale House, I edited books by Christian counselors, by marriage and family experts, several books by Chuck Colson, Josh McDowell, Barb and Gary Rosberg, Gary Smalley and his sons, as well as Cynthia Heald and Randy Alcorn. The books included self-help books, devotionals, theological books, textbooks, and some fiction. The experience was a rich one. While I shaped the words and chapters in these books, their ideas shaped me in significant ways.
In the morning, Bas and I joined the editorial director and my former supervisor, Dan Elliott, for an editorial meeting, and then spent several hours visiting former colleagues in their offices.
The next night, I joined Dan for the opening session of the annual retreat of the Academy of Christian Editors (ACE), which was meeting at a convent in Wheaton. I had attended several of the ACE retreats in the past and had always found them to be a time of meaningful friendships with an incredible group of people.
I had a chance to thank some of the people who shaped my life in many ways: Judy Markham, the editor who sent me my first manuscript to edit for Zondervan and who served as my first mentor; Sandy Vander Zicht, who directed my freelance work with Zondervan and was the editor for the first book I wrote; Steve Board, who was the managing editor for the publishing company that published my second book.
When we left Oregon three weeks ago, I had no idea that the ACE retreat would be held in Wheaton, or that I would be able to attend. My evening with the ACE people was another one of God's serendipities. What a blessing to celebrate God's faithfulness with these friends and former colleagues, some of whom I have known for more than 30 years.
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