BROOKINGS – In the 2020 One Book South Dakota selection, “Unfollow: A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church,” author Megan Phelps-Roper demonstrates the power of civil conversation.
A former member of the extremist Westboro Baptist Church, Phelps-Roper now lives in Clark. Her book is a statement for change, as it proves to readers the value of civility, of practicing critical thinking skills and applying them to interpersonal relationships.
The Brookings Public Library will host an author talk with Phelps-Roper at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, via Zoom. A question-and-answer session will follow.
For more information and for the Zoom login, visit the Library’s Facebook page (@bkglib), website (brookingslibrary.org), or contact Mikaela Neubauer at 692-9407 or mneubauer@cityofbrookings.org.
Phelps-Roper celebrates literature, citing classic novels that paved her path to enlightenment, and the portion of the memoir that unfolds in South Dakota briefly but firmly defines this state which, for the author, offers a rural haven of natural beauty, refuge, anonymity and “Midwest nice” for someone who desperately needs it.
However, because the author is a former ideological extremist, and because she articulates her evolving ideology with a reasoned approach to theology, her most profound advice is on civility – how it can be achieved by civil conversation.
The granddaughter of infamous religious zealot and Westboro Baptist Church pastor Fred Phelps, Phelps-Roper grew up protesting funerals with the extremist group before leaving the Westboro Baptist Church – and by extension, most of her family – behind in 2012 and eventually moving to Clark, where she lives with her husband Chad and daughter Sølvi.
“Unfollow” chronicles her life in Kansas from childhood through adulthood, her departure from the church during her mid-20s, and the unlikely series of events that led her to South Dakota.
Phelps-Roper has lived through a monumental change, and those who read her book will encounter the essential lessons that changed her.
Now an educator on topics related to overcoming ideological extremism and improving communication across religious and political divides, Phelps-Roper has spent much of her life in the national spotlight, from appearing on national news programs like “The Tyra Banks Show” during her protest days to performing a Ted Talk with more than eight million views after leaving the church.
Having been featured on “Good Morning America” and excerpted in People Magazine, “Unfollow” is on the national radar. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which said, “Phelps-Roper’s intelligence and compassion shine throughout with electric prose ... She admirably explicates the worldview of the Westboro Baptist Church while humanizing its members and recounts a classic coming-of-age story without resorting to cliché or condescending to her former self.”
Phelps-Roper is eager to share her story with fellow residents of the state she now calls home.
“It was actually six years ago yesterday that I made South Dakota my home, and I’m so, so excited to share with the beautiful people of this state how the power of civil dialogue changed my life for the better,” she said to the audience members who attended the Dec. 3, 2019, unveiling of her book as the One Book selection. “So, thank you again so much for this opportunity and I cannot wait to get started.”
The South Dakota Humanities Council coordinates the One Book South Dakota program, as well as the South Dakota Festival of Books and the Speakers Bureau programs. Learn more at sdhumanities.org. “Unfollow” discussions fulfill the South Dakota Humanities Council’s mission to “celebrate literature, promote civil conversation, and tell the stories that define our state.”
For additional information about the programs and services of the Brookings Public Library, visit www.brookingslibrary.org and be sure to follow the library on Facebook @bkglib.
