Ruth Naylor, Bluffton author and poet, will hold a book signing and reading at Book ReViews from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 22.

In her book, "A Family Affair," she gathered together a collection of her poems that traverse the rough terrain of family life, pain of loss, the difficult beauty of human love. She writes, “I do not know understand / How love can dwell so close to hurt.” A reader shared, “Your self-disclosure somehow puts my own life in perspective.  Your struggles move me to a quicker understanding, deeper contentment, and brighter hope.”

Naylor's poetry has won a number of Ohio Poetry Day awards and has appeared in a wide variety of periodicals and anthologies. Naylor continues her work in creative writing and taught several writing courses at Bluffton University's Institute for Learning in Retirement.

Naylor, a graduate of Olney Friends Boarding School in Barnesville, earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Bluffton College and her Master of Arts Degree from Bowling Green State University. She studied at Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary and completed a two-year program in spiritual guidance from Shalem Institute in Washington, D.C. 

Naylor was named an Outstanding Secondary Educator in 1974. She changed careers in mid-life from being an English teacher to being an ordained pastor in Mennonite Church USA and served on the pastoral staff at Bluffton's First Mennonite Church. She later served as president of the Central District Conference of Mennonites and on the Executive Committee for MC USA and MC Canada. In retirement Naylor provides one-to-one spiritual direction on an ecumenical basis.