"For Berry, ambition and talent are inseparable from his deeper fealty to family, place, and community. Where many of us have a markedly individualistic vision – in which talent and dreams carry the self beyond a local scope – Berry lives in a world in which young and old, nature and farmer, individual and community are all woven together in a thick tapestry. It is an indivisible network, and Berry has embraced its limitations alongside its many gifts. Regardless of how Berry came to receive this vision, he has most certainly called it forth in thousands more hearts – including mine.

"When we first met, at a conference in Louisville, Berry was the keynote speaker, but he and Tanya arrived several hours early, and he took notes during the panels and lectures before and after his speech. Afterward, when I asked Berry whether he might be willing to do a Q&A with me for The American Conservative, he agreed, but on the condition that the interview take place via letters, rather than by phone or email. Thus began a correspondence that, remarkably, has continued (off and on) to the present day."

Article: Wendell Berry’s Long Obedience