Clare of Assisi

“Oversimplification sells, but reality is messy. In Clare of Assisi, Wendy Murray chooses the more difficult but also the more rewarding path, as she did in her life of Saint Francis. She takes her readers along with her on a quest among fragmentary and often conflicting sources, piecing together the life of woman in a time and place radically different from our own—a woman whose passionate faith nevertheless has the power to inspire us today.” —John Wilson, Contributing Editor, Englewood Review of Books “This account of Clare’s life befits her name, ‘Light;’ it illuminates a figure who has historically stood in her more-famous friend’s shadow. Wendy Murray’s presentation of Clare is neither adulatory nor cynical, but shows us a woman who dared great things and endured great difficulties, and became an example to women through the ages.” —Frederica Mathewes-Green, wide-ranging Eastern Orthodox author and speaker“A fulfilling work meticulously documented for scholars yet accessible for anyone interested in a life of spirituality.” —Library Journal – Denise J. Stankovics * Library Journal *“Readers looking for accounts of women pivotal to the growth of Christianity will relish Murray’s welcoming portrait.” —Publishers Weekly – Religion Review * Publishers Weekly *

Wendy Murray was living in Assisi, Italy when she completed the book A Mended and a Broken Heart, the Life and Love of Francis of Assisi (Basic Books, June 2008). She spent nearly five years researching the lives of Saint Francis and Saint Clare, a large portion of which was undertaken on site in Italy. She is respected among the Catholic (Franciscan) community in Assisi and has intimate access to the most learned scholars and experts and maintains good standing among the city’s primary librarians. A Mended and a Broken Heart has been officially endorsed by the Franciscan community in Assisi and is carried in the town’s major bookstores. (Millions of English-speaking pilgrims visit Assisi every year.) She is knowledgeable of Latin and conversant in Italian.

Beyond her work in Italy, she is otherwise a well-traveled and award-winning journalist who has published widely in many venues. She grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio (1980), majoring in religion and graduating magna cum laude. She also received membership in Hiram’s Phi Beta Kappa society. She completed a master’s degree in theological studies (New Testament) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, S. Hamilton, Massachusetts, graduating magna cum laude in 1985.

She lived in Honduras, Central America for four years where she served as regional correspondent for Time magazine. She worked as writer and associate editor at Christianity Today magazine from 1995 to 2000 and served as senior writer through 2004. Her work has taken her all over the world and her feature essays have won awards consistently. David Neff, then-executive editor at CT, said of her work: “Wendy has brought a keen sense for the emotional center of a story. No story is just about facts, and journalism that sticks to bare facts does a disservice to its readers. In journalism, as in life, every significant event and every person worth writing about is gifted with the power to serve as a warning or an inspiration, to motivate, to model, to repel, to reveal. Journalism that taps into that power is risky, and we thank her for her determination to take those risks.”

She has published extensively in other journals, including Books & Culture, The Christian Century, and currently has a column titled “Poets & Lunatics” on the religious website Patheos.com. Twice her essays have been included in The Best Christian Writing, edited by John Wilson. She was cited in Brill’s Content as being numbered among the nation’s leading religion reporters. She has appeared on “Chris Matthew’s Hard Ball,” “Religion & Ethics Newsweekly” and was invited to speak before a select group of thought leaders by the Carnegie Council in New York.

She served as writer-in-residence at Gordon College (Wenham, Massachusetts) for two years (2004 to 2006) and has taught courses on Francis of Assisi, both in Massachusetts and through the college’s international studies program in Orvieto, Italy. She also served as an adjunct professor of Communications through 2011.

She has written eleven books, including The Beliefnet Guide to Evangelical Christianity (Doubleday, 2005), Meet Me in Managua (Kregel, 2005); On Broken Legs (NavPress 2004) and Day of Reckoning: Columbine and the Search for America’s Soul (Brazos, 2001); and A Mended and a Broken Heart: The Life and Love of St. Francis of Assisi (2008).