Time magazine cover features new book by Piedmont professor

CLARKESVILLE - The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor's 13th book was released April 8 by HarperCollins and appears on its way to becoming a runaway best seller after being featured on the cover of Time magazine this week.

The book, "Learning to Walk in the Dark," is an examination of mankind's relationship with darkness - the literal and the figurative - throughout history. It follows Taylor's string of highly acclaimed books on religion, including 2009's "An Altar in the World."

Taylor is the Butman Professor of Religion at Piedmont College and an Episcopal priest since 1984. Her first memoir, "Leaving Church," met with widespread critical acclaim, winning a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association.

In addition to Time magazine, Christian Century also featured Taylor on its March 24 cover. And on April 17, Time managing editor Nancy Gibbs and a panel of journalists discussed the book at length on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

A former rector at Grace-Calvary Episcopal Church in Clarkesville, Taylor and her husband, Ed, live on a working farm near Clarkesville "with wild turkeys, red foxes, two old Quarter horses and too many chickens."