Seasons with Friends: Linda Rabben on her new book

‘To stay awake I started writing haikus.’

by Linda Rabben 28th November 2025

Born and raised in Philadelphia, William Penn’s Quaker city, I was familiar with the Society of Friends from an early age. My father, a lawyer, gave lectures on fighting bigotry and intolerance at Friends’ organisations and Meetings. I admired and sympathised with the Quaker testimonies when I discovered them in high school. As an opponent of the Vietnam war, I became a pacifist under Quaker influence. It was in the air all around me.