Much of northeast Georgia may be watching Barbara Brown Taylor on Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday” show, but there is one person who won’t be tuning in—Barbara Brown Taylor.
The show, which was taped in August at Oprah’s Harpo Studios in Chicago, will be broadcast at 11 a.m., Nov. 9, on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
“I am so phobic about cameras, that meeting Oprah was the only thing that got me there,” said Taylor, who lives on a farm near Clarkesville. “But she is so lovely, so genuine, kind, focused and professional—I made the right choice. She has done so much good in the world that the opportunity to meet her overcame all my other dread.”
During the show, Winfrey and Taylor discuss Taylor’s latest book, “Learning to Walk in the Dark,” which shines a light on traditions that equate dark places with the sinister. After exploring caves, subterranean chapels and other “dark” places, Taylor says that embracing darkness and the unknown can be a transformative spiritual practice. “We talked about the book,” Taylor said, “But really it was more of a conversation about living life, rather than an interview.”
Taylor is the Butman Professor of Religion at Piedmont College, where she has taught since 1998. An Episcopal priest since 1984, she is the author of 12 other books, including the New York Times bestseller “An Altar in the World.” Her first memoir, “Leaving Church,” met with widespread critical acclaim, winning a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association.
Appearing on Oprah Winfrey’s telecast is just the latest in a series of national honors for Taylor. Earlier this year, Time magazine and Christian Century both featured her book as cover stories, and Time also selected her as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World,” for her writing and preaching.
Still, Taylor said she does not plan to watch the Oprah show, lest it bring back the memory of all those cameras. “I can’t even look at myself in the mirror at the gym, so how can I watch this?” she laughed.
(Super Soul Sunday and the Oprah Winfrey Network can be found on Channel 405 on Windstream cable. Viewers who do not receive the OWN channel can watch the show online at oprah.com/supersoulsunday or Facebook.com/supersoulsunday.)
