Don Miller (author)

Infobox Writer
name = Donald Miller


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caption = Donald Miller
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birthdate = 1971
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occupation = Author, Public speaker
nationality = American
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genre = Christian spirituality
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website = http://donaldmillerwords.com

Don Miller (born 1971) is a best-selling American author and public speaker based out of Portland, Oregon who focuses on Christian spirituality as "an explanation for beauty, meaning, and the human struggle" [cite book|title=Blue Like Jazz|last=Miller|first=Donald|authorlink=Donald Miller|publisher=Nelson Books|location=Nashville, Tennessee|year=2003] .

Biography

At 21, Miller left his home in Houston, Texas and traveled across the country to Portland , Oregon–a place where he put down roots as he had planned when he started his roadtrip a few months before. Miller's first book, "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance" (Harvest House Publishers 2000), chronicled a cross-country road trip he took at 21. It was printed with little fanfare, though republished more successfully in 2005 as "Through Painted Deserts". During this time, Miller was the editor of an online Christian magazine called roadsearching.com and the owner of a small Portland-based publishing company called Coffee House Books, which published home schooling textbooks. It was not until 2003, when Don published "Blue Like Jazz" that he became a New York Times Bestselling Author. Two years later, Miller released "Searching For God Knows What" which explores how the life of Jesus illustrates the human personality. In 2006, he added another book, "To Own A Dragon", which offered Miller's reflections on growing up without a father. This book reflected an interest already present in Donald's life, as he founded the Belmont Foundation–a non-profit that partners with local churches to mentor fatherless young men. Don's next book, "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", will be released sometime in 2009.

Miller also serves as the Founding Director of The Burnside Writers Collective, a group of spiritual writers who contribute to an online magazine.

Miller is recognized for his feelings that Christian faith should be a relationship, rather than a formula. He writes in "Searching for God Knows What" that too many Christians act like the Bible is a sort of math textbook, rather than a long story of God's involvement with people through friendships with Biblical figures like Adam, Abraham, and Moses. This emphasis on the Bible as a narrative has made his writings popular with many involved in the emerging church conversation. [http://modernmarch.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/the-emerging-church-movement/] While he himself does not consider himself to be a follower of the movement, Miller still recognizes the need of mankind to recognize its depravity so that it might better teach the concept of love.

On March 2, 2007, during an interview on the Relevant Magazine podcast, he revealed that he has been working on a screenplay with Steve Taylor. [cite podcast|url=http://www.relevantmag.com/relevant_podcast/030207_podcast.mp3|title=The Don Miller Interview, Pt. 2|website=RELEVANT Magazine|host=Cameron Strang|date=2007-03-02|accessdate=03-05|accessyear=2007 ] On Don Miller's website http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/ he further discusses the screen play noted above.

Miller delivered the first night's closing prayer at the 2008 Democratic National Convention on August 25, 2008.

Published works

* "Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance: Finding God on the Open Road", 2000 (Harvest House Publishers) Note: republished as "Through Painted Deserts"
* "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality", 2003 (Nelson Books)
* "Searching For God Knows What", 2004 (Nelson Books)
* "Through Painted Deserts: Light, God, and Beauty on the Open Road", 2005 (Nelson Books)
* "To Own a Dragon: Reflections On Growing Up Without A Father", 2006 (NavPress)
* "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Fall 2009 (Nelson Books)

External links

* [http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/ Official web site]
* [http://www.donmillerfans.net/ donmillerfans.net (fan site)]
* [http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/ Burnside Writer's Collective]
* [http://www.belmontfoundation.org/ Belmont Foundation]
* [http://www.myspace.com/donaldmillerpage Donald Miller] fan page on MySpace
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20020902001258/www.passageway.org/popculture/print.asp?page=popculture/miller_text.asp 2000 interview with Donald Miller] from the Billy Graham teen website passageway.org (accessible via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20030525212623/www.passageway.org/popculture/print.asp?page=popculture/miller2_text.asp The Meadow at Black Butte Ranch] , a poem by Donald Miller, reprinted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (from Miller's roadsearching.com webzine) on the Billy Graham teen website passageway.org (accessible via the Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
* [http://www.ridewelltour.com/ Ride:Well Bike Tour] Website for the cross-country bicycle trip Don Miller took in June and July of 2008. Eighteen people cycled cross country to raise money and awareness for the non-profit, [http://www.bloodwatermisson.org/ Blood:Water Mission] .

References