Daniel Taylor is an American writer. He is the author of nine books, including The Myth of Certainty, Letters to My Children, Tell Me A Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories, In Search of Sacred Places: Looking for Wisdom on Celtic Holy Islands, and, appearing in fall 2011, Creating a Spiritual Legacy: How to Share Your Stories, Values, and Wisdom. He speaks frequently at conferences, colleges, retreats, and churches on a variety of topics. Taylor is also co-founder of The Legacy Center, an organization devoted to helping individuals and organizations identify and preserve the values and stories that have shaped their lives. He is a contributing editor of Books and Culture.

A recurring topic in Taylor’s work is the role of stories in shaping lives. He points out that we are born into stories, live in stories, and pass away leaving a legacy of stories. Stories, he argues, are the single best way human beings have discovered for preserving and making sense of their experience, and understanding this increases one’s ability to make one’s own life story a rich one.

In addition to his books and articles, Taylor has served as a stylist for several Bible translations, including the New Living Translation

New Living Translation

The New Living Translation is a translation of the Bible into modern English. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts...

 and a revision of the New Century Version

New Century Version

The New Century Version of the Bible is a revision of the International Children's Bible. The ICB was aimed at young readers and those with low reading skills/limited vocabulary in English. It is written at a 3rd grade level and is both conservative and evangelical in tone. The New Testament was...

. He also co-produced the newly released The Expanded Bible.

Taylor received his B.A. from Westmont College

Westmont College

Westmont offers 26 majors, including: alternative major, art, biology, chemistry, communication studies, computer science, economics and business, education program, engineering physics, English, history, European studies, kinesiology, liberal studies, mathematics, modern languages , music,...

 in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and an M.A. and Ph.D in English from Emory University

Emory University

Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...

 in Atlanta, Georgia. He taught literature and writing at Bethel University for thirty-three years.

Personal life

Taylor is married and the father of four children. He currently resides in St. Paul, MN.

Selected publications

• The Myth of Certainty (1986, IVP Books, 1999) ISBN 0830822372
• Letters to My Children: A Father Passes on His Values (1989, Bog Walk Press, 2010) ISBN 0970651120
• Tell Me a Story: The Life-Shaping Power of Our Stories (Bog Walk Press, 2001) ISBN 0970651104 (Originally published as The Healing Power of Story, Doubleday, 1996)
• Before Their Time: Lessons in Living from Those Born Too Soon (InterVarsity Press, 2000) ISBN 0830822652
• Is God Intolerant?: Christian Thinking about the Call for Tolerance (Tyndale House Publisher, 2003) ISBN 0842354395
• In Search of Sacred Places: Looking for Wisdom on Celtic Holy Islands (Bog Walk Press, 2005) ISBN 0970651112
• The Expanded Bible (Thomas Nelson, 2009) ISBN 0718019849
• Creating a Spiritual Legacy: How to Share Your Stories, Values, and Wisdom (Brazos Press, 2011) forthcoming

Online writings

• Rest for the Weary: Eliot’s Four Quartets, Books and Culture, January/February 2009
• How to Pick a President: Why Virtue Trumps Policy, Christianity Today
  Christianity Today
  Christianity Today is an Evangelical Christian periodical based in Carol Stream, Illinois. It is the flagship publication of its parent company Christianity Today International, claiming circulation figures of 140,000 and readership of 290,000...
  
  , June 2008
• Living with a Big Poem: Reflections on the Waste Land, Books and Culture, September/October 2005
• Many Bibles, One Scripture: The Gift of Translation, Books and Culture, September/October 2002
• Wizards and Hobbits, Books and Culture, May/June 1996
• In Pursuit of Character, Part I, Christianity Today, December 1995
• In Pursuit of Character, Part II, Christianity Today, December 1995

External links

• Daniel Taylor's Website http://www.wordtaylor.com/
• Daniel Taylor's Speaker Biography for the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing http://www.calvin.edu/academic/engl/festival/speakers/taylor.php
• Daniel Taylor's Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Daniel-Taylor/e/B000AQ4O9W/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
• Daniel Taylor's Biography from Image (journal)
  Image (journal)
  Image is an American quarterly literary journal that explores the relationship between Judeo-Christian tradition and contemporary art and literature. The journal's motto is "Art, Faith, Mystery," and its articles and glossy photos explore contemporary spirituality by featuring provocative art...
  
  http://imagejournal.org/page/resources/the-glen-online/faculty-pages/taylor-2