Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Author: Ingrid Ricks

Ingrid Ricks is a Seattle-based writer and speaker who focuses on overcoming adversity and embracing life. She is the author of Hippie Boy: A Girl's Story, her memoir about a feisty teenage girl who escapes her abusive Mormon stepfather by joining her dad on the road as a tool-selling vagabond -- until his arrest forces her to take charge of her life. Hippie Boy: A Girl's Story is available as an eBook and paperback on Amazon & BN.com.

Shout It to the Universe

Ingrid Ricks, February 4, 2012February 4, 2012

I spent years worrying about what people would think if I finished and published my memoir, Hippie Boy: A Girls Story. I didnt want to hurt anyone, particularly my mom, a devout Mormon who credits the LDS Church with saving her life. And yet it was her obsession and absolute…

Continue Reading

If World’s Doomed, I’m Grateful to Have a Mormon Mother

Ingrid Ricks, December 27, 2011

We were poor when I was growing up. So poor that we depended on free lunches at school, WIC food vouchers from the government, and occasional trips to the Church welfare office to eat. But our daily struggle to survive didnt keep my mom from stockpiling food in preparation for…

Continue Reading
Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. Holly on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    The Augustine quote I think of most often is "Lord, give me chastity--but not yet." I think "proposing problems that…

  2. Andrew S. on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    What's that quote from St. Augustine? "The wicked tell me of things that delight them, but not such things as…

  3. Holly on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    Hi Donna-- Your quip about "real fun" reminded me of Russ Nelson's 2016 statement on joy: “If we look to…

  4. Donna Banta on Feeling Spiritually Defrauded By Spiritual Fraudsters (Unrighteous Dominion)December 28, 2025

    Holly, I love the cheese and crackers analogy! It amazes me that so many LDS -- including some former LDS…

  5. Donavan on Mormon Stories and John Dehlin’s Mystery CycleDecember 27, 2025

    COJCOLDS is tribalism, no different, no better than MAGA, built on repeating lies and aligning the worst aspects of human…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Secularism Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2024: Nemo the Mormon
  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes