Doris McKay was born in New York state in 1894. She married Willard McKay in 1923 and took up residence on a successful fruit farm. The greatest adventure of Doris and Willard’s lives began two years later, when they embraced the Bahá'í Faith through the teaching efforts of Howard and Mable Ives. This book tells the story of that adventure — of Doris and Willard’s work and warm friendships with people such as the Ives, Grace and Harlan Ober, Louis Gregory, May Maxwell, Martha Root, Dorothy Baker, and other early American Bahá’ís. It tells the story of the McKay’s work in the racial amity field and their eventual pioneering move to Eastern Canada in the 1940’s. Doris tells her story with clear-sightedness, zest, and love. This book provides an intimate glimpse into the spiritual life of a dedicated Bahá’í teacher and the development of the Bahá’í Faith in America.

The book was republish in 2021 under a new title, Fires in Many Hearts; Memoirs of an early American believer by George Ronald Publishers.