Tab Hunter's telling of his early life; Catholic upbringing ...
340567
Tab Hunter's telling of his early life; Catholic upbringing, his stern German mother, his alcoholic father and his older brother are interesting and engaging.  Having only vaguely remembered his actual movie roles, I was curious about his reputation as a gay man in an era much different from today in light of society's current acceptance of alternative life styles.  Mr. Hunter portrays his sensitivity to doing the right thing, his professional and personal struggles along with the lifestyles in Hollywood, the impact of other professionals on his life and career.  Well written.
772105
I never heard of this author until 1977 when he spoke in person at my church and appeared on a local tv show here in Buffalo. I read the book a few years later and still recall many parts of it. He tells of his early life and how he became fascinated with the mob and despite a good chance at show biz, got involved in the underworld. Of course, after so many years it turned sour as it always does when you serve Satan. A series of events led to him killing a fellow gangster which led him to giving his life to Christ.
After reading this I mailed it to a penpal I had who was an inmate in a Florida prison. He  also read it thankfully, and passed it on to the next cell, as is commonly done. May it have a lasting effect in the lives of those who need Jesus.
1173925
I enjoyed Mr. Gray's book and I applaud him for taking on such a daunting task. I have lived in Thomson, Georgia for 40+ years and I had no idea who Blind Willie McTell was until the first of many "Blind Willie" Blues Festivals was put on several years ago.  The outdoor site is less than a quarter mile from my house.  Since then I have learned quite a bit about this local blues legend.

Michael Gray's book is a nice biography of Willie McTell and, it contains a pretty good history of the area around Thomson, Georgia. (We call this area the Central Savannah River Area, or CSRA.) Although, Mr. Gray doesn't seem to think much of this part of the deep South, it is home to me and it was home to Willie as well. Blind Willie's music would not have been the same had he been born and raised somewhere else.
4745019
I found this book to be a very in-depth, personal account of the Tabernacle; and how it relates to our lives as we live them out for Christ. I am proud to say I know Eddie personally and really enjoyed hearing things that he had talk about in person over the years. "Beauty" touches many aspects of the Christian walk, I remember reading, and rereading page 26 as it pertains to God testing us in our weaknesses, which really hit home for me. This book is written for a general reader as well as someone who wants to go deep into the subject of the tabernacle and how it pertain the their relationship with Christ.
2119907
Our young Gabriel captures a period of Irish culture very accurately.  He does his best to come to terms with his burgeoning homosexuality.  He is a survivor of a vicious clerical sex abuser but has the common sense to use another cleric as a protector.  The back story of his uncle priest is a story in itself.  Gabriel comes out not unscathed but all the stronger for it.  He becomes his own self by the end.  Well written.  Recommended.
254241
This fascinating and absorbing coming-of-age LGBT memoir authored by Garrard Conley recalled his forced entry in a faith based evangelical reparative therapy program in 2004. The ideology that homosexuality could be cured began in 1973, and in 1982 Exodus International a powerful global outreach organization formed from Love In Action (LIA). In 2009, The American Psychological Association advised therapists that sexual orientation could not be changed through reparative therapy, which has since been discredited.

At 19 years of age, Conley stopped returning the calls of his lovely girlfriend before he entered college. He knew he was gay, though he had never experienced a sexual relationship. The shame and fear increased when his parents found out his deepest secret from another student. Rightly so, in small town Arkansas homosexuals were viewed as sex addicts affiliated with bestiality and pedophilia. His Missionary Baptist parents were highly concerned-- his father, a preacher, could loose his ministry because of harsh judgment related to his sons sexual orientation. His parents enrolled him in the nearest LIA program immediately, which was located out of state in a ordinary strip mall. His mother stayed in a motel while he attended the program over several weeks.

Treated as a deviant offender, his person and belongings were searched daily. False Images were anything from dress, speech, mannerisms associated with homosexual behavior, practice, and urges, which were "sins" confessed before the group that separated such persons from God. Many pastors/religious leaders in the vicinity believed homosexuality could be cured through faith and prayer. Conley discussed the therapy process, the former leaders that wrote books telling their own stories, including a timeline history, and stories of the Ex-Gay participants who were seriously harmed-- loosing relationships, families, and parts of themselves trying to be someone else. As he attended his final session, Conley drew his own conclusions and made a brave decision, which was quite remarkable at such a young age.
Gerrard Conley earned his MFA at the University of North Carolina in the Wilmington Writing Program. He teaches English Literature and advocates for LGBT rights and equality in Sofia, Bulgaria.
704331
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Very good job by the author, Jim Palmer. He has an uncanny way of bringing you into the story so that you can identify with the characters that he meets in his faith journey. At times I just about peed my pants reading parts of this book. Other parts are quite moving, especially as he looked back on his childhood and considered his "failure" in not being able to help his alcoholic mom. As the story unfolds, the author meets ordinary folks whom he refers to as "Divine Nobodies," along his life's journey. He learns that God is working in the lives of these regular people. His experience taught him that "church" doesn't happen on a particular Sunday, at a particular place, in a particular building. Church is people that are yielding to the Spirit of God working in their lives.
2422402
After reading Robert Hofler's "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson" I was interested in reading this book.  I liked it a lot, only I don't think I got too much information about the man and a lot about the career.  It's not that Hunter wasn't honest - his honesty is compelling, it's just that he tells us a lot of "what" and not a lot of "why".  Why did he and Tony Perkins break up? Why did he feel it was okay to be faithless to any number of lovers? Why did he let himself get involved repeatedly with guys who stole his stuff?  Even in his earliest New York Navy recollections, his drift into homosexuality is easy and not examined to any degree.  Surely his mother must have had some feelings about his lifestyle?

I finished this book liking Tab Hunter more than I thought I would.  I was happy he had the guts and character to drive himself through what appears to be many dinner theatre engagements in order to survive financially and his writing and producing career was all but unknown to me.  As a tale of survival, this is a good book.  As a story about a beauty who develops into a person, it lacks introspection and detail.

I look forward to a book about Hunter by someone with a greater interest in who Tab Hunter is than he seems to be.
2409148
Excellent semi-biography of Frank Schaeffer's youth.  I say semi because it is written as a novel but he himself says it is accurate.  Son of a now famous missionary/evangelist Francis Schaeffer, this book covers his early life living in Europe and his family vacations in Portofino.  It is the first of a 3-part story which is followed by Zermatt and then Saving Grandma.  All are thoroughly enjoyable reading.  Highly recommend.
3133487
I heard Dr. Bill Slider at Christ United Methodist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1957 when I moved to Louisville, KY from eastern Kentucky until 1964, when I graduated from the University of Louisville with a BA and BS in psychology. Dr. Slider was the primary influence to me and mentored me when I went into the ministry. I went to the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, from l964 to 1967 and graduated there with a M.S.Th and a M.Div. From there I went into the Air Force Chaplaincy (1967-1970) with my last year in Vietnam. There I helped the F-4 pilots get into their planes and carry out their missions; as well as the orphans from the war; as well as the colony of lepers in the Qui Nhon Leprasarium 18 miles away from Phu Cat Air Force Base through "enemy" territory. I used this text as a basis for sermons on the family while in Vietnam. Bill Slider was one of the best preachers I've ever heard and I can see/hear him through these sermons. Any reader will be uplifted by his work and ministry.
Rev. Dr. Bob Marlowe, M.Div., MBA, Ph. D, Broomfield, Colorado 80023
495365
This memoir follows the life of TS Parker through a journey of addiction and morbid obesity. In the book Parker, who is a dedicated Christian openly shares her struggles, her addiction, her love of God, and her desire to serve Him. It also provides a clear path from attempting to please God with what one does, to embracing God's grace beyond what one does.
The book is written in a bit of a colloquial style, leaving the reader feeling the sincerity of the author's message and the reality of her journey. It is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature addressing this very common and heart-breaking problem.
3614475
Bill McGaughey was my first cousin. The book gave me a unique insight into this special individual I never really knew. His love of God and his family is very special. Well worth getting to know Billy through his life struggle.
2750197
I discovered EWTN in the first months of my freshman year of college.  While channel surfing through MTV and ESPN, I came across a beautiful old face swallowed by large glasses and wrapped in a white wimple.

I stopped.  I'd never known a nun, let alone seen one in a traditional habit.  Her simple outlook on faith kept me hooked.  After watching Mother Angelica on television for the past five years, I thought I knew the simple elderly nun who'd shown me the beauty of my Catholic faith.  After reading Raymond Arroyo's new biography, I realize how wrong I was.

Here is the life of Rita Rizzo weaved into a wonderfully narrative story.  It shows her humble and tormented early years, her first miraculous healing, and her radical conversion to live for God.  It chronicles many little known facts:  her many ailments and healings, her intention to build a Southern monastery for reparation for unjustice to African Americans, her charismatic experiences, her dark night of the soul.  Her leap of faith in creating the largest religious communications empire in the world is given its due, but does not overshadow.

Arroyo treats Mother as a human being, not a pious, holy card saint.  She has doubts, a sense of humor, and a fiery temper.  She struggles in her relationship with both parents, clashes with bishops and cardinals over orthodoxy and control of her network, and ultimately undergoes a Vatican investigation.

Mother Angelica has lived a life of radical service through love for Her Spouse, Jesus Christ, and His Church.  Anyone who knows her only through her television network knows only part of the story.  This biography tells it all.  And Mother will be seen as an even greater witness to God because of it
3788904
This author spent several years of his childhood in an American orphanage, and describes his experiences there in detail.  Food, work, discipline, education, social life, and his eventual "graduation" from the institution are described.  He experienced many hardships at the institution, but is not bitter.  He feels his "tough" orphanage experience helped him build his own successful life.
4641820
This is a memoir of humor, tragedy, and the trappings of culture and religion.  Not being Irish but raised as a Catholic, Angela's Ashes brought back memories of catechism classes taught by strict rules adapted to the  culture of the times.  I remember being taught that only Catholics went to  heaven and that any and all sexual thoughts or deeds would damn one to  Hell. This is not to undermine, however, the book's trajic story about  poverty, alcoholism and growing up in a culture where the "drink"  is associated with many social activities.  Additionally, Frank McCourt  writes a memoir that personifies the American dream.  It touches a chord  inside all of us because we have all heard similiar stories passed on to us  by our own parents and grandparents.  Angela's Ashes makes us both proud  and sad to be Americans, lets us snicker at some silly long-held beliefs,  and forces us to question the wisdom and the teachings of our religious and  societal rules.  It is a book that stays with you for a very long time.
3601740
Enjoyed reading this.  Learned about Tab Hunter and the Hollywood of yesteryear.  I passed it along when I was done for others to enjoy.
2937304
I knew of Henry Kinkeade, a local preacher, but I really did know the author, Allen Powell.  A good biography of a hard-working North Texas Preacher from Missouri.  Interesting insights into the life of a dedicated Southern Baptist Preacher, whose ministry was based on the recurring phrase, '... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin."  Each chapter is titled after a well-known hymn, and the preaching song that Mr. Kinkeade sang was loud and clear for many years.  Irving is a better city for his having been a full-time pastor at the First Baptist Church for over 30 years.