Edward L. Kimball has Died

[smac97]

Here:

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Without the work of Edward L. Kimball, few Mormons would know the details of the groundbreaking 1978 revelation that changed the course of their faith's history.

It was Kimball who penned candid and meticulously researched biographies of his father, the late LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball, who ended a centurylong ban on black men and boys being ordained to the all-male priesthood.

Edward Kimball, an intellectual heavyweight himself, died Monday in Provo. He was 86.

I have very much admired the writings and scholarship of Bro. Kimball.  He will be missed.

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Reared in a prominent Mormon family — in addition to his father, the 12th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his mother was Camilla Eyring and his cousin is current LDS First Presidency member Henry B. Eyring — Kimball served a full-time mission to the Netherlands. After his return, he married Evelyn Bee Madsen (she died in 2012) and together they had seven children. He earned multiple law degrees and was twice called to lead a Mormon congregation as bishop, a lay clergy position.

He was, Kimball wrote in his own obituary, a teacher at heart. During his 40-year career, he taught at universities in Montana and Wisconsin in addition to LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University, focusing on criminal law, trial and legal ethics. In Wisconsin, he was named to a special parole board for sex offenders. Later, in Utah, he served again on a parole board.

"Childhood polio made his walk awkward and also made him shy, though few perceived that," Kimball wrote of himself. "More people mistakenly thought him aloof."

Interesting stuff.  I wish I could hav emet the man.

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"My father wanted to make a difference in the world of Mormon history and biography," Chris Kimball said, "by breaking the mold of hagiography."

Edward Kimball did that by writing the first volume of Spencer Kimball's life (with his nephew Andrew Kimball), while the LDS prophet was still alive and gave him permission to "make it real."

That warts-and-all book ended, in 1977, just before the momentous decision to end the racial ban, a move that reshaped the Utah-based faith and propelled it into a global religion.

The second volume, "Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball," published in 2005 and written by Edward Kimball alone, drew on the late president's 33 journals, thousands of letters and scores of interviews with leaders and lay members who knew him.

It traces Spencer Kimball's leadership through key episodes in modern Mormonism — including the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment; dramatic escalation in missionary work; the beginning of satellite transmissions from church headquarters; growing concern about homosexuality, abortion and pornography; the document forgeries of "Mormon bomber" Mark Hofmann; the reportedly phony Howard Hughes will; and the church's opposition to the MX missile being bunkered in Utah.

"Lengthen Your Stride" gave Mormons a rare peek behind the bureaucratic curtain that normally obscures such give-and-take among LDS leaders.

BYU Magazine called it a "gem of Latter-day Saint history," praising its depiction of the beloved prophet's strengths and flaws without "flinching" or "sanitizing."

I think Bro. Kimball did much to help the Saints and the Church be more direct in addressing their history.  

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Edward Kimball did not always agree with his father's approach, particularly the way the elder Kimball handled relations with son Spencer Jr.'s distance from the church or with some of the ideas his dad put forth in his landmark 1969 volume, "The Miracle of Forgiveness."

Indeed, wrote the son, "Miracle" was a book "more on sin and repentance than on forgiveness," and even his father "later seemed to wish he had adopted a gentler tone,"

Last year, with Edward Kimball's approval, Desert Book quietly discontinued its publication, 30 years after the late LDS leader's death in 1985.

Hmm.  I wonder how long the book remain in use by bishops, etc. now that it has been discontinued from publication.

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But one of the son's more lasting contributions may be his exploration and explanations of the late president's approach to Mormon revelation.

"Revelations will probably never come unless they are desired. I think few people receive revelations while lounging on a couch," Spencer Kimball wrote to Edward Kimball several years before the 1978 experience. "I believe most revelations would come when a man is on his tiptoes, reaching as high as he can for something which he knows he needs, and then there bursts upon him the answer to his problems."

Again, interesting stuff!

My condolences to Bro. Kimball's family.

Thanks,

-Smac

[rongo]

1 hour ago, smac97 said:

Hmm.  I wonder how long the book remain in use by bishops, etc. now that it has been discontinued from publication.

I really like Miracle of Forgiveness. You have to leave people a lifeline, and the last several chapters of the book do just that (God will forgive, the Church will forgive, you must forgive yourself, etc.). I find that people who complain that the book is too harsh haven't read the whole book, or much of it at all. I read the chapters along with penitents (by assignment, not aloud) and discuss our notes when we meet (with scriptures and discussing other things as well). 

I'm glad I have a copy of my own . . .  

[Scott Lloyd]

Coincidentally, I ran across John Dehlin's 2010 interview with Edward Kimball on YouTube last night and watched all of Part 1 and about half of Part 2. Though I didn't know it at the time, this would have been just after Brother Kimball died, which, according to a Facebook post to me from his son, happened about 7 pm.

I've never had much use for Dehlin or his work, but I have to say this really was a good interview. Brother Kimball was very articulate and candid.

The first biography was very popular because it was published during the height of President Kimball's presidency though some time before the 1978 revelation. At the time the book was published, my mom gave me a copy of it for Christmas (or it might have been my birthday), and I devoured it. It primarily covered the years leading up to his presidency.

The other book was given to me by a friend some years after it was published. Brother Kimball was very innovative with it in that he included extra material on a CD-ROM that was attached inside the back cover of the book. I'm reading that book now, but have not yet explored the CD-ROM. (At any given time, I'm reading upwards of two dozen book simultaneously; needless to say, it takes me forever to finish one book.)

I met Edward Kimball at his home on one occasion. We were doing a Church News series of monthly center spreads focusing in turn on past presidents of the Church. It was my assignment to do the article on President Kimball and, of course, Edward Kimball is the go-to source for that subject. I went to his home in Provo to borrow some photos and other resource materials. He was very generous in sharing what he had. I think he indicated to me at that time that he was working on the sequel to the first biography. I have fond memories of that meeting.

And, my memory isn't clear, but I think the Church News article I subsequently wrote might even have been included on the CD-ROM of that later book.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[cinepro]

12 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

The other book was given to me by a friend some years after it was published. Brother Kimball was very innovative with it in that he included extra material on a CD-ROM that was attached inside the back cover of the book. I'm reading that book now, but have not yet explored the CD-ROM. (At any given time, I'm reading upwards of two dozen book simultaneously; needless to say, it takes me forever to finish one book.)

 

The CD-ROM doesn't just contain "extra material."  The book was published by Deseret Book, and they requested ("requested"?) many changes to the manuscript before publication.  The CD-ROM includes a PDF of the original version of the book, with all the extra material included.  A lot of it was cut just for good editing, but there are some interesting tidbits as well. 

[Scott Lloyd]

6 hours ago, cinepro said:

The CD-ROM doesn't just contain "extra material."  The book was published by Deseret Book, and they requested ("requested"?) many changes to the manuscript before publication.  The CD-ROM includes a PDF of the original version of the book, with all the extra material included.  A lot of it was cut just for good editing, but there are some interesting tidbits as well. 

What you say may well be true; as I indicated, I have not yet gotten around to exploring the CD-ROM.

In the publisher's preface to the book there is this explanatory content:

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The author has spent many years researching and writing this book. However, because the book describes events, meetings, and conversations at which the author was not present, he must of necessity rely on the reports of others.

In actuality there is no such thing as an objective biography. In every case the life and events and experiences of the person being profiled are funneled through the eyes of the biographer, who by the very nature of what he chooses to include creates a slant to the biography. This is to be expected both by a publisher and a reader. In this case, the publisher and the biographer do not agree on the interpretations or weight of importance given to a number of events, or the choices of characterization of some of the people. The author and the publisher have had open and energetic discussions on these issues, and there has been some give and take in the editorial process. The resulting book reflects a compromise between the two points of view. Some readers may wish that the result sometimes was different, but even they can greatly benefit from the deeper understanding this book will give them of the ministry of Spencer W. Kimball as president of the Church.

In his own preface to the book, Kimball writes candidly:

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Despite my personal access to President Kimball, I was never an insider in Church affairs. After my father became President, my interaction with him rarely related to Church administration or doctrine. He never discussed confidential matters with me or with any other family member. One of my mother's longstanding complaints was that "he never tells me anything." I did not deal with my parents extensively as information sources. I did not think it my place to ask questions or give advice on Church administration (although of course on occasion I did both). My father was never as comfortable debating doctrine or policy as I was, and his sensibilities influenced our choice of conversational subjects. My mother had fewer topics that she felt were beyond discussion, so in my younger years she was the one with whom I argued to shape my understanding. Despite her occasional exasperation at my challenges, she allowed me to test my views with her. Psychologically I am more like my mother than my father.

As I viewed the recorded interview conducted by Dehlin, I was surprised to learn (as was Dehlin himself) that Edward Kimball had scarcely any personal interaction with any of the General Authorities with whom his father worked regularly.

Earlier in the preface, he wrote:

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When people reported to me conversations as they remembered them, I have frequently used the dialogue for its dramatic value, although I recognize that, unless the informant recorded the event promptly, the language imputed to Spencer is at best approximate. The most accurate picture comes from the sum of the recollections, and no one anecdote should be relied on too heavily.

If there is a point to be made from all this, perhaps it is that the sequel biography, Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball, while being an excellent specimen of historical research and writing and biographical literature, is maybe not the insider's view that some might expect it to be.

Edited November 23, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[Bob Crockett]

I just loved the guy.  He was my law professor.  I contributed a small part to his second book about President Kimball, a memory shared by my grandfather who opened up the Central America Mission with then-Elder Kimball.   Elder Kimball told my grandfather that the waiter serving them in a restaurant would be the first Melchizedek Priesthood holder in Guatemala.  My grandfather, President Gordon Romney, moved heaven and earth to make it so.  For a time it didn't look good, as many people were joining the Church and this fellow wasn't interested.  Unbeknownst to my grandfather President Kimball had been corresponding monthly with the waiter.  

Edited November 23, 2016 by Bob Crockett