• Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Events
  • Photo Gallery
  • Blog
  • Contact

A Joyful Noise

LA Times

Thankful Thursday: Digital Archivists and Classified Ads

April 6, 2017 by Melodye Shore

Before Twitter, Instagram and Facebook existed, faith-healing evangelists used to announce their comings and goings in the local newspapers. And now, thanks to the digital archivists who preserved those records, I’m able to retrace my father’s footsteps along the Sawdust Trail.

Newspapers were king at the time–king-makers, too, as my father’s college classmate, Billy Graham, would later attest. Via the Los Angeles Times:

Evangelist Billy Graham recalls in his new book the pivotal point in his young ministry when, during a 1949 Los Angeles crusade, a two-word directive from publisher William Randolph Hearst to “puff Graham” made him an instant celebrity nationwide.

The sudden front-page coverage showered on Graham by Hearst newspapers in mid-October (after three weeks of little notice) was quickly matched by other newspapers and newsmagazines–literally a media circus descending on his rallies under a big tent.

My father never achieved Graham’s status, of course, but his promo pieces were printed alongside the greats. It’s like scrolling through a social media feed, but more meaningful, somehow.

 

Posted in: Billy Graham, classified ads, Digital Archives, family archives, LA Times, Los Angeles Times, newspaper, Pentecostal Preacher, Pentecostal Tent Revivals, revival meetings, sawdust trail, tent revival, Thankful Thursday, writing Tagged: billy graham, can i get a witness, classified ads, family archives, memoir writing, tent revival, thankful thursday

My piece about the KKK Rally in Anaheim, published in today’s LA Times

March 9, 2016 by Melodye Shore

So this happened…!

Screen Shot 2016-03-09 at 9.01.58 AM

Breaking news, just then shared via Twitter

While the event itself was deeply unsettling, I am grateful for the opportunity to give voice to my experiences, and to widen the conversation.

Excerpt: The best way to confront a hate group that has increasingly made its presence known in Anaheim is difficult to determine. Some people prefer not to give the KKK the satisfaction of receiving any attention at all. I understand that, but my bigger fear is that if we ignore the KKK, we allow racism the opportunity to fester in the dark.

CdIrsjZXEAEqSwB

Image via LA Times’ Twitter feed

I first wrote about the experience here (KKK Rally in Anaheim: Where were the helpers?) and then posted a follow-up blog (What Was I Thinking?). But this LA Times editorial is edgier. It also goes deeper.

Wondering: What would you have done, in similar circumstances? After you’ve read the complete editorial, I invite you to respond via Twitter or Facebook, or drop a comment on this blog.

Posted in: Anaheim, counter-protesters, grace, KKK Rally, LA Times, newspaper, Orange County California, Published Pieces Tagged: Anaheim, kkk rally, LA TImes, Opinion piece, publications, publishing

Topics

ab 2165 beach billy graham birds can i get a witness christmas dear bully family archives flowers freckles garden gardening harbor seals hope hummingbird hummingbird hatchlings hummingbird nest 2015 hummingbirds jeannine atkins joy joyful noise laguna beach land of medicine buddha memoir memoir writing monarch butterfly nana nancy drew new year's eve ocean orange county peace photography poetry rosa resolution rose sara seals tent revival thankful thursday thanksgiving the author's tent throwback thursday wordless wednesday writing

Recent Posts

  • My uncouth neighbors: A murder of crows
  • Smitten with Kittens, by Florence and Wendell Minor
  • Happy Valentine’s Day!
  • Happy New Year, 2022
  • The Badlands
  • TINY BIRD: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey
  • The welcome respite of rain

Archives

Copyright © 2023 .

Omega WordPress Theme by ThemeHall