The On The Bookshelf Podcast

A new look at the religious life of Richard Nixon and his search for salvation

“One Lost Soul: Richard Nixon’s Search for Salvation” by Daniel Silliman, from the Library of Religious Biography series from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

“Richard Nixon was a lost soul searching for the love of God. He wanted to be loved by God but couldn’t figure out how. He sought but could not find assurance from the Creator that he was okay, his existence good, or at least worthwhile.  Or at least tolerable.” When he got assurance from thers, he couldn’t believe it. He would be “left alone with his need, this ache, his unshakable feelings that he could never do enough. This is the fundamental drama underneath Nixon’s successes and scandals, his turbulent political career, history-changing victories, and ultimate disgrace. He was trying to be loved by God.”

Nixon had his own personal losses as a young man, losing an older brother and a younger brother to TB. He volunteered for the US Navy in WWII,  determined to get close to the action. He would serve in the South Pacific as a very organized supply & logistics officer.

He began fighting reporters when he championed ex-Communist whistle-blower Whitaker Chambers in 1948. The new member of HUAC realized that the witty and popular political operative in the US State Department, Alger Hiss, was lying. Nixon built the case against Hiss, who was “polished, prestigious, beloved by the best people” but a Communist agent. Hiss would be convicted of perjury and sentenced to prison, yet people were angry at Nixon!!

When Nixon ran for VP in 1952, an election account was set up by friends and supporters for him, perfectly legal. But the reporters accused him of being a corrupt. The smear label a defeated political opponent laid on him became a hated sobriquet his entire life: “Tricky Dick”. Nixon felt his only hope to save his candidacy was to buy time on TV to explain the situation, in what became known as his “Checkers” speech. It worked. Eisenhower kept him on the ticket, and they served together very well for two terms.

Yet Richard Nixon would lose the closest race in US history in 1960 to his old Senate friend, JFK. And two years he lost the race for governor of his native California. He was devastated. Over time, he was determined to prove he wasn’t a loser, so he ran again in 1968 and won. His first term was a huge triumph; after a landslide victory, his second term turned bitter with Watergate.

When he was President, he organized and oversaw an elaborate worship service every Sunday in the White House. In that respect, he was the most religious president ever. The services went away in his second term, when the spectre of Watergate began demolishing Nixon’s carefully-constructed control.

Richard Nixon was a close friend to two of America’s most popular religious leaders of the mid to late 20^th century: Norman Vincent Peale and Billy Graham. They constantly urged him to become more involved in religion, to seek God’s grace and forgiveness, but Nixon always ignored their advice. Even in his most broken-hearted state, Nixon would not turn to God. Instead, he re-brandied himself as an elder statesman. But his heart still ached for God.

 

Burt Kearns brings a fresh take on Shemp Howard of the 3 Stooges

SHEMP! The Biography of The Three Stooges' Shemp Howard, The Face of Film Comedy

The definitive biography of the great Shemp Howard, an original member of the Three Stooges, and one of Hollywood's most influential actors that Kirkus Reviews calls an "illuminating. reworking of the Stooges mythology" and Patton Oswalt praises as "the only book you will ever need to read about anything. Burn all the other books - there is ONLY SHEMP!"

Shemp Howard not only had one of the most distinctive faces of the twentieth century, but was also one of its most accomplished, influential comic actors and showbiz personalities. Along with his brother Moe and comedy violinist Larry Fine, Shemp was an original member of the comedy team that became known as the Three Stooges before he quit and set off on his own in 1932.

SHEMP! shows how he made an even greater mark in a successful and until now largely unexplored career in more than a hundred movie shorts and features. He appeared in comedies, dramas, mysteries, Westerns, and musicals alongside the biggest stars of the Golden Age, including W.C. Fields, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, William Powell, Lon Chaney, Jr., Myrna Loy, and the team of Abbott & Costello. Author Burt Kearns challenges the "official" version of Three Stooges history that's been repeated for decades, shattering myths while uncovering the surprising and often troubling facts behind the man's unlikely story: how the child of Jewish immigrants, supposedly racked by debilitating phobias, could conquer show business; the behind-the-scenes machinations that pushed him to return to the team; and the circumstances surrounding his untimely death.

Through interviews with fans, family members, experts, filmmakers, and celebrities, SHEMP! unearths treasures in Shemp's solo work, examines the "cult of Shemp" that thrives today, and confirms Shemp Howard's deserved place in cinematic history.

Burt Kearns is an author, journalist, and film and television producer, dubbed by Vanity Fair as "a show business and pop culture savant." His books include Marlon Brando: Hollywood Rebel, Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real Life Tough Guy,The Show Won't Go On, and the memoir, Tabloid Baby. His screenwork includes The Seventh Python, Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, and Kardashian: The Man Who Saved O.J. Simpson. He also cowrote and produced, along with Academy Award winner Albert S. Ruddy, the Burt Reynolds comedy movie, Cloud 9. He lives in Los Angeles.

 

Heather Pringle wth new research on the Northwomen (Viking women)

“The Northwomen: Untold Stories from the Other Half of the Viking World” by Heather Pringle (National Geographic Partners LLC)

We’ve all seen the iconic Viking uber-male: tall, muscular, armed to the teeth, long red or blonde hair blowing beneath a horned helmet as he sails off to raid and pillage. We kind of assume his beautiful wife will take care of the kids while she patiently awaits his return with plunder and honor.

For a long time, archaeology seemed to bear out that image of the Viking: burials in longships, plenty of weaponry left around the warrior’s body, and the more important the person the more stuff that was left or sacrificed to accompany him to Valhalla. But with all kinds of new technology and institutes to interpret the increasing number of Viking burials, a startlingly new picture is emerging: the women were much more equal and valued than previously believed.

This book presents the latest in archaeology and its interpretation which presents a much more nuanced and realistic view of the Northwoman. Life was much less technological, but no less perilous; travel was more prevalent, and trading more widespread; exploration was not just for bold men but bold women as well.

We have learned that the women of medieval Scandinavia wove magnificent cloaks, cozy water-proof blankets, massive tear-resistant sails, and trade goods as well. They could travel with their husbands on trade-routes through the Keivan Rus all the way to Constantinople, the eastern capital of the Roman Empire (now called the “Byzantine”, although they apparently never thought of themselves that way.)

The Northwomen worked with metal to create exquisite trade items of jewelry and decorative ornamentation for clothes. These good were found all over Europe in archaeological digs as well as in the North countries.

They traveled across vast distances westward to settle first in Iceland, then in Greenland (which was going through a warmer time 1100 years ago) and even to Newfoundland (which they called “Vinland” due to the grapes they found apparently in St. Lawrence Gulf.) This made them the first Europeans to discover America almost half a millennia before Christopher Columbus! Along every voyage were women who cooked and sewed and cared for the children.

It is a fascinating account of the latest research on the women who stood beside (and sometimes even fought beside) the men of the North. We meet some of the most outstanding Northwomen in this beautiful book.

 

Robert Hutton on Dudley Clark and the great WWII weapon of Deception

“The Illusionist: The True Story of the Man Who Fooled Hitler” by Robert Hutton (Pegasus Books)

A great magician is a polished illusionist, who practices and plans so that nothing is left to chance.

During WWII, the British military had an extraordinary and unique officer. Dudley Clarke reveled in creating an illusion that fooled the enemy leaders into making not just any choice but the wrong one Clarke wanted them to make. He developed a new kind of warfare, a new weapon: deception. Clarke would prove to be the master of it, brilliant and effective. The components of his new weapon: rumor, stagecraft, a sense of fun, all aimed first at Erwin Rommel, Hitler’s greatest general, and later against Adolph Hitler himself.

Clarke was originally a recruiter and trainer of another new style of fighting a war: the commando! He looked for men who were intelligent, self-reliant, and independent, who had the additional quality of “dash”. One of the first was movie star David Niven. Clarke’s concept was small independent units carrying out constant small attacks that did damage far beyond their unit size.

However, his unique talents were requested personally by the commander-in-chief of forces in the Middle East. Clarke headed to one of his favorite cities, Cairo, Egypt. The war in East Africa was Mussolini’s major thrust; he was hoping to capture the Suez Canal to sever the British shortest links to her allies, help the Italians control the Mediterranean Sea, and open the way to the rich oil fields of the Middle East. It would last three years before the Axis armies were finally beaten in North Africa. Clarke’s expertise would convince Rommel that the British had a much larger force of tanks and men available, from Greece to Crete to Egypt. How he managed to do so is part of the brilliant aspect of military deception. Clark developed connections with those known to be foreign agents, journalists, and government officials who leaked information to the enemy.

Then he created the plan: a situation that he wanted the enemy to imagine was the logical result of the subtle clues Clarke would feed to those he trusted (and those he knew would betray him). Next he put these small deceptions into play, by changing the patches on British uniforms to suggest that a new larger unit was arriving, which he could also hint by sending rumors that transportation needs would increase due to new troop movements. Get the idea? He scattered these tidbits of information where he knew they would get back to General Rommel (and later, Hitler himself). They would reinforce what they expected the Allies to do, or the fear of what the Allies would do, and react accordingly. So massive troop movement would occur to block Allied troops that didn’t exist. Sometimes they created dummy tanks and trucks to fool recon flights.

Take a peek into the creative mind of one of the heroes of WWII who nobody remembers.

Ray Comfort shares lessons learned in 50 years of Open-Air Preaching

“The great benefit of open-air preaching is that we get so
many newcomers to hear the gospel who otherwise

would never hear it.”
~ Charles Spurgeon

In the midst of a godless culture, Paul did what was
necessary to reach the masses with the message of
everlasting life: he reasoned about Jesus “in the marketplace
daily with those who happened to be there” (Acts 17:17) and
he found a hill to preach on.
We too are living in the midst of a godless society, and those
in the streets desperately need to hear God’s Word. If we are
serious about reaching this dying world, let us emulate Jesus
and the apostles and preach where sinners gather. In thirty
minutes, a good open-air preacher can reach more unsaved
people than the average church does in a year.
If you’re ready for something more exhilarating than
skydiving, arguably more scary, and infinitely more
productive, try peaching the gospel in public.
For more than fifty years Ray Comfort has preached the
gospel in the open air and witnessed one-to-one to
thousands. During those years he has learned certain biblical
principles that make reaching the lost so much easier.

Ray Comfort is the Founder and CEO of LivingWaters.com and the bestselling author of more than 100 books.

He cohosts the award-winning television program “Way of the Master,” airing in 190 countries, and is the Executive Producer of “180,” “Evolution vs. God,” “Audacity,” and other films—which have been seen by millions.