Much Ado About Mormons

by Rick Walton

Has any religious community been the subject of more curiosity, controversy, or misunderstanding than the Latter-day Saints? From the time pioneers settled the Salt Lake valley, Mormon culture has drawn the public eye and colored the public record—for better or for worse. This landmark volume explores nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century Mormon society through the perspectives of journalists, novelists, travel writers, presidents, and other well-known public figures, including such varied people as Susan B. Anthony, Buffalo Bill Cody, Mark Twain, Leo Tolstoy, Vincent Price, Will Rogers, Angela Lansbury, Walter Cronkite, Margaret Thatcher, President John F. Kennedy, and dozens more. Some of the accounts are humorous, some flattering, some exaggerated, some insightful. Arranged chronologically, this wide spectrum of viewpoints illustrates a changing public awareness of the Latter-day Saints; taken together, they offer a captivating view of a peculiar people throughout their history.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Born and raised in Utah, Walton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He served as a missionary to Brazil from 1976 to 1978, soon after he graduated from high school. Later, at Brigham Young University, he became president of the Brazil Club. In 1980, he graduated from Brigham Young with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a minor in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil.

Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.

Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.

Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.

Reviews

[Synthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting a lot from this book because some reviews claimed that it was too much fluff, not enough meat, and that the entries were too short and simple. But I really liked it - maybe because I wasn't expecting too much. It has many little blurbs from famous non-Mormons about their visits with or impressions of Mormons. I found them quite interesting, including the short ones, but there are also some longer ones with more "meat" to them.

I'll quote two of the short ones:
Angela Lansbury - when performing with the Tabernacle Choir.
The spirit of this place is so evident. It is all enveloping. It's all around me. I feel buoyed up by it. This has een one of the things I felt very strongly about being here. I didn't realize that I was going to be hit by this extraordinary spirit. I haven't experienced this before. It's quite unique, people doing something for the love of it, not for the almighty [dollar], but just for the love of doing it, of joining together, expressing their sense of feelings about life and all of the qualities that are inherent to the Mormon Church. This is something that is all totally new to me. I had never been exposed to it, and I didn't understand what it was about. But I am really fascinated by it.

Walter Cronkite
I hope that somewhere, Mom and Dad are proud that little Walter is performing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I have never been a religious person in the conventional sense, but I have felt nearer to my God the past couple of days than ever before.

[Tayler Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was basically a compilation of what different famous people throughout history have said or written about Mormons and Utah. It was really interesting to see what some of the early US Presidents thought, as well as people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Buffalo Bill, and present-day Presidents. Many had good things to say about either the beauty of Utah, how clean/organized/well-set-up Salt Lake City was, the kindess and charity of the Mormon people, and how happy and peaceful we always seem. It was quite interesting to read!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun, light-hearted look at what some famous non-Mormons have said over the years about the Mormons!

[Etta Mcquade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting.

[Juergen John Roscher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was given to me as a Christmas gift from my parents. They know that a gift of a book is a highly treasured gift for me. I had seen this book in bookstores but never thought to purchase for myself. I read the book hoping to understand how non-Mormons viewed Mormons since I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

This book has short stories and quotes from famous people about the Mormons (thus the name “Much Ado About Mormons”) or their experiences with Mormons. Quotes were from Presidents of the United States like John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, LBJ, JFK, and Richard Nixon; entertainers such as Buffalo Bill Cody, P. T. Barnum, Cecil B. DeMille, Vincent Price, and Angela Landsbury; writers like Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Willa Cather, and Saul Bellows; and other celebrities such as Mike Wallace, Walter Cronkrite, Norman Vincent Peale, Maria von Trapp and Paul Harvey.

I really enjoyed the comments from individuals in the 19th century about the Mormons. Many of them had heard so many horrific stories about the Mormons and were pleasantly surprised by the quality and faith of the Mormons. Also, they did not seem to be so politically correct as I found many of the 20th century individuals. I felt many in the 20th century were afraid to say what they would like to say about the Mormons because they did not want to offend.

The editor seemed to focus on individuals that said positive things about the Mormons. As any Mormon knows there are far more negative things said about Mormons and their beliefs. I think the book would have been better if some of less than flattering statements about Mormons would have been included. Mark Twain had a quote about how Mormon men should be revered and respected for giving their many ugly wives a husband because no other man would have married them; quotes like Twain’s would have given a better overview of the feeling of many about the Mormons.

I would recommend this book to those who want to better understand what the World has thought of the Mormons. You will not find many negative comments. Members of the Mormon faith will better understand many positive experiences that famous individuals have had with the Mormon Church and its members.

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got an unhealthy fascination with what people outside of my faith think about it, so despite the cheesy title and low expectations (it is marketed to Mormons and included lots of quotes by politicians--hard to trust those as being totally sincere), I really enjoyed it. Reading the quotes chronologically gave me a new perspective on Church history. Most of these people had very bad opinions of the Mormons until they actually met some or visited Salt Lake City, and then their tune changed.

The writers were particularly fair, given all the rumors swirly about the Church at the time. I was particularly impressed with John Greenleaf Whittier's comments on why so many people joined the Church, Emerson's comment about Salt Lake being a respite for westward travelers on a weary journey, and John Muir's quotes about the Mormon children. Twain's quotes were fun, but I had read them before. Angela Lansbury was very complimentary, but you would expect that since she sang with the choir. The quotes from Dickens and Cecil B. DeMille about brought me to tears. I think my favorite, though, was from the former President of Taiwan, who complimented the missionaries because they "promote energy conservation by using bicycles as their main mode of transport." I did wonder why he left out the famous Tolstoy quotes until I remembered that they were 2nd hand, and the book included only journal entries, letters, speeches and the like.

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read for me. The premise is to record (in chronological order) what famous (and non-Mormon) men and women have thought about the Church over the years. It was interesting to read what such people as Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Willa Cather, and even President Kennedy have had to say about the Mormons. Some not so flattering, but mostly favorable opinions emerged. I especially loved the chapter about Charles Dickens, who was highly impressed by certain British Mormons aboard a ship he was observing; he called these men and women, who were ready to leave everything for their newfound faith, "remarkable". (Although, he also said they were emigrating under "happy delusions"...ah, even Charles Dickens wasn't perfect.) ;}

[Danae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough. Particularly the early parts-- a visit to Utah seems to have been essential to any good tourist/thrill seeker, and Brigham Young seems to have made time to meet with all of them. The fact that every one of the people quoted in this book had essentially nice things to say about the Mormons makes me suspect that there are a collection of not-nice quotes out there somewhere, too. Nothing terribly shocking, but some famous people I am slightly surprised ever heard of Mormons at all.

[Jamie Hatch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really interesting and for the most part I enjoyed it. Near the end I started to skim over the more recent politicians quotes, they seemed pretty generic in the positive. Obviously didn't want to offend anybody. This collection on a whole was pretty positive, and I'm pretty sure that's not an accurate representation throughout history. My favorite part were the voices: Dickens was just as wordy as ever and Cecil B Demile was just so spot on. It made me want to read bios of several of the famous people quoted.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun and interesting read. Being a Latter Day Saint- it is fun to see what thoughts and impressions famous people have about SLC and Mormons (LDS). My favorites included Cecil B. DeMille, Angela Lansbury, and Sharon Osbourne. This is not a religious read, edited by Rick Walton to entertain and uplift readers.

[Tenille · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for history lovers. I didn't know alot of the people in the book..... but most of what they had to say was really good. Alot of the Presidents of the US said something to the fact that if all the people could live like the mormons, we'd be a better people.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. It basically is composed of various famous people and their thoughts on Utah and the Mormons. Some of the people did not approve of the religion, but could not deny the happiness of the people and the cleanliness of the cities.

[Debora Baird · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to read what people have said about us. However, there were so many typos that it was annoying. A pox on the editor.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this at a Christmas book exchange and it was mildly interesting to read what various famous people have said about the church over the years. Not terribly earth-shaking.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading through it. It's not an in depth look at anything, but it was fun to see a compilation of things that have been said.