Life of Orson F. Whitney (Hardback)

Dennis B. Horne draws on Orson F. Whitney's extensive diaries and unpublished autobiographical writings to tell the surprising life story of a gifted Latter-day Saint poet, historian, bishop, and Apostle. From his youthful conversion and missionary miracles to his troubling flirtation with reincarnation doctrine, financial struggles, and painful road to the apostleship, this candid biography reveals both the greatness and the humanity of one of early Utah's most eloquent Church figures.

• The candid diary-based story of an Apostle who privately embraced a false doctrine for nearly two decades before his humbling reformation and call to the Twelve.
• Reveals the true source of Elder Whitney's beloved teaching on the salvation of wayward children—his own alcoholic son Race.
• A gifted poet and orator who rubbed shoulders with prophets while wrestling with secret doubts, financial ruin, and forbidden love.
• Draws on 35 volumes of personal diaries—much of it never before examined—to tell the rest of the story Whitney himself glossed over.

“Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold.”

Perfect for a Latter-day Saint reader interested in Church history and the candid, documented life stories of early Apostles and their spiritual and personal struggles.