The Mormon History Association conference was remarkable. I am offering here a bit from LaJean Carruth's paper which quoted Orson Pratt, with her permission. LaJean did the laborious task of deciphering the shorthand comprising Pratt's words. I find it refreshing to see Pratt's anti-slavery sentiments at a time when the issue was so volatile, and soon before Governor Brigham Young would offer his "An Act in Relation to Service", which led to Utah being considered a slave-holding territory. … [Read more...]

This is yet another guest post by my brother, Dell Blair. His writing is too good for me not to share. I remember the day of his great tricycle adventure. I remember the devastated look on my young mother's face. I remember some men talking about "dragging the canal." But Dell remembers it from his unique perspective, and tells about it magnificently.Dell Blair: Mother's day May 10, 2014 at 6:11pmMom extended her index finger for me to hold and walked me to church on Easter … [Read more...]

I don’t understand how these little miracles happen. I have had some jaw-dropping right time/right place miracles, but more often the little ones—which I might miss if I weren’t committed to noticing them.A couple of months ago, I met a lovely redheaded woman—age 27—in the local gym’s hot tub. Her smile was magnificent. I thanked her for being a redhead, something I say to most redheads because there are too few of us and we need to appreciate one another. Somewhere in the conversation, I … [Read more...]