Charlotte Observer: Will There Be a 'Next Billy Graham?'
May 8, 2017
The fame that Charlotte-born religious leader Billy Graham garnered over the course of his long career was exceptional. Now 98 years old and living in his mountain home in Montreat, as recently as 2016 Graham was named one of the 10 men most admired by Americans–for the 60th time. In an increasingly fragmented world, with Graham off the pulpit and a rapidly changing media landscape, Charlotte Observer writer Tim Funk sought to answer the questions, "will there be another Billy Graham?" and if so, "who will it be?"
Funk spoke with 51 Religion Professor Anne Blue Wills, who is writing a book about Graham’s wife, Ruth Bell Graham. She gave insight into the powerful couple and their rise to national prominence.
“They captured an ideal and an aspiration–reflecting what many people hoped to be, and presenting what Christian parenthood and marriage could be for mid-(20th) century America,” Wills said.
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