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The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair PDF

398 Pages·2003·1.31 MB·English
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THE ATHEIST BRYAN F. LE BEAU THE ATHEIST Madalyn Murray O’Hair a New York University Press • New York and London NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS New York and London © 2003 by New York University All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data LeBeau, Bryan F. The atheist : Madalyn Murray O’Hair / Bryan F. LeBeau. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8147-5171-7 (alk. paper) 1. O’Hair, Madalyn Murray. 2. Atheists—United States— Biography. I Title. BL2790.038 L43 2003 211'.8'092—dc21 2002012034 New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Freedom of Religion and the Separation of Church and State Contents Acknowledgments ix/ Introduction 1/ 1 Out of Obscurity 19/ 2 Murray v. Curlett 57/ 3 “The Most Hated Woman in America” 94/ 4 “The Atheist” 130/ 5 “Why I Am an Atheist” 170/ 6 Articulating the Atheist Position 210/ 7 O’Hair’s Prominence Recedes 244/ 8 O’Hair Retires 278/ Epilogue: The Strange Disappearance / of Madalyn Murray O’Hair 307/ Notes 323/ Index 369/ About the Author 387/ All illustrations appear as an insert following page 198. Acknowledgments Many more people were involved in the writing of this book than I can mention by name. Nevertheless, I am indebted to all of them. Several in- dividuals provided valuable insights and information gleaned from their personal knowledge of Madalyn Murray O’Hair. At the request of many of them, I will respect their privacy and anonymity. I would like to acknowledge two individuals whose assistance was very helpful in my research: Chuck Lindell, reporter for the Austin American-Statesman; and Jimmy Nassour, who provided access to O’Hair’s diaries and showed warm hospitality during my visit to his of- fice to read them. From the start of this project, I received considerable support from the editors of New York University Press. Niko Pfund accepted my prospectus and offered good initial advice. Jennifer Hammer took over the project early on and saw it through to completion. I would like to thank the reference librarians of Creighton Univer- sity’s Reinert Alumni Library. In particular, I want to offer my contin- ued gratitude to Chris Le Beau for her highly professional research as- sistance. Finally, I want to recognize David Kosalka’s valued assistance and Julie Fox’s many hours of labor in preparing the manuscript for publi- cation. As anyone who has engaged in such a project can appreciate, this book would not have been possible without the help of all of these people, and others. ix

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In 1964, Life magazine called Madalyn Murray O’Hair “the most hated woman in America.” Another critic described her as “rude, impertinent, blasphemous, a destroyer not only of beliefs but of esteemed values.”In this first full-length biography, Bryan F. Le Beau offers a penetrating assessm
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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.