From Deseret News archives:
LDS Pres. Hinckley gentle, unpretentious
To those who know him well, the moment is pure President Hinckley, a man revered by his followers as a prophet of God and a third-generation Mormon who became the 15th president of the church in 1995.
"It shows how real he is," said President Hinckley biographer Sheri Dew, who is president of Deseret Book, a church-owned publishing house. "There are no pretenses with him. What you see is what you get."
President Hinckley has spent 70 years working for the church one of the world's fastest-growing religions helping to shape everything from its public face to the development of missionary programs. His charisma and kindness routinely disarm skeptics.
CNN talk show host Larry King, who interviewed President Hinckley in 1998, is equally enamored but is critical of the church for being slow to embrace racial equality and wrong to denounce homosexuality.
Nor does King, a self-described agnostic, believe President Hinckley could be a prophet.
"I can't conceive that God talks to him, if there is a God," said King, whose wife Shawn is Mormon. "But I can't disparage him in any way. I like being around him. You feel good around him. I hope he lives a long time."
President Hinckley "likes to talk about his age. He likes to say, 'I'm the last leaf on the tree and the wind is blowing,' " said Dew, who spent two years working on the biography. "But he doesn't act like he's 95."
This year alone, he visited Africa, Russia, Iceland, Korea, Taiwan, India and Western Europe the most traveled president in church history. Church insiders say he meets daily with leadership and takes an active role in church programs, always looking for innovative ways to solve problems or make improvements.
Recent comments
I saw this article while I was on my mission. Several months later...
Jason Secrest | June 20, 2008 at 4:18 p.m.
he was a graet man everyone will miss him.
Jared Thompson | Jan. 28, 2008 at 7:29 p.m.
I believe he is the most significant president
the church will ever...
sherry callister | Jan. 28, 2008 at 1:30 p.m.
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