Ruth Graham Dead at 87

Controversial conservative mixed religion, politics

(NEWSER) - The Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and mixed evangelism with conservative social criticism, died today after collapsing in his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. He was 73. A lightning rod for controversy, Falwell once called AIDS "the wrath of a just God against homosexuals" and claimed that God is a Republican. More»

New biography reflects on Billy Graham's counsel to 8 of last 9 presidents

(NEWSER) - Billy Graham has seen US leaders laid bare, from skinny-dipping with LBJ to long walks on the beach with GWB. A new book details the ailing 88-year-old preacher’s rendezvous with presidents past, including counseling Ford to pardon Nixon and advising Hillary Clinton to look past Monica Lewinsky. Graham’s refusal to be a party booster has lent him his independent spiritual voice, Bloomberg reports. More»

Evangelist reached millions during his heyday

(AP) - Evangelist Oral Roberts, who rose from tent revivals to found a multimillion-dollar organization and an Oklahoma university bearing his name, died today at 91 of complications from pneumonia in Newport Beach, Calif. He had been hospitalized after a fall on Saturday. Roberts was a pioneer on two fronts—he helped bring spirit-filled charismatic Christianity into the mainstream and took his trademark revivals to television, a new frontier for religion. More»

Friends call NYC cops after not seeing Adam Goldstein for several days

(NEWSER) - DJ AM, who less than a year ago survived a plane crash, was found dead this afternoon in a New York apartment, TMZ reports; his real name was Adam Goldstein, and he was 36. Police, called by a friend who hadn’t seen Goldstein in several days, found drug paraphernalia at the scene after breaking down the door of the SoHo apartment. More»

(NEWSER) - Frank McCourt, the former schoolteacher who gained literary stardom by recounting his unhappy childhood in Angela's Ashes, died today in New York of skin cancer, the New York Times reports. He was 78. The Brooklyn-born author grew up in Limerick and taught in New York public schools for 30 years before writing Ashes, which dazzled critics with its simple account of poverty—and sparked anger in Ireland, where McCourt was "denounced from hill, pulpit and barstool," he said. More»