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Herndon, Booton, 1915-

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1915

Booton Herndon, a native of Charlottesville, Virginia and a non-Adventist, wrote two books related to Adventism. At the end of 1950s the MacGraw Hill Book Company, Inc. asked him to write on the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a work with many editions titled, The Seventh Day: The Story of the Seventh-day Adventists. Then, in 1966 the Pacific Press asked him to write the story of Desmond T. Doss. After agreement and researching on the topic, it was published with the title, The Unlikeliest Hero, in 1967.

To write the story of Desmond Doss, Booton Herndon first studied voluminous records of the war in the Pacific, including a lengthy magazine article he himself had written on Okinawa several years before. He also studied the history of the 77th Division, including the day by day log of the activities of the Company to which Desmond was assigned. He also talked personally with several of Desmond’s buddies in the 77th and his friends and neighbors on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Herndon spent a lot of time with Desmond Doss as well.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:

Booton Herndon (Desmond Doss) Collection

 Collection
Identifier:  Collection 248
Content Description This collection consists of Booton Herndon’s files that he compiled while researching and writing his book on Desmond Doss’ story. The donation of the collection, the correspondence between Pacific Press and Booton Herndon, the drafts of the work, and the photographs are part of this collection as well.
Dates: No dates