Now there are two names you don’t typically see in the same headline. George Beverly Shea and Jon Foreman are both Christians who sing and travel and make recordings. Beyond that they would appear to have little in common.
Their fans are of two widely separated generations who may scarcely be aware of the other artist’s existence. But one other dubious honor they both share. They both disappointed me.
One of the jobs of a journalist is to confirm information. At different times I had received information about both of them that offered a unique link to my work here in Madison, so I set about confirming the information, to see if there was a story there.
George Beverly Shea
In 2004 a news item had reported that a recently deceased Madison civic leader, Elizabeth Park, had once worked for George Beverly Shea writing copy for his radio program. I had seen him just a few months earlier at the National Religious Broadcasters convention so I decided to see if I could find out anything more about the connection.
Arrangements were made for a phone interview and I reached Shea at his home in Montreat, North Carolina, which is not far from the home of evangelist Billy Graham, with whom he has worked for a half century. Alas, he had no remembrance of Elizabeth Park. It wasn’t too surprising. Shea was 95 years old at the time (now 101). Elizabeth Parks’ supporting role in a 1930’s radio program may not have left as much of an impression with the headliner of the show as it did with her.
George Beverly Shea was very gracious during the interview. We had a nice chat and I learned that he was a big fan of the musical instrument collection at the House on the Rock, near Spring Green. “I spent 3 hours going through it,” he told me.
Jon Foreman
In the case of Jon Foreman, the lead singer and guitarist for Switchfoot, I had received information that he may have been involved in the San Diego campus ministry of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. InterVarsity is my employer and has its national office here in Madison.
Once again arrangements were made for a phone interview and I reached him earlier this year, also in North Carolina. He was making an appearance in Charlotte.
And again, the answer wasn’t quite what I expected to hear about involvement with InterVarsity at the University of California-San Diego. “I’m a big fan of the folks that run it down there,” he told me. Some were actually friends of his, but he didn’t go beyond that.
We had a short conversation about a few other topics, such as the civil rights leader John Perkins and the legendary Joan of Arc. He has been writing a column for the Huffington Post, and had recently written about Joan. “I love writing,” he said. “You can express some things better in prose than you can in a three minute pop song. It’s a unique opportunity to tackle some bigger subjects that I’ve been thinking about.”
Both men were very cordial and seemed quite humble for being well-known personalities. I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with them.
Gwen Wong
As journalists we have to risk a few strike-outs in order to hit some home runs. I did hit what was for me a home run recently in the story of Gwen Wong, a pioneering InterVarsity staff member of a half-century ago.
Someone had written inquiring about her career in post-World War II women’s professional softball in Chicago, something about which we were unaware. Gwen is now retired and living in southern California. Eventually we were able to contact her and confirm the story, an interesting sidelight in her ministry career, which was dedicated to sharing the gospel with students. Her story was recently posted on InterVarsity’s website.
Life is full of surprises. Some are disappointments, others are better than we could have imagined. Each one of these three — George Beverly Shea, Jon Foreman, and Gwen Wong — has faced challenges and remained faithful. I am glad to have their example to follow.