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Defending Zion: The California Mormon Newspaper War of 1856-57 (DVD)

Roger R. & Helen Ekins, Mesa, Arizona: The Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research (FAIR), 2003, DVD.

During the early years of Mormons in Utah, many newspapers throughout the country wrote scathing editorials about the Latter-day Saints. This presentation recounts some of these nasty editorials as well as the rebuttals written by George Q. Cannon.

The Ekins give what could best be called a performance in which they take sides in the California Mormon Newspaper War of 1856 and 1857. The polemics leveled at the Church by the editor of a California newspaper was not only howlingly funny to the audience, but the presentation served to show that little has changed since then.

Roger Robin Ekins graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Utah in 1970 with an Honors Baccalaureate of Arts in English and in 1972 with a Master's in Creative Writing. In 1976 he earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education from the Union Graduate School (Union Institute and University). Dr. Ekins has served in a series of administrative and teaching positions. These include Director of the Open Community Learning Center and Assistant Professor of English at Staten Island Community College, City University of New York; Dean of Student life and Faculty Fellow in English and Education at Johnston College, University of Redlands; Dean of Student Development and Director of the Honors Program at the University of Maine at Augusta; and Dean of Instruction at Butte College in Oroville, California, where he is currently chair of the Honors Program and teaches literature, writing and the history of ideas.

A President Emeritus of the California Humanities Association, which awarded him the Charles D. Perlee Award, Ekins serves on the National Honors Advisory Committee of the University of Utah and on the editorial board of his local newspaper, the Paradise Post. His previous publications include poetry, fiction, and essays. Defending Zion marks his first book-length venture as well as his first publication in Mormon Studies, long a topic of deep interest.

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Title: Defending Zion: The California Mormon Newspaper War of 1856-57 (DVD)

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