Ed Kimball, author, historian, professor, mentor, friend of Sunstone and an all around excellent human being, passed away on November 21st, 2016.  He was 86.  Great tributes have already been written about him.  I suggest that you take a few minutes and go and read this article about him over at the Salt Lake Tribune by Peggy Fletcher Stack.

I will not attempt to memorialize Ed Kimball. The purpose of this post is to make readers aware of talks and articles by Ed Kimball that are available for your enlightenment through the Sunstone website.

In 1986 Kimball gave the closing address at the 1986 Sunstone Theological Symposium. That talk was later published in the March 1987 issue of Sunstone as “A Time of Reaching Out: The Administration of Spencer W. Kimball.” That issue is available as a free pdf download.  The audio can be streamed here. Go to the 30:00 minute mark to skip past the prayer, some musical numbers, a number of announcements and get right to Kimball’s presentation.

Ed Kimball was approached by a man named John R Whiting who wanted to tell him about his experiences with his father, Spencer W Kimball.  Ed recorded this story and edited the transcript into, “Spencer Kimball and the Service Station Guy” which was published in the June 1989 issue of Sunstone. Kimball later read this article at the 2001 Salt Lake Symposium.

In 1991 the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 issued a “warning” to Church members about attending symposiums. For several years after that no BYU professor dared to attend.  Then in 1998 BYU professors were again given the greenlight to present at Sunstone.  That year Ed Kimball returned to Sunstone and was involved in a session called “Wish I Could Find A Book To Live In:’ Books That Have Enlarged My Religious World View“.

In 2005 Ed Kimball published a book on the administrative years of SPencer W Kimball called “Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency Of Spencer W Kimball”. That year Kimball came to Sunstone to present on his book.  A Sunstone tradition of many years are sessions called “Author Meets Critic” and one such session was held for “Lengthen Your Stride“.  That year Kimball was also on the panel for “Author Meets Critic” on Greg Prince’s “David O McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism” (ignore the description, it is about another session).

And here are links to a few more Salt Lake Sunstone sessions that Ed Kimball participated in:

The 2004, “Why We Stay“.

“Twentieth-Century Mormon Leaders’ Views of Race and the LDS Priesthood Ban”

“Stanley B. Kimball: A Joyful Life”

“HOW BRIGHT DID THE SUN SHINE? Critiquing 25 Years of Sunstone”

“Food For Thought; Latter-Day Saint Writers Muse On How Food Nourishes Us – Body, Heart And Spirit”

“Laws And Orders At Winter Quarters”

Please Enjoy!