In another thread, "bearlakeposter" expressed amusement at the reaction of a TBM friend to the friend's surprise that--in the wake of Mike Wallace's death--little was being made by the media of the 1996 "60 Minutes" interview between Wallace and Gordon B. Hinckley:

http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,470263,470263#msg-470263


Anyway, the thread made me curious about what impressions may have been left with Wallace from his encounter with "Mormon greatness." So I went to Amazon to take a look at Wallace's 2005 book, "Between You and Me: A Memoir" (co-Authored by Wallace and Gary Paul Gates):

http://www.amazon.com/Between-You-Me-Memoir-82-Minute/dp/1401300294


If you click on the image of the book cover (left-hand side of page) you can do a comprehensive search of the book's contents. I searched for the following strings:

Hinckley
Hinkley (misspelling)
Mormon
"latter-day saint"
"latter day saint"

... all of which returned a GRAND TOTAL of ZERO (zilch, nothing, nada) hits. Wallace's time with Hinckley, just nine years earlier, merited not even a footnote!

Please do try to control your enthusiasm, Mr. Wallace (R.I.P).

Thanks for your continuing encouragement, Steve, and for all your contributions to RfM and to the "field" of ex-Mormonism in general!

: )

That's awesome! Thanks for the great bit of info. Very cool - -

I know for a FACT that Hinckley's devious ways contributed to the de-conversion of some people I know.

He was a weasel.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2012 03:46AM by Fetal Deity.

Mike Wallace interviewed some of the most important people on the planet. Why would he bother to remember some whacko fringe-group cult leader?

The interview was too sacred to discuss outside the holy television studio...

When people leave the church, it's often shocking to them to find out that no one cares about the church or what its members do. Most people think of the church as a small, somewhat strange and insular religion based in Utah. That's it.

The "60 Minutes" producer called and asked me to send them some background Mormon historical and doctrine material for their research purposes (this was back in the day of fax machines), so I gathered up quite a bit of info (including documentation of the LDS Church's official racist positions over time) and shipped it on to them. As far as I could tell, they used none of it, which might go to show how unseriously they took the Mormon Church.

Anyway, Wallace met our group for the sitdown interview in Salt Lake City. We were situated on low risers and everyone was given a chance to express their views.

I remember Wallace as being charming, pleasant and smiling. In short, he was a gracious host who asked relevant questions in a gentle sort of way--but he totally gave Hinckley a pass by not responding to the Hink's aw-shucks ducks and dodges with informed or persistent follow-up inquiries.

That complaint noted, I still don't think Hinckley came off all that well in the final program cut. He looked and acted way too slick 'n pat--and Wallace, unfortunately, let him pretty much get away with it.

Wallace had done better interviews, by far. His one with Hinckley did not live up to his well-earned reputation of being a relentless, truth-seeking, interrogating journalist. Guess we all have our bad days. :)



Edited 9 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2012 06:56PM by steve benson.

Had he pressed Hinckley too hard, Wallace would certainly have come off as a bully, and few people in the media (or anywhere else, for that matter) have any desire to turn public opinion against themselves.