<b>Paul H. Dunn Revealed: A Private Letter in Which He Defends His Deceits</b>

Below is a never before publicly shared personal letter from exposed fabricator of fantastic faith-promoting fiction, Mormon General Authority Paul H. Dunn, written to former believing (and now ex-member) of the LDS Church, Claire Ferguson. It is shared here with her express permission.

The letter was written by Dunn the year he was outted for having manufactured stories about his supposed World War II and professional baseball exploits—tall tales that led to Dunn being forced to publicly apologize, and fade into shameful retreat from the LDS limelight. His two-age letter to Claire, typed on official Mormon Church stationary, was an attempted effort on his part to defend and rationaalize his exaggerations and falsifications. Claire provided me access to Dunn’s original letter to her, which also contained a personally inscribed P.S. from Dunn.

She explains the background of Dunn’s letter (prompted by an initial letter from her to Dunn), as follows:

'Timeline: I had a subscription to the ‘Church News’ which I would have received a week or two after it was published, approximately mid-November [1991]. I would have written to him [Dunn] a couple of weeks later, late November/early December. And he replied 18 December [1991].

'From memory, my letter to him went along the lines of the following. I've clearly forgotten some of it, as I'd never write such a short letter!'

'I felt compelled to write to you to express my thanks for all I have learnt from you and to extend my love and appreciation. You have always been my favourite General Authority and throughout my young teenage years your General Conference talks were almost the only ones I really listened to, understood and enjoyed.

'Having read your open letter to members of the Church my reaction is that, although your stories may have been less than accurate, I believe your motive was to inspire faith and bring the listener closer to the savior. May I thank you for the way you have positively influenced me and my life.

Claire then provides the text of '[h]is [Dunn’s] reply to me,' which she describes as being '[o]n personalised letterhead from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 47 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City Utah'

'’Thank you for your very kind and thoughtful letter. Your expression of love and support is greatly appreciated.

'’My open letter to members of the Church came as a response to certain allegations made by the news media over a number of months, contributed by some who are critical of me personally and would try to harm the Church. Implications from the allegations suggest that the truthfulness of my stories over the years is in question. The fact is that during approximately forty years as a teacher and speaker, I have used hundreds of illustrations from my own background and experience. The events which I have described from my own life, including my war assignments and professional minor-league baseball affiliations were actual experiences. I wish to clarify that I have never fabricated, never created fictional stories about myself. I have experienced the events I have related.

'’In the details of a small number of stories I have not been as careful as I should have been about exact accuracy. I have, on occasion, embellished a story, and a few times have put real events together which I felt at the time would make a more forceful point in teaching a principle. In two incidents, I changed the names of companions involved in order to protect their reputations. My motives have always been to teach principles and to lift people rather than to deceive or to aggrandize my own circumstances.

'’Because of those in the media who do not always report the actual facts and because such information tends to stimulate discussion and rumors, I felt that an open letter to members of the Church would be appropriate. I did and do want to apologize for any misunderstanding that has occurred as a result of such publicity and to seek forgiveness from anyone that might have been offended.

'Again I thank you for your understanding and for taking the time to share. Your sentiments have touched me deeply.

'Please remember me to your wonderful friends and associates and have a Very Merry Christmas!'

Compare Dunn’s defensive private letter above (to an individual believing Mormon Church member) against his seemingly contrite open letter (to members of the Mormon Church at large), issued only two months earlier:

"I have been accused of various activities unbecoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"I confess that I have not always been accurate in my public talks and writings. Furthermore, I have indulged in other activities inconsistent with the high and sacred office which I have held.

"For all of these I feel a deep sense of remorse, and ask forgiveness of any whom I may have offended.

"My brethren of the General Authorities, over a long period of time, have conducted in-depth investigations of the charges made against me. They have weighed the evidence. They have censured me and placed a heavy penalty upon me.

"I accept their censure and the imposed penalty, and pledge to conduct my life in such a way as to merit their confidence and full fellowship.

"In making these acknowledgements, I plead for the understanding of my brethren and sisters throughout the Church and give assurance of my determination so to live as to bring added respect to the cause I deeply love, and honor to the Lord who is my Redeemer.

('Elder Dunn Offers Apology for Errors, Admits Censure,' in 'Deseret News,' 27 October 1991, at: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/190407/ELDER-DUNN-OFFERS-APOLOGY-FOR-ERRORS-ADMITS-CENSURE.html?pg=all)

In publishing the letter, the LDS Church-owned 'Deseret News' offered its predictable pro-Mormon spin:

'In an open letter to LDS Church members, Elder Paul H. Dunn apologized Saturday for not having "always been accurate" in telling his popular war and baseball stories, and he acknowledged being disciplined for it by Church authorities . . . .

'Elder Dunn, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, asked the church's First Presidency and Council of the Twelve for the opportunity to send an open letter to church members. The letter was published in Saturday's issue of the ‘Church News.’ . . .

'Church spokesman Don LeFevre said Saturday that the nature of the penalty is ‘an internal matter, and we don't discuss such matters’ publicly.

'Elder Dunn has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. He concluded his letter by pleading for the understanding of Church members and assured them of his ‘determination so to live as to bring added respect to the cause I deeply love, and honor to the Lord who is my Redeemer.’"

Dunn died of a heart attack seven years later on 9 January 1998, at the age of 73. Virtually no mention is made in a quick, post-mortem article about his life published in the March 1998 edition of the LDS Church-owned 'Ensign' magazine. In a statement about Dunn’s life and times, the LDS First Presidency said only this:

'He was a longtime teacher and advocate of youth and served as a mission president and General Authority of the Church over a period of 34 years . . . We extend our sympathy and love to his wife, Jeanne, and family.'

The article did mention, however, that Dunn 'was named Father of the Year in 1972'

('Paul H. Dunn Passes Away,' in 'Ensign' magazine, 'News of the Church' section, March 1998, at: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1998/03/news-of-the-church?lang=eng)

What Dunn should have been named as in 1991 (the year he wrote both his whitewash letter to Claire Ferguson and his puffball apology to the Church at large) was 'Fabricator of the Year.'

I had my own experiences with those in high Mormon places who wanted to aid Dunn in whitewashing his lies--and who actually asked me to help them do it.

As to how that game was played, enter Mormon Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who tried to get me to run interference for Dunn by asking me to head off press inquiries into his bogus bio.

Several years ago, I was going through some old files and came across some recollections I had written down about a phone call I received from Hatch requesting my assistance in protecting Dunn from media scrutiny. My account of the Hatch call was originally intended as part of a presentation I gave at a Sunstone symposium shortly after leaving the Mormon Church, but because of time constraints, it was left unmentioned.

"One day [Utah Senator Orrin Hatch] called me asking a favor. [Note: Hatch’s phone call to me came in the spring of 1990, when I was then working at the "Morning News Tribune" in Tacoma WA, before returning to my previous newspaper of employment, the 'Arizona Republic' in Phoenix]. He had heard that my colleagues at the 'Arizona Republic' were investigating allegations that Elder Paul H. Dunn had manufactured claims about his war and baseball careers. He asked me to prevail on my reporter friends to kill the investigation.

"The Senator was making the request, he said, because Paul Dunn was 'a good friend' whom he wished to protect from Lynn Packer, a Mormon journalist who had made the charges, [and] whom Hatch accused of having 'an axe to grind against the Church.'

"I felt very uncomfortable and asked Senator Hatch if he had looked into the allegations against Elder Dunn to see if they were true. He admitted he had not. I told him I could not, in good conscience, interfere with the developing story. The phone conversation quickly ended, with Senator Hatch saying he might get back to me. He never did. The story, of course, later ran and Elder Dunn confessed he had, indeed, exaggerated his exploits."

The Mormon Church leadership must have known about Dunn's dubious stories long before he was finally exposed as a consummate fraud.

As an undergraduate political science major at BYU back in the 1970s, I had a poli sci professor named Ray Hillam who had edited a book, entitled, "A Time to Kill," featuring wartime episodes from the lives of Mormon soldiers in combat. It was compiled and published before Dunn was undone. I asked Hillam why, during the preparation of the book, he did not include any of Dunn's fantastic war tales.

Hillam told me that he had done some investigating into Dunn's claims, including speaking with sources inside the Church (whom he did not name), and the consensus was that the exploits were so fantastic that their credibility was highly questionable. Rather than pursue the matter further at that time, Hillam told me he just decided to drop any idea of publishing Dunn's amazing action-packed accounts.

For what it's worth, it seems highly unlikely to me that skeptical opinion of Dunn's tales had not been voiced within earshot of His Fakiness's superiors. Put more precisely, the GAs had to have known that Dunn's tales were suspicious, at best, and lies, at worst. Yet, they did nothing until the media blew the whistle on him--then quietly retired him without firing a shot.

Here is what "Sunstone" magazine reported on Lynn Packer's findings, as they eventually appeared in the "Arizona Republic":

"On 16 February 1991, 'The Arizona Republic' reported that many of Elder Paul H. Dunn’s baseball and war stories had serious factual problems. The highlights of the report were that Harold Brown did not die in Dunn’s arms as Dunn had repeatedly told audiences, but is still living in Odessa, Missouri; and that Dunn never played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

"The story was printed in newspapers across the nation and was widely discussed by the Utah Saints. Some were angry at Elder Dunn; others defended him. Interestingly, some of the strongest hostility was directed toward Lynn Packer, the reporter who uncovered the story and sold his research to the 'Republic' and to a Salt Lake television station.

"There was also a lot of finger pointing among the press as to why the Utah media sat on the story and waited for the 'Republic' to break it.

"In a statement issued at the time of the 'Republic story,' the LDS church stated that it could not confirm the allegations in the 'Republic.' It did affirm that Dunn was made an emeritus general authority for health reasons. Reporters contacted Dunn, who expressed sorrow over the pain the revelations had caused the Church and said his stories were created simply to illustrate moral points, as did Jesus’ parables . . ..

"As expected, the Mormon folk culture immediately began assuaging the tension of the event through humor. Perhaps the most common joke was about document forger Mark Hofmann making Paul Dunn Cardinals baseball cards. Other jokes placed Dunn in unlikely settings, such as catching BYU Heisman quarterback Ty Detmer’s first touchdown pass. Several individuals submitted unsolicited cartoons to 'Sunstone.' 'Sunstone' believes that this event should be confronted so as not to be forgotten and perhaps repeated. The articles we have gathered concerning the Paul Dunn episode are grouped into three general sections: (1) reprints of news accounts which reported the event, including the original 'Arizona Republic' story; (2) an edited version of the original Lynn Packer story, which he wrote for the 1989 Salt Lake 'Sunstone' symposium but did not give because 'Sunstone' felt the story needed to be put into a broader context; and (3) essays responding to the episode.

"Examples of the community effort to deal with the event through humor are interspersed throughout the articles. Although this episode is a painful one, we believe that a sympathetic yet thorough inquiry into the matter is salutory, helping us to become a stronger and more honest community."

(To read the above-mentioned examinations, see the lead article, "The Paul Dunn Stories," by "Sunstone's" editors, September 1991, p. 28, followed by the afore-noted reprinted investigative findings, at: https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/083-28-34.pdf)

Conclusion: Done is Completely Undone by His Deliberately Deceptive, Dishonest and Diverting Private Denials

In summary, the following were the tactics employed by an obviously out-of-touch, out-of-excuses, out-and-out liar, Paul H. Dunn, in his unrepentant, rationliazing private letter to Claire Ferguson:

Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that he had concocted his disputed stories out of thin air, and even after publicly confessing in October 1991 that he had 'not always been accurate in my public talks and writings,' barely two months later Dunn was insisting in private correspondence to a then-believing Church member that 'I have never fabricated, never created fictional stories about myself. I have experienced the events I have related.'

2. Blame His Problems on the Media and the Enemies of the Mormon Church Who Use the Media

Dunn explained away his supposedly sincere 'come-clean' confession which appeared in the 'Church News' in October 1991 as an 'appropriate' step '[b]ecause of those in the media who do not always report the actual facts and because such information tends to stimulate discussion and rumors. ' Dunn claimed that 'certain allegations' made about his sensationalized stories had been 'contributed by some who are critical of me personally and would try to harm the Church.'

Dunn wrote in his private letter that he 'want[ed] to apologize for any misunderstanding that has occurred as a result of such publicity and to seek forgiveness from anyone that might have been offended.'

4. Justify Altering Facts in His Stories to Protect the Best Interests of Others

Dunn defended changing names of real people featured in his false stories ' in order to protect their reputations.'

5. Excuse False Elements of His Stories in the Name of Being Dramatic in Order to Making More Forceful Points

Dunn admitted that 'in the details of a small number of stories I have not been as careful as I should have been about exact accuracy' and that ' on occasion, [I have] embellished a story, and a few times have put real events together which I felt at the time would make a more forceful point in teaching a principle. '

Dunn declared that his 'motives have always been to teach principles and to lift people rather than to deceive or to aggrandize my own circumstances'

The bottom line, all you TBM brothers and sisters, is that Paul H. Dunn was a bottom-feeding, B.S.-blowing liar for the Lord.

Steve, although Paul Dunn is not the reason I left the Church. He was truly irrelevant, he was relevant in that as a young man I took life lessons from him. It was validating to be supported in my separation from. Mormonism to have a formidable teacher from this faith be exposed as a proven fraud.

Stories are stories I get that. Paul Dunn was assigning far more than morals to his stories he was assigning a responsibility to follow Mormonism and all will be well. He was an important story in showing modern Mormons the ability of an individual to perform in selfish ways while presenting himself as selfless. They are easily confused, especially if you prefer to be clear on confusing matters, such as life, death, and the journey in betweeen.

His stories were so outrageous. But he never claimed to see the trilogy and angels. Bet he was just warming up.

My Dad called him out at Stake Conference in the 70's. Dad was walked out of conference. Dad's progression in leadership (counselor in Bishoprick) ended that day.

"The events which I have described from my own life, including my war assignments and professional minor-league baseball affiliations were actual experiences. I wish to clarify that I have never fabricated, never created fictional stories about myself. I have experienced the events I have related."

I've never fabricated nor created fictional stories about myself, either. In fact, I was telling my wife, Morgan Fairchild, about that just the other night.

Look for him in any/all of the books on major/minor league baseball players. Let me know if you find his name. (We never did).

Dunn told a lot of his baseball lies when "The Baseball Encyclopedia" wasn't yet in print. He chose the St. Louis Cardinals because they were the most successful NL team of the 1960s.

A bunch of my below-the-radar secret lunch crowd has urged me to write that book I've been threatening about LDS "revisionist history," and this information will fit in with the theme (with appropriate credit, of course). The working title is "Praise the Lord and Pass the Etch-a-Sketch," and as soon as I can find some wealthy patrons to free me of the burden of rescuing drunks--and damsels in distress, of course--and subsidize me in the lifestyle I'd like to become accustomed to I'm going to get on it.

On a similar--and more realistic note--Will Bagley tells me David Bigler has a new book completed, "Confessions of a Revisionist Historian." I'll keep people posted on that one.

Bigler is another of the incredible giants I've met--from our fathers' generation--and even though he's in his 80's, he's still producing incredible accounts of factual history.

>>>>My motives have always been to teach principles and to lift people rather than to deceive or to aggrandize my own circumstances.

And then just when I manage to stop laughing, I scroll down and read Morgan Fairchild.....

I can't help but think that his stories were re-told & embellished; that's SOP in the Mormon Way, isn't it?

Just to add another detail of Dunn's deceit-he also supplied a W2 form supposedly from 1946,that is available for viewing in the Sunstone archive,that appeared to be altered or forged indicating he received a $5000 baseball signing bonus-from a team that we later learned he never played for.

"After his military service, Paul Dunn returned to Hollywood, California, and, within days of each other, got married and vtried out for the triple-A Hollywood Stars baseball club, a very good team in the triple-A Pacific

Coast League. That league produced greats like Joe DiMaggio and almost became the third major league. Unfortunately, Dunn was among a flood of players returning from the war. Records show he never made the team. In response to allegations that he never played professional ball, Dunn provided a copy of his 1946 income tax 1040 form which shows he made $5000 playing for the Stars.

"Using a photo and information Paul Dunn provided, the . . . 'Church News' published a photograph of Dunn with Hollywood Stars team members. It was captioned: 'Elder Paul Dunn . . . with teammates of Hollywood Stars, a Cardinal farm team.' According to the 'Church News,' Dunn provided the photo. Whether the photograph demonstrated that Dunn was a player for the Hollywood Stars is doubtful. He is not wearing the traditional Hollywood Stars uniform, which featured a star over the left chest pocket with the letter H inside. The caption statement that the Stars was 'a Cardinal farm team' is not correct; the Stars were affiliated with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"However, during his interview with the 'Arizona Republic.' Paul Dunn admitted he never played in a regular season for the Stars. 'I was put in the spring training with the club until the season started and was cut from the squad,' Dunn said."

("Full text of 'The Stories of Paul H. Dunn,'" in "Sunstone" archives, at: https://archive.org/stream/storiesof_Dunn/Dunn_djvu.txt)

Hmmmm. If Dunn never played for the Hollywood Stars (as Dunn himself later confessed), how could he have been paid by them?

Sadly, the inspiring stories of Brother Dunn are probably largely unknown to many people on RFM. I can only testify that many snippets of his talks were given to me at various stages in my life, before games, before my mission..., In a way his lying ways were much more significant to me than the great mormon heroes of days gone by.

PHD learned his stock in trade from a self-absorbed conjurer of conveniently contrived facts.

I have an old tape laying about somewhere with Paul Dunn on one side and Credence Clearwater Gold on the other.

I was confused at the time, how could he give such a warm good talk and be so aloof and unable to be personable with anyone who came up to greet him later???

When it came out that he'd been making and faking it, it made sense. He had given away a part of his soul, in this case, his integrity, for fame and applause.

I met him in the mission field. It was disappointing to me as up close he seemed uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of there. This was right after he had spoken to us. I sensed a cold, shallow something from him. There was just nothing there up close.

It seemed odd to me as I expected him to be warm and charismatic after the talk he gave.

Mormon Observer, your observations upon meeting him were very telling, and I agree and like your statement,

I also sort of met Paul Dunn at firesides, only by listening to his words. Because he was younger and somewhat handsome, I was more inclined to listen to what he had to say. I did find his talks much more palpable than the usual stay morally clean and stay morally clean that was always the main course of the usual fireside. I can this....he lied well and made his talks interesting for a teenager.

I feel bad for what he could have been as I do think he had a talent for telling a story well.....yeh, con-man can do that, can't they?

All of the other General Authorities tell worse, more damaging lies than Paul Dunn ever did, not to mention their special talent to bore the chrome off your trailer hitch.

A. An occasional entertaining lie offering a breath of fresh air from the usual diet of never ending boring lies

C was deleted because it's not on the menu. You only get to select various flavors of lies.

. . . spawned cynicism and mistrust in those who accepted them as true. It was a brutal eye-opening for those who were sucked in, only to be stabbed in the heart.

What was so bad about them was that they seemed genuine and were so entertaining.

Dunn was a wolf in smiling "aw-shucks" clothing--seemingly sincere, at ease and friendly, but actually cold, criminal and calculating.

He disappointed and devastated a lot of young Mormons, in particular, who loved his stories, lapped them up eagerly and gratefully, and felt connected to him in a unique way that seemed to bridge generations--only to be shocked by his ultimate exposure as a fraud to the core.

Dunn made up entertaining stories, that although fiction, could have actually happened so they were believable fiction - and fun to listen to. The fact that his personalized tales of wonder and glory were largely untrue is Minor League lying.

Dunn did not claim that God and Jesus appeared to him in person and later commanded him to have sex with dozens of women and children and eventually defraud thousands then millions of gullible dupes into betting their lives and fortunes on the tall tales of a masturbating farm boy con artist sex addict extraordinaire.

Dunn's biggest problem was getting caught. The Big Joke is that the Major League liars actually think they have NOT been caught yet, when here in ex-mo land, they are ALL ALREADY FULLY EXPOSED as far worse liars than what Paul Dunn was hung out to dry for.

It's certainly possible that some of the sitting General Authorities have their heads so far up their butts they have not figured Joseph Smith out yet, but those at the top have got to know they are engaged in a truly colossal fraud - a lie of Major League proportions.

. . . over whether Paul H Dunn was a major league deceiver. He most certainly was. He bamboozled millions of Mormons with his phony stories, and preyed on his youthful audience, to feed his own ego; he no doubt regarded them as gullible fools, just like Joseph Smith did. Dunn reflected the rot that inflicts the Mormon Cult. His deceptive tactics is the poison that runs through the veins of the LDS power system. You want to blow him off as an insignificant entertainer when, in fact, it's evil Jokers like him who keep the fraud alive.

This thread is not about the behaviour of the Mormon Cult's other charlatans but about Dunn's shameless and sinister lies. His most tragic victims were the youth of the church; when you can steal their hearts and minds, you have captured an entire generation.

1. Paul Dunn provided a valuable service to all Mormons: He reeled us in with his charm and charisma and made us feel good (for a moment at least) about being Mormons. Then he got caught in his own web of deceit and was "punished" as a charlatan liar. In so doing, he gifted all of us with evidence of our own gullibility and vulnerability to clever deception. Most of us ignored the evidence, but Paul Dunn exposed us to our Achilles Heels upon which all of our Testimonies were founded.

2. Duping and exploiting the Mormon Sheeple is a Team Sport requiring the combined talents of dozens and hundreds of players. Paul Dunn was an outstanding player on the Team. He had to be retired when he overreached his enthusiasm for lying and got himself expelled from the game. The Team Plays on.

Steve, I'll convey a message to Jesus for you. And I'll probably meet Paul Dunn as well. Lemme know if you want to send a personal note to either of 'em. I'm happy to oblige.

Great post, Steve. Your narrative reveals the inner workings of the Mormon power culture. It's like an alien world to me, a 5th gen bic. I only know the rear pew people.

For any of you twenty-somethings who don't remember life before the internet,this story required a lot of good old fashioned research/ journalism on the part of Lynn Packer.In my opinion Lynn Packer did the right thing while under tremendous personal conflict(referring to his employment at BYU).However,I'm glad it took him a couple of years to finally break the story,because I find the attempt to cover it all up and retire Paul Dunn(Emeritus status) to be equally interesting.Infact,I've really enjoyed the commentary on this topic,like some of you I remember and enjoyed Dunn's cassette tapes growing up-But like a lot of other things in the church all bullsh*t.

... reveals the core operating values of The Brethren: Lying for the Lord is not only NOT a problem, it's business as usual.

In fact, Paul Dunn was providing a valuable service that exceeded the talents of nearly all of his GA peers: He had sufficient acting and story telling talent to successfully fake a charismatic connection with Mormon youth (and adults) that felt sincere and real (from a distance).

Mormon Observer's personal anecdote about meeting Paul Dunn and experiencing his cold heart in person suggests that Dunn was indeed an actor playing a role in public, and unable to maintain that engaging facade offstage before a perceptive, sentient human being.

How many similar stories have we heard about other Lord's Annointed Ones treating individual people like crap in person?

My personal dealings with Dunn made me consider he was very entertaining and highly motivational, especially for youth. However, in his accompany I also learned he was not a 'spiritual giant' nor really on board with the doctrines of the church.

Hence his stories were motivational rather than doctrinal. For instance, he would teach the importance of the Word of Wisdom to give you the physical strength to carry a wounded soldier away from the enemy during the Vietnam War (one of his fabricated stories), yet I heard him, in a more private meeting, disparage the Word of Wisdom doctrinally.

I kept the letter initially because it meant a great deal to me that he had responded. As a TBM I could see no wrong in him, or the church, despite evidence to the contrary staring me in the face. It was many years later that my doubts began.

I came across the letter again recently when sorting through some personal papers.

Thank you Steve for your interesting treatment of the subject. Alas you are not as entertaining as Paul H Dunn, altho at least we know your war stories are true.

In addition to addressing the deceit allegations in his letter above, Dunn also addressed "other" activity. This quotation popped out at me,

"Futhermore, I have indulged in other activity unbecoming of the high and sacred office which I held."

Indeed, well what is Dunn referring to here? He once called Honolulu the most sinful place on earth (paraphrasing), and even as a kid, I wondered, "how does he know that?"

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