Holy Ghost Girl by Donna M Johnson

Holy Ghost Girl by Donna M Johnson

A compassionate, humorous memoir of faith, betrayal, and coming of age on the evangelical sawdust trail.

Long before the Blues Brothers coined the term, Donna M. Johnson's family was on a mission from God. She was just three years old when her mother signed on as the organist for tent revivalist David Terrell. Before long, Donna and her family were part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher's inner circle. At seventeen, she left the ministry for good, with a trove of stranger-than-fiction memories. A homecoming like no other, Holy Ghost Girl brings to life miracles, exorcisms, and face-offs with the Ku Klux Klan. And that's just what went on under the tent.

As Terrell became known worldwide during the 1960s and '70s, he enthralled--and healed--thousands a night, andthe caravan of broken-down cars and trucks that made up his ministry evolved into fleets of Mercedes and private jets. The glories of the Word mixed with betrayals of the flesh, and Donna's mother bore Terrell's children in one of the secret households he maintained. Terrell's followers, dubbed "Terrellites" by the press, descended on backwaters across the South to await the apocalypse in cult-like communities.

Johnson's personal story takes us into the heart of a mystical and deeply flawed family where the norms are anything but normal and where love covers a multitude of sin. Recounted with the deadpan observations and surreal detail only a kid would notice, Holy Ghost Girl bypasses easy judgment to articulate a rich world in which the mystery of faith and human frailty share a surprising and humorous coexistence.

Donna M. Johnson has written about religion for The Dallas Morning News and other publications. Holy Ghost Girl won the Mayborn Creative Nonfiction prize as a work in progress. Donna lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, the poet and author Kirk Wilson.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781592407354
ISBN 10	1592407358
Title	Holy Ghost Girl
Author	Donna M Johnson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Avery Publishing Group
Year published	2012-10-02
Number of pages	288
Prizes	Winner of Books for a Better Life Book Award.
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.