Michael Quinn's daughters, "Chosen Path" annotators discuss his new memoir

Signature Books Podcast

At this recent event at Signature Books, D. Michael Quinn’s two daughters and the annotators of Quinn’s posthumously published book, Chosen Path, shared what they learned about this enigmatic historian and father—and about twentieth-century Mormonism—through reading his remarkable new memoir. Listen in to this candid conversation as Mary Quinn, Lisa Quinn Harrison, Calvin Burke, Connell O’Donovan, Sue Bergin, and Barbara Jones Brown discuss the complexities of Quinn’s relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and its history, along with his sexuality as a closeted gay Mormon for much of his life.

Quinn (1944–2021) will long be remembered as one of the most prominent historians of Mormonism. Born and raised in southern California, he taught history at Brigham Young University for twelve years after earning his PhD at Yale. He is the author of many groundbreaking articles and books on Mormon history, including his three-volume Mormon Hierarchy series (subtitled Origins of Power, Extensions of Power, and Wealth and Corporate Power), Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark, and Early Mormonism and the Magic World View, for which he won the Mormon History Association’s Best Book Award in 1988.