J. Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories

by Kathryn Jenkins Gordon

[sstaley]

I was very excited to read and review J.Golden Kimball: The Remarkable Man Behind the Colorful Stories. You see, my father's two favorite apostles were J. Golden Kimball and LeGrand Richards. We spent many a Family Home Evening reading stories about J. Golden Kimball and many that I read in this new book were ones I had heard before in my youth. My dad always said he loved J. Golden because he was real and down to earth. The thing that people will learn most from this book is that J. Golden Kimball was more than the "swearing apostle". He did use colorful language at times in his life, but he also was very straight to the point when it came to talking to and teaching the people of the church. He didn't hold back most of the time.

I had not known of his hard life from growing up very poor after his father, Apostle Heber C. Kimball died, to him trying to start various businesses and losing money along the way. Author Kathryn Jenkins Gordon has such a wonderful way of telling Kimball's life story. She has a wonderful and fun voice as she teaches readers about the man and the many funny, sad and glorious things J. Golden did in his life. This book is not bogged down with just boring details of a man's life but is woven with much humor as Gordon shares about what truly made J. Golden Kimball remarkable. He had a powerful testimony of the gospel and could be very inspirational when needed.

"No man has any influence or power for good when angry."

J. Golden Kimball

I had to share a few of my favorite stories from the book about J. Golden Kimball that I remember first hearing when my dad shared them with our family.

There was to be an impressive tour given to some dignitaries from other lands. J. Golden Kimball was assigned to the tour as a guide. They first took a bus trip to the important historical sites in and around Salt Lake City. Brother Kimball would constantly remind the visitors how fast buildings were put up by the industrious Mormons. Every time he would say so, one of the dignitaries on the tour would say, “Oh, is that right? In our country we could do it in half the time.” J. Golden began to get madder and madder as the dignitary persisted to offer such comments. The tour was to end by having the bus drive around Temple Square. Then this dignitary asked, “What is that building there?” as he pointed at the Temple. “Damned if I know,” said J. Golden. “It wasn’t there yesterday.”

On a snowy day two weeks before Christmas, he was crossing South Temple to the north door of ZCMI [a department store in downtown Salt Lake City]. He walked slowly to the middle of the ice-slick street.
A woman burst out of the north door of ZCMI with a pile of packages in her hands and no clear line of sight.
She plowed right into Golden.
Packages flew everywhere. Golden was knocked down and the woman fell on top of him. Together they began to slide south towards the curb.
All traffic stopped. Everyone stood entranced by this most unlikely sight.
They slid until they hit the curb. It was then that the woman realized someone was beneath her. She brushed the snow away and exclaimed, “Oh, Brother Kimball, it’s you! Speak to me. Are you all right?”
“It’s all right, Sister, but you’ll have to get off here,” he painfully croaked. “This is as far as I go".

This book was such a delightful read that I read it in one sitting. It's only 150 pages and is the perfect book for a lazy, Saturday afternoon. Readers will learn so much from J. Golden Kimball's life, especially how to find and use humor while going through the trials of life. I highly recommend this book to all ages of readers from teens to adults.