Larry King
November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021
I quickly became a fan of CNN after it launched in 1980. Larry King joined CNN in 1985 and I sometimes watched him. I liked his direct but non-confrontational interviewing style. His show became "the longest-running television show hosted by the same person, on the same network and in the same time slot", and was recognized for it by the Guinness Book of World Records. He did not seem to be as successful in his personal life, marrying eight times to seven different women.
Aaron Beck
July 18, 1921 – November 1, 2021
Most people today will not know anything about Aaron Beck but I became aware of him in the early 1980s. He wrote the Preface to FEELING GOOD - The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns which was published in 1980. I was made aware of the book by my church pastor from whom I sought counsel in my struggle with occasional bouts of depression. Beck was an American psychiatrist and university professor. Today others are standing on the shoulders of giants and I am currently following the work of one of them.
In 2014 Gregg Henriques wrote,
My former supervisor and mentor, Aaron T. Beck, is, undoubtedly, the most famous and influential living figure in the field of psychotherapy today (he is 93). As the originator of cognitive therapy, more than anyone else it has been his pioneering vision and efforts that are responsible for modern Cognitive Behavior Therapy or “CBT”, which is the therapy orientation most frequently taught in professional psychology training programs. He is a true visionary, and I learned an enormous amount in my four years working under him at the University of Pennsylvania.
Beck on Why a “Unified Theory” Is the Future of Therapy
Karl McNeil "Neil" Earle
February 25, 1947 - December 23, 2021
In 1979 my employer transferred me from Edmonton to Calgary. I decided that this would be the right time for us to buy our first house and we began looking at real estate. I remember wanting to buy a home in Midnapore in Calgary SE but it was out of my price range. Instead we bought in Abbeydale in Calgary NE.
At the time we were part of a church which I later came to view as a benign cult. That church had two congregations in Calgary, Calgary North and Calgary South. As a result of the location of our new home, we became part of the Calgary North church. The Pastor was Neil Earle.
As I reflect back now, my life would have been quite different had we become part of the Calgary South congregation. We would have made different friends and would have been influenced by a different pastor. I became quite comfortable being a member of Calgary North. And today I still have friends that date back to those days. In hindsight, I am pleased that we did not buy that house in Midnapore, although that would have been a significantly better move financially in the long run.
Yesterday we received news that Neil Earle had died after a short illness. This was shocking as he was only 74. That does not seem old as now viewed through my own 70 year old eyes.
Yesterday I wrote the following email to the widow, Susan Earle.
Greetings Susan,
Perhaps this email will reach you.
Three WCG pastors had a significant positive impact on my life - Richard Pinelli, NEIL EARLE and Graemme Marshall. Now they are all gone but we are left with good memories that come back at times like this. Frank Racicot sent me the obituary which I much appreciated.
We heard that Neil Earle had died from Henk Wilms who now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. His wife Diane heard the news from Carol Pinette. I let my friend Frank Racicot, who now lives in Sudbury, Ontario, know. And we let others know. So it goes. Some of those old WCG bonds remain strong.
I will share a couple of memories.
Yes, Mr. Earle loved to read. But he had more books of interest than time. So he would come into Spokesman's Club with a stack of books. Here, read this and give a book report speech, he would say. I was the recipient of one of those books and it was always very interesting.
And Mr. Earle could read people. One year he moved me from one Club to another. We have too many rednecks in that Club, John, so I need you there for some balance. I took that as a very nice compliment.
We want you to know that we are thinking of you at this time.
John and Pat Stokdijk
Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.
I received a lovely reply from Susan along with live stream instructions for the funeral service. Initially I thought I would not attend because I expected the funeral service to be far too religious for my current taste. However, after we were informed that it would primarily be a celebration of the life of Neil Earle, Pat and I both felt a desire to be part of the event.
Times like this trigger memories and I want to capture some additional thoughts at this time. Writing is therapeutic for me and one way I process my past. Posting my writings on my website is how I practice radical personal transparency.
Looking back, it is now surprising to realize that Neil Earle was only 4 years older than me. At the time, he seemed significantly older and wiser than I, perhaps at least 10 years older. But that impression reflects the power of his position as Church pastor. It also reflects a man who loved to learn, loved reading a good book, had considerable knowledge that elevated his status. I remember that he especially loved history and was an admirer of Winston Churchill.
The church I was part of was quite hierarchical and male dominant. But it was also supportive of growth and development. Mr. Earle (we always called our pastors Mr.) appointed me President of Spokesman Club, a step up the ladder. Club was a men’s club centered around public speaking and character development. For me Club was a very good personal development opportunity which I still value to this day.
Neil Earle was a strong leader who got results. At that time it was important for us to be doing God’s Work which focused on giving a warning witness to the world of an imminent Great Tribulation. In practical terms, that meant having a large Plain Truth magazine newsstand distribution program. Neil Earle appointed me to a key supervisory role in the program. Pat recalled this morning the jubilation we all felt when we achieved the unreachable goal of distributing 35,000 copies of the PT monthly. But almost immediately Mr. Earle announced a new goal, 50,000. Pat felt deflated but I merely continued doing the Work in my appointed capacity. Now, in hindsight, I can think of a hundred better uses of my time and energy.
Mr. Earle was quite controlling. As members of Spokesman Club, we checked our ideas for speeches with him for approval. I wanted to give a speech on a book I had just read, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, published in 1982. The speech idea was approved but it came with an unexpected, big surprise. Mr. Earle also wanted me to use the topic for a sermonette at sabbath services. WOW, me, now on the list of men chosen to give sermonettes, another step up the ladder.
My first sermonette was delivered shortly before Mr. Earle was transferred from Calgary. I continued to give three or four sermonettes per year under the direction of our next pastor, Graemme Marshall. It gave me stature in the congregation. But it also helped me develop public speaking skills which later served me well in my career and volunteer work. Today I remain grateful for the interest Neil Earle had in me and for the positive impact he had on my life.
But I also have one unpleasant memory. One day Mr. Earle indicated that he wanted to meet with me in my home. After greeting him at the door, he said “Ministers do not take off their shoes.” and he marched across the carpet in our living room and sat down. I burned with irritation at the time but said nothing. From time to time over the years I have reminisced with Pat about this incident, always still feeling the irritation. But today is the day to let it go, finally, forever. Today is the day to celebrate the life of Neil Earle.
Obituary for Karl McNeil "Neil" Earle
There were 153 people connected to the live stream of the service celebrating the life of Neile Earle. No doubt there were some present who Pat and I knew personally. We thought the service was well done and a couple of paragraphs from my email to Susan were read along with many other tributes.
I learned something new about Mr. Earle that surprised us. At age fifteen Neil Earle was accepted to Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland, his home province. Because of his young age, approval of the government was required. He was clearly someone with above average potential. A tribute was read at the service by a lifelong friend, a relationship that began at Memorial University when Neil Earle was seventeen.
The video of the service is available and, as I write, it has 776 views.
Still in the mood to celebrate his life, I did a Google Advanced Search on Neil Earle the morning after the service.
His hockey book, ICE HOCKEY in Popular Culture - A Fan's Odyssey was mentioned at the service but it seems it was never published. I did find a paper by him published online, Hockey as Canadian Popular Culture: Team Canada 1972, Television and the Canadian Identity. Neil Earle was a bigger hockey fan than I had been aware of.
I also found The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture: Uneasy in Eden by Neil Earle, published in 1994.
And I found a bio of Neil Earle written about six years ago. It has more interesting information about him that was not in his obituary. I copied and pasted it below.
Neil Earle bio
Pastor Neil Earle is a journalist, historian and broadcaster as well as a published author of some 500 books, articles, essays, reviews, blogs, commentaries, etc. related to history, popular culture and spirituality. A native of Newfoundland, Canada, Earle taught high school history in the 1960s, studied religion in England from 1968 and 1972 and while pastor of several churches in Canada began to write for church publications. His first published book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in American Popular Culture by Edwin Mellen Press came out in 1994.
Transferred to Pasadena, California in 1993 with his wife of 43 years, Susan, Neil Earle coordinated all the overseas publications of his denomination as well as serving as Senior Editor with a full-time writing load. Many of his articles touched on the theme of history such as “The Hinge of Fate (1939-1989),” “The Battle of Britain 40 Years Later” and “V-E- Day: A Warning to the West (1985).”
In 1992 he earned a Master of Arts in American History from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts degree in Theology at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, CA in 1998. Since then he has taken numerous classes in English and current events at UCLA and has taught American History as an adjunct at Citrus College (Glendora, California) and presently teaches Church History online at Grace Communion Seminary.
Neil Earle has presented at conferences called by ACSUS (The Association of Canadian Studies in the United States) and the Western Social Science Association. His MA thesis on the peace movement of the 1920s was published in Church and State (winter, 1998) and he was asked to complete a book on the history of his adopted city, Duarte, CA, finished in 2009 and titled Images of America: Duarte. He has been printed in such publications as the “Journal of Canadian Studies,” “Popular Culture Studies” and the monograph Slippery Pastimes, the last relating to the popularity of ice hockey.
Neil Earle presently edits the Reconcile newsletter which covers race relations (see atimetoreconcile.org) and writes for his local church web site where he has posted and edited approximately 438 commentaries and reviews on Biblical approaches to current events. He was a regular presenter on Duarte Cable Television from 2001-2017 and on historical subjects (e.g. Shakespeare, The Great War) at the local Duarte branch of the Los Angeles County Library.
Neil Earle and his wife Susan now live in Memphis, Tennessee. He has appeared as an occasional columnist in the local Commercial Appeal newspaper and has given public talks at the Cordova Public Library.
Neil is available to speak on various subjects listed above and on a book he is just finishing – as co-author – on China with a working title of “Balancing China.”
John Earl Madden
April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021
During the late 1970s my interest in football began to shift from the Canadian Football League to the National Football League. I became a fan of the Oakland Raiders and John Madden was their bombastic coach. After coaching, Madden became a colorful media personality whom I greatly enjoyed while watching Monday Night Football.