Friends and loved ones mourn Wednesday’s death of Heidi Hall, a former religion and education editor for The Tennessean.
As noted by that newspaper, the cause of her passing was metastatic colorectal cancer. She was 49.
Heidi Hall was a former RNA member and was the Religion & Education Editor at The Tennessean until 2014. Our condolences to those who worked with and knew her. https://t.co/ewqBakpI4z
— Religion News Association (@ReligionReport) September 26, 2019
Hall wrote a final story, published Thursday.
“It’s the story of her life — of losing everything when she left the (Jehovah’s) Witnesses — and finding a new family of her own,” RNS editor-in-chief Bob Smietana noted on Twitter.
If you need a break from all the impeachment talk and need some hope – this piece from Heidi Hall may fit the bill.
Heidi, who died last night, tells the story of how she rebuilt her faith and life after losing everything https://t.co/Jjq6BXmzuE— Bob Smietana (@bobsmietana) September 26, 2019
The late Heidi Hall reflects on her personal journey with faith and where she landed at the end. “My problem wasn’t with religion. It was with bad religion.”
Thanks @RNS for running this piece. https://t.co/NFLrcbyaqB
— kate shellnutt (@kateshellnutt) September 26, 2019
A wonderful woman I once knew, a former editor, died yesterday. Before she did, she wrote this beautiful piece about family and faith and acceptance that merits multiple reads. https://t.co/bxatfRnZ8P
— Janell Ross (@JanellRoss) September 26, 2019
Her last story, posted after her death yesterday, is poetry. Heidi Hall, 49, an ex-editor @Tennessean, writes how her family of Jehovah’s Witnesses rejected her, leading to overwork, overeating, drinking. She writes how she found family and religion again. https://t.co/plftadMN1l
— Ron Lin (@ronlin) September 26, 2019
“I’m dying grateful.”
I will miss Heidi Hall and her writing. We’re lucky for this one last story.https://t.co/Ue2mo3ekqD
— Emily Siner (@SinerSays) September 26, 2019
Heidi Hall was a master storyteller. And thus it’s fitting that before she died, she got one more story. This time, telling her own story. And what a story it is.https://t.co/qQz1sGtiFK
— Patrick Garvin (@PatrickMGarvin) September 26, 2019
Now, let’s dive into the Friday Five:
I know you’re a tough critic, so this good review means a lot! Thanks.
— Julie Zauzmer (@JulieZauzmer) September 24, 2019
1. Religion story of the week: Yes, our own Terry Mattingly is a tough critic.
But he gave an extremely positive review to Washington Post religion writer Julie Zauzmer’s piece that ran this week with this headline: “The circuit preacher was an idea of the frontier past. Now it’s the cutting-edge response to shrinking churches.”
“If you start reading this one, you will want to read it all,” tmatt said.
Amen.
Praying to plants: Twitter explodes when Union Seminary holds one of its interfaith rites https://t.co/wsFsYXDh0p
— Terry Mattingly (@tweetmattingly) September 19, 2019
2. Most popular GetReligion post: Praying to plants?
Yep, it happened this week, and tmatt’s analysis of the news coverage of it was our most-read post of the week.
If you missed it, be sure to check out the post, titled “Praying to plants: Twitter explodes when Union Seminary holds one of its interfaith rites.”
Oh, and tmatt called up the Union theologian at the heart of the controversy and used that interview as the heart of his national “On Religion” column for the Universal syndicate. Click here to see that.
Sports Illustrated reports on Freedom From Religion Foundation’s complaints about Clemson football https://t.co/0WpcysBYtI
— GetReligion (@GetReligion) September 24, 2019
3. Guilt folder fodder (and more): OK, let’s repeat this one more time: Journalists simply regurgitating the Freedom From Religion Foundation’s talking points as if they’re the gospel truth is not great journalism.
We pointed out a positive example this week of a news organization actually doing praiseworthy coverage involving the FFRF.
Regrettably, the Greenville News in South Carolina apparently did not get the memo.
Now in an #RNA2019 session on “How to Cover Horrific Events” with @HollyAMeyer, @JenBerryHawes, @drjamieaten, @yonatshimron and @PG_PeterSmith. Live-streaming at https://t.co/yyufCQSr9e CC @profkrg @JoeHight
— Bobby Ross Jr. (@bobbyross) September 21, 2019
4. Shameless plug: Both Julia Duin and I have posted on the Religion News Association’s annual meeting last week in Las Vegas — here, here, here and here.
Probably my favorite session was a panel discussion on “How To Cover Horrific Events,” featuring The Tennessean’s Holly Meyer, The Post and Courier’s Jennifer Berry Hawes, disaster psychologist Jamie Aten, Religion News Service’s Yonat Shimron and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Peter Smith.
If you are interested, the session can be viewed online.
Transcript Reveals Trump, Ukrainian President Argued For Fifteen Minutes About Who Would Hang Up Firsthttps://t.co/NpCQLf2QJ8
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) September 25, 2019
5. Final thought: Well, now you know the real scoop on that phone call.
Happy Friday, everybody! Enjoy the weekend!
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