"Among the qualities that characterize Sterling McMurrin's life and mind, perhaps the most notable is the freedom with which he has spoken his views on both the sacred and the profane." Those are the words Dr. Jackson Newell uses to summarize the remarkable life of the late University of Utah Professor of Philosophy. Speaking to a near record audience at the January 8th meeting of our chapter, Dr. Newell recalled being deeply impressed with Dr. McMurrin when they first met on the U of U campus 24 years ago in 1974. He discovered they shared the view that a liberal education is the key to the development of a free mind that can approach problems openly, evaluate the best available evidence, and accept apparent solutions despite predisposition.

During the next ten years they developed a close friendship and at the invitation of the University Press, co-authored the book about the life and philosophy of McMurrin. It turned out to be a 10-year project, producing transcribed notes 16-inches thick reflecting fifty-five 2-hour conversations! When they submitted the finished manuscript to the University Press, they were asked to trim the contents by one-third. Another Utah publishing house, Signature Books, said they wanted to publish the book in its entirety. "Matters of Conscience" was in the process of being printed when McMurrin died April 6, 1996, in St. George.

Newell said McMurrin's two greatest assets were his photographic memory and his ability to quickly grasp the essence of matters under discussion. His sense of disarming wit endeared him to friends and fellow professionals.

Commenting on McMurrin's seemingly conflicting religious views Newell turned to their book for this McMurrin quote: "I don't think of churches as being true or false. Churches are good or bad or better or worse, but not true or false. Being a Mormon is simply being part of a family, and even the stray sheep in the family can love it and defend it.While I readily confess to being a heretic-one who doesn't believe-I frankly resent being called an apostate-one who turns against the church. I am critical of the church, but I'm for it, not against it."

Dr. Newell engaged in conversations and autographed copies of his book for chapter members and visitors for an hour after his formal presentation.

--Flo Wineriter