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Notes and Sources

Limitations of space make it impossible to indicate every source examined in the preparation of this biography. The published articles about, public papers of, and addresses, articles, and books by Gordon B. Hinckley are voluminous, and a complete listing of them would require a book-sized presentation. I have therefore included only those materials I consulted directly in the writing of this biography.

Though President Hinckley's journal is somewhat inconsistent (his entries for some years are extensive, for others, sporadic), it nevertheless provided a wealth of information, both factual and contextual. I have also drawn heavily from nearly thirty personal interviews with President Hinckley, as well as in-depth interviews with Sister Hinckley, each of their children, and other family members, including his brother Sherman Hinckley, his sister Ramona Sullivan, and several grandchildren. Presidents Thomas S. Monson and James E. Faust, each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and numerous other General Authorities and other Church leaders, as well as associates with whom he has worked through the years, also granted interviews. Unless specified otherwise, all interviews cited in the notes were conducted by me. Literally thousands of magazine and newspaper articles by and about President Hinckley exist, and those, along with the transcripts and published accounts of hundreds of his addresses and articles, were critical to the text.

President Hinckley's father, Bryant S. Hinckley, was a prolific writer, and some of his materials were most useful in providing background and context, including: What of the Mormons? A Brief Study of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: Corporation of the President, 1947); Some Distinctive Features of Mormonism (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1951); and The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1956). In addition, many of his articles were published in various Church periodicals. Genealogical records and other sources provided important family history information, including "Bryant S. Hinckley," an unpublished address delivered before the Ira Nathaniel Hinckley family, 4 April 1955; "Ira Nathaniel Hinckley Biography and Family History," 1957, Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University; Larry C. Porter, "A Historical Analysis of Cove Fort, Utah," master's thesis, BYU, May 1966; Parnell Hinckley, ed., "Ira Nathaniel Hinckley: Some Events of His Life," Harold B. Lee Library, BYU; "The Name and Family of Hinckley or Hinkley," compiled by the Media Research Bureau, Washington, D.C.; "Ira Nathaniel Hinckley Diary, 1857-1858," J. Reuben Clark Library, BYU; "Autobiography of Bryant Stringham Hinckley," arr. Ruth Hinckley Willes, unpublished manuscript; "The Story of Ada Bitner Hinckley," as told by Ruth Hinckley Willes, comp. Joseph Simmons Willes, unpublished manuscript, 1980; Ruth Hinckley Willes, "Reminiscences," unpublished manuscript, December 1972; "Philip LeRoy Pay," unpublished family history; "Georgetta Paxman Pay," unpublished family history; One Hundred Years of History of Millard County, comp. Stella H. Day and Sebrina C. Ekins (Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1951); and Governors of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies, published circa 1851, copy available in the Harvard University Library.