John Evangelist Walsh (1927–2015) was an American author, biographer, editor, historian and journalist. He was best known for leading a team of seven editors tasked with creating a condensed version of the
Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Born in 1927, he first began working in journalism while serving in the
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
from 1946 to 1948, after which he worked for a variety of publishing companies, mainly condensing literature. He retired in his early 70s, while still regularly writing and publishing novels. He died on March 19, 2015, in
Monroe, Wisconsin, at age 87.
Life and career
John Evangelist Walsh was born in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City on December 27, 1927, to Thomas and Ann (née Cunney) Walsh. He was of Irish descent.
Walsh attended high school at the now-closed
Power Memorial Academy
Power Memorial Academy (PMA) was an all-boys Catholic high school in New York City that operated from 1931 through 1984. It was a basketball powerhouse, producing several NBA players including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Len Elmore, Mario Elie, Chris M ...
in Manhattan,
and after his senior year, enlisted in the US Army, serving in the
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
in
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...
, Italy, from 1946 to 1948.
It was during that time when Walsh first became involved in journalism, reporting and taking photographs for ''The Spearhead'' and ''The Blue Devil'', two military newspapers.
Following his two years of service, he enrolled at
Iona College
Iona University is a private Roman Catholic university with a main campus in New Rochelle, New York. It was founded in 1940 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers and occupies a campus of in New Rochelle and a campus of in Bronxville, ...
in
New Rochelle
New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...
, New York, but dropped out to take a job as a reporter ''The Oneonta Daily Star''.
He later worked as an editor at
Prentice Hall,
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
, and ''
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...
'', where he worked mainly on condensed-literature projects.
He married his wife, Dorothy Schubis, on November 17, 1956, in
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushin ...
, Queens, New York.
Walsh's time at ''Reader's Digest'' marked an ambitious and unprecedented project: the condensation of the Bible, an enterprise that would make him and his colleagues well known on a national scale. According to John T. Beaudouin, the ''Reader's Digest'' Condensed Books editor during those years, the magazine had been eager to condense the Bible for a long time, but was not sure if it was feasible. He told ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' in 1982:
''We condensed a 14-volume set of 56 classics for young readers in the late 1960s, but the Bible had always been considered the ultimate challenge. We weren't sure we could do it, but after we studied the text and found it repetitive we thought we could.''
The first phases of planning began in 1975, and by 1979, a team of seven editors was assembled, with John Walsh as the director.
The whole project, however, was placed under the supervision of the
Rev. Bruce M. Metzger, a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister and esteemed biblical scholar and author. He served as the final say in what verses and chapters were necessary for inclusion.
The team decided to condense the
Revised Standard Version (RSV) rather than the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...
(KJV) because the RSV language was simpler to begin with, in contrast to the older vocabulary and abstruse language found in the KJV.
The RSV is 850,000 words long, and the team set out to remove repetition and unnecessary inclusions. Walsh installed a strict system for condensation: first, editors must consult three unique scholarly analyses of any given passage before editing it.
After changes were made, it would be reviewed by a second editor, and then sent to Walsh for inspection. If the condensation was deemed adequate, it would be given to the Rev. Metzger for a final appraisal.
In the end, around 55% of the
Old Testament and 25% of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
was expunged, a total of 40% of the Bible overall.
Walsh commented to the New York Times on the difficulty of project in 1982 on the date of the Bible's release:
''It was the hardest job I've ever done in my life. We were dealing with a library of ancient literature with so many different literary forms to which the condensation had to be adjusted and adapted.''
He then acknowledged he originally had qualms about the project, citing the
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of ...
, which forbids changing "the words of the book of this prophecy."
However, his early doubts were replaced by satisfaction in the end, telling the New York Times
'Our Bible is still the word of God, but it's easier to get into and stay with and appreciate.'' The project in its entirety took three years, and the
Reader's Digest Bible was released on September 22, 1982.
While the Reader's Digest Bible was perhaps his most famous accomplishment, Walsh was a lifelong writer. He was moderately well known in the
historical nonfiction and
literary biographical genres, some of his better known books being ''The Bones of Saint Peter: The First Full Account of the Discovery of the Apostle's Tomb'', ''Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe'', ''Poe the Detective: The Curious Circumstances Behind "The Mystery of Marie Roget"'', and ''Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution''. His books ''Midnight Dreary'' and ''Moonlight: Abraham Lincoln and the Almanac Trial'' were nominated for
Edgar Awards, and ''Midnight Dreary'' and ''The Shadows Rise: Abraham Lincoln and the Ann Rutledge Legend'' were both finalists for the Lincoln Prize.
His only award-winning publication was ''Poe the Detective: The Curious Circumstances Behind "The Mystery of Marie Roget"'', which won an Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime in 1969.
After over 60 years in New York City, Walsh retired with his wife, Dorothy, to
Monroe, Wisconsin, where he continued to publish books and write articles, mostly about Monroe and
Green County history.
He died on March 19, 2015, in a Monroe hospital, leaving behind nine unpublished texts, on such wide-ranging topics as
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
,
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
,
Robert Frost, the
Shroud of Turin,
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
, and two mystery novels. His
obituary reported that he was writing just one day prior to his death.
Bibliography
* ''The Bones of Saint Peter: The First Full Account of the Discovery of the Apostle's Tomb''
* ''This Brief Tragedy: Unravelling the Todd-Dickinson Affair''
* ''Dagger of the Mind: Solving the Mystery of Shakespeare's Death''
* ''Darkling I Listen: The Last Days and Death of John Keats''
* ''Emily Dickinson in Love: The Case for Otis Lord''
* ''The Execution of Major Andre''
* ''The First Book of Physical Fitness''
* ''First Flight: The Untold Story of the Wright Brothers''
* ''The Hidden Life of Emily Dickinson: A Biography''
* ''Into My Own: The English Years of Robert Frost, 1912–1915''
* ''The Letters of Francis Thompson''
* ''The Man Who Buried Jesus: A Novel''
* ''Memoirs of a Middle Aged Chancer''
* ''Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe'' (
Edgar Award nominee in the Best Critical/Biographical Work category;
Lincoln Prize The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, founded by the late Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman in partnership with Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, is administered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for Ameri ...
finalist
)
* ''Moonlight: Abraham Lincoln and the Almanac Trial'' (
Edgar Award nominee in the Best Fact Crime category
)
* ''The Night Casey Was Born: The True Story Behind the Great American Ballad "Casey at the Bat"''
* ''Night on Fire: The First Complete Account of John Paul Jones's Greatest Battle''
* ''Olympic Games (First Book)''
* ''One Day at Kitty Hawk: The Untold Story of the Wright Brothers and the Airplane''
* ''Plumes in the Dust: The Love Affair of Edgar Allan Poe and Fanny Osgood''
* ''Poe the Detective: The Curious Circumstances Behind "The Mystery of Marie Roget"'' (
Edgar Award winner in the Best Fact Crime category
)
*
The Reader's Digest Bible (leader of team of 7 editors)
* ''The Shadows Rise: Abraham Lincoln and the Ann Rutledge Legend'' (
Lincoln Prize The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize, founded by the late Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman in partnership with Gabor Boritt, Director Emeritus of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College, is administered by the Gilder Lehrman Institute for Ameri ...
finalist
)
* ''The Shroud: The Authoritative, Comprehensive and Concise Report on the Single Most Fascinating Artifact in the Christian World''
* ''The Sinking of the'' ''USS'' Maine'', February 15, 1898: The Incident That Triggered the Spanish–American War.''
* ''Strange Harp, Strange Symphony: The Life of Francis Thompson''
* ''The Summer Olympics (A First Book)''
* ''Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution''
* ''Walking Shadows: Orson Welles, William Randolph Hearst, and'' Citizen Kane
* ''When the Laughing Stopped: The Strange, Sad Death of Will Rogers''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsh, John
1927 births
2015 deaths
American people of Irish descent
American biblical scholars
Writers from Manhattan
People from Monroe, Wisconsin
Catholics from New York (state)
Catholics from Wisconsin
American expatriates in Italy