''The Cross and the Switchblade'' is a

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

book written by the Rev.

David Wilkerson David Ray Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011) was an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book '' The Cross and the Switchblade''. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, and founding pastor of t ...

with

John and Elizabeth Sherrill John Lewis Sherrill (August 2, 1923, Covington, Tennessee - December 2, 2017) and Elizabeth "Tib" Sherrill (born February 14, 1928, Hollywood, California) are Christian writers. They have co-authored a number of best-selling books, including: *'' Go ...

, published by

Bernard Geis Associates Bernard J. Geis (August 30, 1909 – January 8, 2001) was an American editor and publisher who founded the now-defunct Bernard Geis Associates, which published and promoted several best-sellers in the 1960s and 70s, including Jacqueline Susann's ...

in 1963.

Summary

In 1958,

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

pastor

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

is touched by an article in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' about seven teenagers who are members of a criminal gang. Alone and with little money, he goes to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, sometimes at the risk of his life, to talk about

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

with members of

street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

. There, Wilkerson met

Nicky Cruz Nicky Cruz (born December 6, 1938) is a Puerto Rican Christian evangelist, the founder of Nicky Cruz Outreach, an evangelistic Christian ministry. He was also once the director of Teen Challenge, serving under David Wilkerson before founding ano ...

, a member of the "

Mau Maus Mau Maus was the name of a 1950s street gang in New York City. The book and the adapted film '' The Cross and the Switchblade'' and biography ''Run Baby Run'' document the life of its most famous leader Nicky Cruz. Their name was derived from t ...

" street gang.

Reception

The book became a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

, with more than 15 million copies distributed in over 30 languages.

Adaptations

In 1970, a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

adaptation was released, starring

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer and actor. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He sold more than 45 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and appeared in mo ...

as David Wilkerson and

Erik Estrada Henry Enrique Estrada (born March 16, 1949) is an American actor and police officer. He is known for his co-starring lead role as California Highway Patrol officer Francis (Frank) Llewelyn "Ponch" Poncherello in the police drama television series ...

(in his screen debut) as

, the teen gang member whose life was transformed by Wilkerson's ministry. Geoff King, Claire Molloy, Yannis Tzioumakis, ''American Independent Cinema: Indie, Indiewood and Beyond'', Routledge, USA, 2013, p. 188

References

External links

* * Books about Christianity Gangs in New York City Non-fiction crime books 1962 non-fiction books Collaborative non-fiction books Non-fiction books adapted into films {{crime-book-stub

Summary

Reception

Adaptations

See also

References

External links