Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee was born Aimee Elizabeth Kennedy in 1890 in Ontario, Canada. Aimee’s first husband, Robert Semple, was a missionary who died in China in 1910. After his death, Aimee and her daughter moved back to the United States, where she married Harold McPherson in 1912, and had a son in 1913. Aimee began traveling and preaching throughout the United States and Canada. She attracted a large crowd and was widely known as ‘sister.’ Her sermons were broadcasted on the radio. The citizens of Los Angeles were stunned to learn on May 18, 1926, Aimee had disappeared while swimming near Venice Beach. The disappearance engrossed many people coming together to find her with some even dying while looking for her, but she was not found. After 32 days, Aimee stumbled out of the desert near Douglass, Arizona, claiming to have been kidnapped, tortured, drugged, and held for ransom in a shack in Mexico. It was only after the kidnapers became careless, when she managed to escape and walked for about 13 hours back to civilization. There had been no evidence of a 13 hour hike, nor was the shack that she claimed to have been held in ever found. There was no explanation of her disappearing in broad daylight in a swimsuit and coming back fully clothed. The judge charged her with obstruction of justice at the outcome of her trial on August 3, 1926.
An Evangelist Drowns by Upton Sinclair
Through green-white breakers swift I leap,
Sun-sparkled seas by body keep;
Bearer of Gospel-Glory I
With singing angels in my sky,
And earthly chorus at command,
The trumpets of my silver band!
The cripples to my temple crowd,
I heal them, and they shout aloud.
A thousand miles my raptures go
Upon my magic radio.
Time, space and flesh I rise above,
I turn them into singing love…
What's this? A terror-spasm grips
My heart-strings, and my reason slips.
Oh, God, it cannot be that I,
The bearer of Thy Word, should die!
My letters waiting in the tent!
The loving messenger I sent!
My daughter's voice, my mother's kiss!
My pulpit-notes on Genesis!
Oh, count the souls I saved for Thee,
My Savior-wilt Thou not save me?
Ten thousand to my aid would run,
Bring me my magic microphone!
Send me an angel, or a boat…
The senseless waters fill her throat.
Ten million tons of waters hide
A woman's form, her Faith deride;
While thousands weep upon the shore,
And searchlights seek…and breakers roar…
Oh, gallant souls that grope for light
Through matter's blind and lonely night!
Oh, pity our minds that seek to know
That which is so--
And piteously have forgot
That which is not!
Upton Sinclair
1926
Sun-sparkled seas by body keep;
Bearer of Gospel-Glory I
With singing angels in my sky,
And earthly chorus at command,
The trumpets of my silver band!
The cripples to my temple crowd,
I heal them, and they shout aloud.
A thousand miles my raptures go
Upon my magic radio.
Time, space and flesh I rise above,
I turn them into singing love…
What's this? A terror-spasm grips
My heart-strings, and my reason slips.
Oh, God, it cannot be that I,
The bearer of Thy Word, should die!
My letters waiting in the tent!
The loving messenger I sent!
My daughter's voice, my mother's kiss!
My pulpit-notes on Genesis!
Oh, count the souls I saved for Thee,
My Savior-wilt Thou not save me?
Ten thousand to my aid would run,
Bring me my magic microphone!
Send me an angel, or a boat…
The senseless waters fill her throat.
Ten million tons of waters hide
A woman's form, her Faith deride;
While thousands weep upon the shore,
And searchlights seek…and breakers roar…
Oh, gallant souls that grope for light
Through matter's blind and lonely night!
Oh, pity our minds that seek to know
That which is so--
And piteously have forgot
That which is not!
Upton Sinclair
1926
Citation
"Aimee Semple McPherson." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 31 Jan. 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson>.
Robertson, Anna. "Sinclair on Aimee." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. 1999. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug00/robertson/asm/sinclair.html>.
"Aimee Semple McPherson." The Foursquare Church. The Foursquare Church, 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.foursquare.org/about/aimee_semple_mcpherson>.
Robertson, Anna. "Sinclair on Aimee." American Studies @ The University of Virginia. 1999. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug00/robertson/asm/sinclair.html>.
"Aimee Semple McPherson." The Foursquare Church. The Foursquare Church, 2012. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://www.foursquare.org/about/aimee_semple_mcpherson>.