Join us for a panel discussion about a mysterious incident in 1977, in which an anonymous writer printed hundreds of pamphlets refuting Jerald and Sandra Tanner’s Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, placed them in a storage locker, then mailed the key and a letter to bookseller Sam Weller, asking him to distribute them. The story of what happened next—told from three different perspectives of the event’s key players—unfolds in episodes published in three Signature Books titles: Ronald V. Huggins’s Lighthouse: Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Despised and Beloved Critics of Mormonism (2022); Confessions of a Mormon Historian: The Diaries of Leonard J. Arrington, 1971–1997 (2018), edited by Gary James Bergera; and D. Michael Quinn’s memoir, Chosen Path (forthcoming this year), annotated by Barbara Jones Brown et al. Panelists Sandra Tanner and Huggins, Bergera, and Brown will share what each of these participants had to say about the incident, then evaluate what it all meant and what the incident said about Mormon studies in the 1970s.

These books will be available for sale and author signings or, in the case of Chosen Path, for pre-order. Originals of the now-infamous 1977 pamphlet, “Jerald and Sandra Tanner’s Distorted View of Mormonism: A Response to Mormonism—Shadow or Reality?, by a Latter-day Saint Historian,” will also be available.

Please Note: This event will be held on the second floor of the Signature Books offices, and currently, there is no elevator, so walking up stairs is required of those planning to attend. Parking is available on the west side of the building and on the street. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.