Below is a never before publicly shared personal letter from exposed fabricator of fantastic faith-promoting fiction, Mormon General Authority Paul H. Dunn, written to former believing (and now ex-member) of the LDS Church, Claire Ferguson. It is shared here with her express permission.
The letter was written by Dunn the year he was outted for having manufactured stories about his supposed World War II and professional baseball exploits—tall tales that led to Dunn being forced to publicly apologize, and fade into shameful retreat from the LDS limelight. His two-age letter to Claire, typed on official Mormon Church stationary, was an attempted effort on his part to defend and rationaalize his exaggerations and falsifications. Claire provided me access to Dunn’s original letter to her, which also contained a personally inscribed P.S. from Dunn.
She explains the background of Dunn’s letter (prompted by an initial letter from her to Dunn), as follows:
“Timeline: I had a subscription to the ‘Church News’ which I would have received a week or two after it was published, approximately mid-November [1991]. I would have written to him [Dunn] a couple of weeks later, late November/early December. And he replied 18 December [1991].
“This was before I had Internet so it was all by snail mail.
“From memory, my letter to him went along the lines of the following. I've clearly forgotten some of it, as I'd never write such a short letter!”
Her initial letter to Dunn, as best she can recall it:
“Dear Elder Dunn,
“I felt compelled to write to you to express my thanks for all I have learnt from you and to extend my love and appreciation. You have always been my favourite General Authority and throughout my young teenage years your General Conference talks were almost the only ones I really listened to, understood and enjoyed.
“Having read your open letter to members of the Church my reaction is that, although your stories may have been less than accurate, I believe your motive was to inspire faith and bring the listener closer to the savior. May I thank you for the way you have positively influenced me and my life.
“I have shared my view with my LDS friends and they agree!
“With best wishes,
"Claire Ferguson"
Claire then provides the text of “[h]is [Dunn’s] reply to me,” which she describes as being “[o]n personalised letterhead from "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 47 East South Temple Street, Salt Lake City Utah”
The full content of Dunn’s response letter:
“Paul H. Dunn
“December 18, 1991
“Claire E Ferguson
[UK address]
“’Dear Sister Ferguson,
“’Thank you for your very kind and thoughtful letter. Your expression of love and support is greatly appreciated.
“’My open letter to members of the Church came as a response to certain allegations made by the news media over a number of months, contributed by some who are critical of me personally and would try to harm the Church. Implications from the allegations suggest that the truthfulness of my stories over the years is in question. The fact is that during approximately forty years as a teacher and speaker, I have used hundreds of illustrations from my own background and experience. The events which I have described from my own life, including my war assignments and professional minor-league baseball affiliations were actual experiences. I wish to clarify that I have never fabricated, never created fictional stories about myself. I have experienced the events I have related.
“’In the details of a small number of stories I have not been as careful as I should have been about exact accuracy. I have, on occasion, embellished a story, and a few times have put real events together which I felt at the time would make a more forceful point in teaching a principle. In two incidents, I changed the names of companions involved in order to protect their reputations. My motives have always been to teach principles and to lift people rather than to deceive or to aggrandize my own circumstances.
“’Because of those in the media who do not always report the actual facts and because such information tends to stimulate discussion and rumors, I felt that an open letter to members of the Church would be appropriate. I did and do want to apologize for any misunderstanding that has occurred as a result of such publicity and to seek forgiveness from anyone that might have been offended.
“Again I thank you for your understanding and for taking the time to share. Your sentiments have touched me deeply.
“’With much appreciation,
[signed]
“’Paul H Dunn’
“Handwritten postscript [from Dunn]:
“Please remember me to your wonderful friends and associates and have a Very Merry Christmas!”
_____
Compare Dunn’s defensive private letter above (to an individual believing Mormon Church member) against his seemingly contrite open letter (to members of the Mormon Church at large), issued only two months earlier:
"October 23, 1991
"I have been accused of various activities unbecoming a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"I confess that I have not always been accurate in my public talks and writings. Furthermore, I have indulged in other activities inconsistent with the high and sacred office which I have held.
"For all of these I feel a deep sense of remorse, and ask forgiveness of any whom I may have offended.
"My brethren of the General Authorities, over a long period of time, have conducted in-depth investigations of the charges made against me. They have weighed the evidence. They have censured me and placed a heavy penalty upon me.
"I accept their censure and the imposed penalty, and pledge to conduct my life in such a way as to merit their confidence and full fellowship.
"In making these acknowledgements, I plead for the understanding of my brethren and sisters throughout the Church and give assurance of my determination so to live as to bring added respect to the cause I deeply love, and honor to the Lord who is my Redeemer.
"Sincerely,
Paul H. Dunn”
(“Elder Dunn Offers Apology for Errors, Admits Censure,” in “Deseret News,” 27 October 1991, at:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/190407/ELDER-DUNN-OFFERS-APOLOGY-FOR-ERRORS-ADMITS-CENSURE.html?pg=all)
In publishing the letter, the LDS Church-owned “Deseret News” offered its predictable pro-Mormon spin:
“In an open letter to LDS Church members, Elder Paul H. Dunn apologized Saturday for not having "always been accurate" in telling his popular war and baseball stories, and he acknowledged being disciplined for it by Church authorities . . . .
“Elder Dunn, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, asked the church's First Presidency and Council of the Twelve for the opportunity to send an open letter to church members. The letter was published in Saturday's issue of the ‘Church News.’ . . .
“Church spokesman Don LeFevre said Saturday that the nature of the penalty is ‘an internal matter, and we don't discuss such matters’ publicly.
“Elder Dunn has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment. He concluded his letter by pleading for the understanding of Church members and assured them of his ‘determination so to live as to bring added respect to the cause I deeply love, and honor to the Lord who is my Redeemer.’"
Dunn died of a heart attack seven years later on 9 January 1998, at the age of 73. Virtually no mention is made in a quick, post-mortem article about his life published in the March 1998 edition of the LDS Church-owned “Ensign” magazine. In a statement about Dunn’s life and times, the LDS First Presidency said only this:
“He was a longtime teacher and advocate of youth and served as a mission president and General Authority of the Church over a period of 34 years . . . We extend our sympathy and love to his wife, Jeanne, and family.”
The article did mention, however, that Dunn “was named Father of the Year in 1972”
(“Paul H. Dunn Passes Away,” in “Ensign” magazine, “News of the Church” section, March 1998, at:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1998/03/news-of-the-church?lang=eng)
What Dunn should have been named as in 1991 (the year he wrote both his whitewash letter to Claire Ferguson and his puffball apology to the Church at large) was “Fabricator of the Year.”
_____
I had my own experiences with those in high Mormon places who wanted to aid Dunn in whitewashing his lies--and who actually asked me to help them do it.
As to how that game was played, enter Mormon Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, who tried to get me to run interference for Dunn by asking me to head off press inquiries into his bogus bio.
Several years ago, I was going through some old files and came across some recollections I had written down about a phone call I received from Hatch requesting my assistance in protecting Dunn from media scrutiny. My account of the Hatch call was originally intended as part of a presentation I gave at a Sunstone symposium shortly after leaving the Mormon Church, but because of time constraints, it was left unmentioned.
Below is the account from the prepared text:
"One day [Utah Senator Orrin Hatch] called me asking a favor. [Note: Hatch’s phone call to me came in the spring of 1990, when I was then working at the "Morning News Tribune" in Tacoma WA, before returning to my previous newspaper of employment, the “Arizona Republic” in Phoenix]. He had heard that my colleagues at the 'Arizona Republic' were investigating allegations that Elder Paul H. Dunn had manufactured claims about his war and baseball careers. He asked me to prevail on my reporter friends to kill the investigation.
"The Senator was making the request, he said, because Paul Dunn was 'a good friend' whom he wished to protect from Lynn Packer, a Mormon journalist who had made the charges, [and] whom Hatch accused of having 'an axe to grind against the Church.'
"I felt very uncomfortable and asked Senator Hatch if he had looked into the allegations against Elder Dunn to see if they were true. He admitted he had not. I told him I could not, in good conscience, interfere with the developing story. The phone conversation quickly ended, with Senator Hatch saying he might get back to me. He never did. The story, of course, later ran and Elder Dunn confessed he had, indeed, exaggerated his exploits."
The Mormon Church leadership must have known about Dunn's dubious stories long before he was finally exposed as a consummate fraud.
As an undergraduate political science major at BYU back in the 1970s, I had a poli sci professor named Ray Hillam who had edited a book, entitled, "A Time to Kill," featuring wartime episodes from the lives of Mormon soldiers in combat. It was compiled and published before Dunn was undone. I asked Hillam why, during the preparation of the book, he did not include any of Dunn's fantastic war tales.
Hillam told me that he had done some investigating into Dunn's claims, including speaking with sources inside the Church (whom he did not name), and the consensus was that the exploits were so fantastic that their credibility was highly questionable. Rather than pursue the matter further at that time, Hillam told me he just decided to drop any idea of publishing Dunn's amazing action-packed accounts.
For what it's worth, it seems highly unlikely to me that skeptical opinion of Dunn's tales had not been voiced within earshot of His Fakiness's superiors. Put more precisely, the GAs had to have known that Dunn's tales were suspicious, at best, and lies, at worst. Yet, they did nothing until the media blew the whistle on him--then quietly retired him without firing a shot.
Here is what "Sunstone" magazine reported on Lynn Packer's findings, as they eventually appeared in the "Arizona Republic":
"On 16 February 1991, 'The Arizona Republic' reported that many of Elder Paul H. Dunn’s baseball and war stories had serious factual problems. The highlights of the report were that Harold Brown did not die in Dunn’s arms as Dunn had repeatedly told audiences, but is still living in Odessa, Missouri; and that Dunn never played for the St. Louis Cardinals.
"The story was printed in newspapers across the nation and was widely discussed by the Utah Saints. Some were angry at Elder Dunn; others defended him. Interestingly, some of the strongest hostility was directed toward Lynn Packer, the reporter who uncovered the story and sold his research to the 'Republic' and to a Salt Lake television station.
"There was also a lot of finger pointing among the press as to why the Utah media sat on the story and waited for the 'Republic' to break it.
"In a statement issued at the time of the 'Republic story,' the LDS church stated that it could not confirm the allegations in the 'Republic.' It did affirm that Dunn was made an emeritus general authority for health reasons. Reporters contacted Dunn, who expressed sorrow over the pain the revelations had caused the Church and said his stories were created simply to illustrate moral points, as did Jesus’ parables . . ..
"As expected, the Mormon folk culture immediately began assuaging the tension of the event through humor. Perhaps the most common joke was about document forger Mark Hofmann making Paul Dunn Cardinals baseball cards. Other jokes placed Dunn in unlikely settings, such as catching BYU Heisman quarterback Ty Detmer’s first touchdown pass. Several individuals submitted unsolicited cartoons to 'Sunstone.' 'Sunstone' believes that this event should be confronted so as not to be forgotten and perhaps repeated. The articles we have gathered concerning the Paul Dunn episode are grouped into three general sections: (1) reprints of news accounts which reported the event, including the original 'Arizona Republic' story; (2) an edited version of the original Lynn Packer story, which he wrote for the 1989 Salt Lake 'Sunstone' symposium but did not give because 'Sunstone' felt the story needed to be put into a broader context; and (3) essays responding to the episode.
"Examples of the community effort to deal with the event through humor are interspersed throughout the articles. Although this episode is a painful one, we believe that a sympathetic yet thorough inquiry into the matter is salutory, helping us to become a stronger and more honest community."
(To read the above-mentioned examinations, see the lead article, "The Paul Dunn Stories," by "Sunstone's" editors, September 1991, p. 28, followed by the afore-noted reprinted investigative findings, at:
https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/083-28-34.pdf)
Conclusion: Done is Completely Undone by His Deliberately Deceptive, Dishonest and Diverting Private Denials
In summary, the following were the tactics employed by an obviously out-of-touch, out-of-excuses, out-and-out liar, Paul H. Dunn, in his unrepentant, rationliazing private letter to Claire Ferguson:
1. Claim That He Never Told Made-Up Stories About Himself
Even in the face of overwhelming evidence that he had concocted his disputed stories out of thin air, and even after publicly confessing in October 1991 that he had “not always been accurate in my public talks and writings,” barely two months later Dunn was insisting in private correspondence to a then-believing Church member that “I have never fabricated, never created fictional stories about myself. I have experienced the events I have related.”
2. Blame His Problems on the Media and the Enemies of the Mormon Church Who Use the Media
Dunn explained away his supposedly sincere “come-clean” confession which appeared in the “Church News” in October 1991 as an “appropriate” step “[b]ecause of those in the media who do not always report the actual facts and because such information tends to stimulate discussion and rumors. “ Dunn claimed that “certain allegations” made about his sensationalized stories had been “contributed by some who are critical of me personally and would try to harm the Church.”
3. Issue a Non-Apologetic Apology to True Believers
Dunn wrote in his private letter that he “want[ed] to apologize for any misunderstanding that has occurred as a result of such publicity and to seek forgiveness from anyone that might have been offended.”
4. Justify Altering Facts in His Stories to Protect the Best Interests of Others
Dunn defended changing names of real people featured in his false stories “ in order to protect their reputations.”
5. Excuse False Elements of His Stories in the Name of Being Dramatic in Order to Making More Forceful Points
Dunn admitted that “in the details of a small number of stories I have not been as careful as I should have been about exact accuracy” and that “ on occasion, [I have] embellished a story, and a few times have put real events together which I felt at the time would make a more forceful point in teaching a principle. “
6. Insist That His Intents Were Pure
Dunn declared that his “motives have always been to teach principles and to lift people rather than to deceive or to aggrandize my own circumstances”
The bottom line, all you TBM brothers and sisters, is that Paul H. Dunn was a bottom-feeding, B.S.-blowing liar for the Lord.
Edited 11 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/2014 03:01AM by steve benson.