2013

Archive of Celebrity and Notables Letters Regarding God

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:30,000.00 - 40,000.00 USD
Archive of Celebrity and Notables Letters Regarding God

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Auction Date:2016 Sep 26 @ 13:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Remarkable collection of over 450 letters by celebrities and notable figures from a wide variety of fields, dated from 1976 to 1983, all written in response to the simple question: “Do you believe in God?” Represented within the collection are noteworthy actors, actresses, musicians, athletes, politicians, religious figures, scientists, businessmen, and more. The letters were compiled by Paul Rifkin, who wrote to prominent people posing as a fifth-grade student doing a school project. After receiving responses to his inquiry, he replied to reveal himself and ask for permission to publish their answers. With the approval of many respondents, Rifkin edited a compilation entitled The God Letters, published by Warner Books in 1986; a softcover copy of the book accompanies the collection. In overall very good to fine condition. Due to the large quantity a few other secretarial and/or printed signatures may be included. Interested parties are encouraged to view the collection in person at our offices or call us with specific inquiries, as this collection is sold as is and no returns will be accepted.A complete collection of images is available here: (A-D), (E-K), (L-Q), (R-Z)

A small sampling of these letters:

Mother Teresa: “Faith is more important to me than life itself because without it there would be no fullness of life.”

Cat Stevens, signed “Yusuf Islam”: “I’m sure you will find that hidden inside my music was the soul of a seeker, and I am now happy to say that I have found what I was looking for…I decided to embrace Islam and worship Allah, Lord of the Universe, Creator of life and death, and to seek true knowledge of Him.”

Ayn Rand: “No, I do not believe in God.”

Charles Schulz: “Your question is one that is most intriguing, but I am afraid is also much too profound to be answered in a simple manner.”

Jimmy Carter: “I have believed in God since I was a young man.”

Barbara Bush: “I feel God’s presence often but especially at the times of birth and death.”

Ted Kennedy: “The belief in a source of strength greater than our own can bring not only courage and comfort during difficult times, but also the humility to embrace the truly meaningful things in life.”

Francis Crick: “No, I do not believe in God.”

James D. Watson: “I do not believe in God!”

Muddy Waters: “I have always valued my religious beliefs as being extremely personal and therefore do not make public statements about my feelings.”

George Foreman: “After my last boxing match on returning to the dressing room I lost my life yes, DIED…I said, I do not care if this is death I stell believe in God. When I spoke dose words there was once again life in my body.”

Allen Ginsberg: “God is a pickle…If pickle wants to be god, pickle will be god. He’ll be god maybe 10,000,000 years in the highest God Realms. But then he’ll get sick of being pickle. So then he’ll decide a permanent self is not necessary.”


Highlight list (plus those quoted):
Ralph Abernathy, Ansel Adams, Arthur Ashe, Joan Baez, Joey Bishop, Mel Blanc, Frank Borman, William F. Buckley, Jr., Anthony Burgess, John Cage, Erskine Caldwell, Frank Capra, Harry Chapin, Cesar Chavez, John Cheever, Mark W. Clark, Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Crichton, Bing Crosby, James Dickey, James H. Doolittle, Milos Forman, Arthur Goldberg, Wayne Gretzky, Ron Guidry, Lee Iacocca, Christopher Isherwood, Ken Kesey, Norman Lear, Doris Lessing, Claude Levi-Strauss, Karl Malden, Marcel Marceau, Rod McKuen, Larry McMurtry, Margaret Mead, Stirling Moss, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Floyd Patterson, Linus Pauling, Sam Peckinpah, Irving Penn, George Plimpton, Rusty Schweickart, Vin Scully, Pete Seeger, Georges Simenon, B. F. Skinner, Benjamin Spock, John Updike, Peter Ustinov, Max Von Sydow, Elie Wiesel, John Wooden, and Loretta Young.


Complete list:
Ralph Abernathy
Ansel Adams
Sherman Adams
Edward Albee
Robert Altman
Kenneth Anger
Arthur Ashe
Edward Asner (secretarial)
Lew Ayres
Charles Azavour
Joan Baez
Pearl Bailey (secretarial)
Howard Baker (autopen)
James A. Baker (autopen)
Russell Baker
Bob Barker
Rona Barrett
Anne Baxter
Birch Bayh
Peter Beard
Ralph Bellamy
Joan Bennett
Robby Benson
Thomas Berger
Rudolph Bing
Joey Bishop
Mel Blanc
Bill Blass
Henry Bloch
Erma Bombeck
Julian Bond (secretarial)
Simon Bond
Victor Borge
Frank Borman
Bill Bradley (autopen)
Oscar Brand
George S. Brown
H. Rap Brown
Helen Gurley Brown
Phyllis George Brown
Dave Brubeck
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Art Buchwald (secretarial)
William F. Buckley, Jr.
Ellsworth Bunker
Anthony Burgess
Gary Burghoff
Ellen Burstyn (secretarial)
Barbara Bush
George Bush (autopen)
Dick Butkus
Earl Butz
John Byner (secretarial)
Patrick Caddell
Herb Caen
John Cage
Mary Calderone
Erskine Caldwell
Joseph Califano
Roy Campanella (stamped)
Dyan Cannon
Frank Capra
Hoagy Carmichael
Hodding Carter
Jimmy Carter
Lillian Carter
Oleg Cassini
Harry Chapin
Cesar Chavez
Paddy Chayefsky
John Cheever
Anna Chennault
Noam Chomsky
Julie Christie (secretarial)
Michael Cimino
Craig Claiborne
Mark W. Clark
Arthur C. Clarke
Bobby Clarke
William Sloane Coffin (secretarial)
Charles Collingwood
Bob Considine
Norman Cousins
Jacques Cousteau
Archibald Cox
Harvey Cox (secretarial)
Philip Crane
Michael Crichton
Francis Crick
Judith Crist
Bing Crosby
Norm Crosby
Bob Cummings
Mario Cuomo (autopen)
Samuel Dash
Clive Davis
Ossie Davis
Rennie Davis
Pam Dawber
Michael DeBakey
Olivia de Havilland
Ronald Dellums
James Dickey
Bo Diddley
Phyllis Diller
Bob Dole
James H. Doolittle
Nelson Doubleday
Hugh Downs
Robert F. Drinan
Michael Dukakis
David Douglas Duncan
Will Durant
Douglas Edwards
Ralph Edwards
Paul Ehrlich
Milton Eisenhower
Albert Ellis
Werner Erhard
Clifton Fadiman
Mike Farrell
Orval Faubus
Gerry Faust
Jules Feiffer
Bob Feller
Marshall Field
James Fixx
Rhonda Fleming
Betty Ford (autopen)
George Foreman
Milos Forman
Bob Fosse
H. Bruce Franklin
William Fugazy
Martin Gabel
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Roman Gabriel
William Gaines
George Gallup
Stephen Gaskin
Larry Gatlin
John Gavin
Eugene Genovese
Archimedes Giacomantonio
Allen Ginsberg
Ralph Ginzburg
John Glenn (printed signature)
Arthur Goldberg
Harry Golden
Barry Goldwater (autopen)
Pancho Gonzalez
Sandra Good
Mark Goodson
‘Little Anthony’ Gourdine
Katharine Graham
Ella Grasso
Barry Gray
Edith Green
Bud Greenspan
Wayne Gretzky
Paul Grossinger
Ron Guidry
Janet Guthrie
Monty Hall
Marvin Hamlisch
Billy James Hargis
Tom Harmon
Julie Harris
Huntington Hartford
Tom Hayden
William Randolph Hearst, Jr.
Henry Heimlich
Nat Hentoff
John Hersey
Walter Hickel
Al Hirt
Ernest Hollings
Celeste Holm (secretarial)
Paul Horn
Paul Hornung
Ching-yu Hsu
L. Ron Hubbard (stamped)
William Bradford Huie
E. Howard Hunt (unsigned)
Kim Hunter
Tab Hunter
Lee Iacocca
Janis Ian
Marty Ingels (ANS on photo)
Christopher Isherwood
Burl Ives (by Mrs. Ives)
Anne Jackson
Keith Jarrett
Robert Jastrow
Jacob Javits (secretarial)
Peter Jennings
Hamilton Jordan
William Jovanovich
Stacy Keach (secretarial)
Clarence Kelley
Kitty Kelley
Jack Kemp
Edward Kennedy
Deborah Kerr
Walter Kerr
Ken Kesey
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (stamp)
Austin Kiplinger
Charles Kirbo
Eartha Kitt
Calvin Klein
Fletcher Knebel
Edward Koch
Christopher Kraft
Stanley Kramer (unsigned)
Paul Krassner
Juanite Kreps
Stanley Krippner
Bowie Kuhn
William Kunstler
Bert Lance
Walter Lantz (unsigned)
J.H. Lartigue
Tom Lasorda
Paul Laxalt
Norman Lear
Brenda Lee
Ursula LeGuin
Janet Leigh
Lennon Sisters
George Leonard
King Leopold (secretarial)
Doris Lessing (secretary reply)
Julius Lester
Richard Lester
Sam Levenson
Claude Levi-Strauss
Anthony Lewis
Art Linkletter
Sol Linowitz
Marty Liquori
Russell Long
Tina Louise
Henry Luce
Gisele MacKenzie
Shirley MacLaine (secretarial)
Robert MacNeil
Karl Malden
Terry Malick
William Manchester
Michael Manley
Marcel Marceau
Stanley Marcus
Mary Martin
Wink Martindale
Johnny Mathis
Walter Matthau
Peter Matthiessen
Rollo May
Charles McCabe
Mary McCarthy
Paul McCloskey
Roddy McDowall
George McGovern
Mary McGrory
Dorothy McGuire
Floyd McKissick
Rod McKuen
Ed McMahon
Larry McMurtry
Robert McNamara
Margaret Mead
Audrey Meadows (secretarial)
Jayne Meadows
George Meany
David Meltzer
Lorne Michaels (secretarial)
Marvin Miller
Wilbur Mills
Ronnie Milsap
Newton Minow
Marvin Mitchelson
Walter Mondale
Carlos Montoya (wife’s reply)
Dudley Moore
Tad Mosel
Robert Moses
Stirling Moss
Stewart Mott
Bill Moyers
Roger Mudd
Iris Murdoch
Bill Naughton
Scott Nearing
Jacob Needleman
Hildegarde Neff
Bob Newhart
Julie Newmar
Jack Nicklaus
Paul Nitze
Louis Nizer
Conor Cruise O’Brien
Merlin Olsen
Peter O’Malley
Milo O’Shea
Buck Owens
Arnold Palmer
Joseph Papp
Estelle Parsons
Joe Paterno
Floyd Patterson
Pope Paul (secretarial)
Jane Pauley
Linus Pauling
Tom Paxton
Norman Vincent Peale
Drew Pearson
Sam Peckinpah
Irving Penn
Claude Pepper
Charles Percy (autopen)
‘Digger’ Phelps
Marge Piercy
George Plimpton
Norman Podhoretz
Eliot Porter
Charlie Pride
Nathan Pritikin
William Proxmire
Randy Quaid
Ayn Rand
A. Philip Randolph
Maureen Reagan
Ronald Reagan (secretarial)
William Rehnquist (autopen)
James Reston
Frank Reynolds
Malvina Reynolds
Elliot Richardson
David Riesman
Cathy Rigby
John Ritter
Joan Rivers
Lynds Johnson Robb
Joseph Robbie
Oral Roberts
Sugar Ray Robinson
Mrs. Norman Rockwell
Bill Rodgers
Peter Rodino
Carl Rogers
George Romney
Andy Rooney
Reginald Rose
Elisabeth Kubler Ross
Theodore Roszak (secretarial)
James Rouse
Darrell Royal
Dean Rusk
Jane Russell (secretarial)
Mark Russell
Jim Ryun
Carlos Santana (secretarial)
Vincent Sardi
Andrew Sarris
Francesco Scavullo
Dore Schary
Chris Schenkel
Murray Schisgal
Phylis Schlafly
Arthur Schlesinger
Michael Schmidt
Daniel Schorr
Avery Schrieber
Charles Schulz
Richard Schweiker
Rusty Schweickart
Lizabeth Scott
William Scranton
Charles Scribner
Vin Scully
Pete Seeger
Erich Segal
Hubert Selby
Forrest Shaklee
Del Shannon
Bill Sharman
Fulton Sheen
Martin Sheen
Sargent Shriver
Don Shula
Jack Sikma
Alan Sillitoe
Georges Simenon
William Simon
B.F. Skinner
Margaret Chase Smith
William French Smith
Paul Smucker
Tom Sneva
Hank Snow
Jacki Sorenson
Ann Sothern
David Soul
Lawrence Spivak
Benjamin Spock
Robert Stack
Ben Stahl
Maurice Stans
Bart Starr
Kay Starr
Harold Stassen
Roger Staubach
Mary Steenburgen
William Steig
Gloria Steinem (secretarial)
Carl Stern
Cat Stevens
Susan Strasberg
Gerry Studds
Loretta Swit
Barry Switzer
Thomas Szasz
Maxwell Taylor
Edwin Teller (secretary reply)
Mother Teresa
Studs Terkel
Robert Theobald
Lowell Thomas, Jr.
Hunter Thompson
William Irwin Thompson
Ingrid Thulin
Strom Thurmond
John Tower (autopen)
Lee Trevino
Bess Truman
Barbara Tuchman
Jerry Uelsmann
John Updike
Peter Ustinov
Jack Valenti
Richard Valeriani
Charles Van Doren
Cyrus Vance
Gwen Verdon
Max Von Sydow
B.J. Vorster (not signed)
George Wallace (secretarial)
Irving Wallace
Joseph Wambaugh
John Warner
Lesley Ann Warren (secretarial)
Muddy Waters
James D. Watson
Tom Watson
Carl Weathers
Jessamyn West
Betty White
Kevin White
Tom Wicker
Elie Wiesel (secretarial)
Lenny Wilkens
Fred Willard
G. Mennen Williams
Meredith Willson
Paul Winchell
William Winpisinger
Joel-Peter Witkin
John Wooden
Keenan Wynn
Sam Yorty
Andrew Young (stamp)
Burt Young
Loretta Young
Pia Zadora
Efrem Zimbalist
Stephanie Zimbalist
Howard Zinn
Fred Zinnemann
Elmo Zumwalt