Richard Ostling

Richard N. Ostling (born July 14, 1940, in

Endicott, New York Endicott is a village in Broome County, New York, United States. The population was 13,392 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Binghamton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The village is named after Henry B. Endicott, a founding member of the End ...

) is a journalist who reports on religious topics. He was a senior correspondent for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' and president of the

Religion Newswriters Association The Religion News Association (RNA) is an American non-profit professional association which seeks to promote better reporting on religion in the news media and to provide help and support to journalists who cover religion. It was founded in 1949 a ...

. Once a senior editor of ''

The Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'' is the weekly student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other stu ...

'', he graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and holds master's degrees in journalism (

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

) and religion (

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

) along with an honorary

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

degree from Gordon College. He is listed in Who's Who in America. He has conducted religious interviews on at least four continents. Richard Ostling previously reported for the ''The News Journal, Morning News and Evening Journal'' and ''Christianity Today'' as well as once being the chief religion writer for the Associated Press, where he spent eight years. In over 27 years at ''Time'', he has written a number of cover stories. He has broadcast on CBS Radio. He has reported regularly for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Over the course of his career, he has interviewed several notable religious figures such as Billy Graham, the Dalai Lama, the late Mother Teresa and Cardinal Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI). He authored many of the ''Time'' magazine stories on the rise of fundamentalist Christianity, including cover stories on Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart. Ostling was the co-author, with Bernard Nathanson, of ''Aborting America: A History of the Abortion Rights Movement in the United States''. Richard Ostling and his wife had two children, Margaret and Elizabeth. The St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, New York#Center for Religious Inquiry, Center for Religious Inquiry has called Richard Ostling "one of the most distinguished and honored writers on religion in America." A review in ''The New York Times'' called ''Mormon America: The Power and the Promise'' "eminently fair, well researched and exhaustive." "His distinctions include a Pulitzer Prize nomination; the American Academy of Religion, Supple and Templeton prizes; and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Religion Newswriters Association."

Joan Ostling

Joan K. Ostling (June 29, 1939 – January 11, 2009) was an assistant professor of English and journalism at Nyack College, as well as having taught at several other evangelical colleges. She also co-authored a comprehensive bibliography of books by and about C. S. Lewis. Joan Ostling earned master's degrees in English and political science, and was a writer and editor for the US Information Agency in Washington, DC. Joan Ostling died of breast cancer on January 11, 2009 at her home in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

References

External links

Religion Q & A
Richard Ostlings blog at Patheos *
Faith without Caricature
a critique by a Mormon reviewer, Raymond Takashi Swenson {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostling, Richard And Joan Living people Time (magazine) people People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Critics of Mormonism University of Michigan alumni Year of birth missing (living people) The Michigan Daily alumni Religion journalists