Richard Holton Cracroft (June 28, 1936 – September 20, 2012) was an author and emeritus professor of English at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

(BYU) where he held the title of Nan Osmond Grass Professor in English and spent time as head of BYU's English department and as dean of the College of Humanities. He directed BYU's American Studies Program (1989–1994), directed the Center for the Study of Christian Values in Literature and edited the seminal ''

A Believing People ''A Believing People: Literature of the Latter-day Saints'', edited by Richard H. Cracroft and Neal E. Lambert, and published in 1974, was "the first significant anthology of the literature of the Latter-day Saints" and began the establishment of ...

'' anthology, a landmark in Mormon letters. His devotion to the field is most famously summed up in his

Association for Mormon Letters Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

presidential address "Attuning the Authentic Mormon Voice: Stemming the Sophic Tide in LDS Literature" and his long-running column "Book Nook" in ''

BYU Magazine Brigham Young University (BYU) is a private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsored by the Church of ...

'' which demonstrated the breadth of Mormon literature to a wide audience.Richard Cracroft: An Authentic Mormon Voice--A Low-Tech Tribute
by Scott Hales, ''The Low-Tech World''. Sept. 21, 2012. Accessed Sept. 21, 2012. As a young man Cracroft served an

LDS LDS may refer to: Organizations Religion * Latter Day Saint movement (LDS movement), a collection of independent church groups **The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest group within the Latter Day Saint movement * Latvijas ...

mission in the Swiss-Austrian mission. Cracroft received his bachelor's degree in English from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

in 1961; an M.A. in English in 1963. He then went on to receive his Ph.D. from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1970. Along with Neal Lambert, Cracroft was the editor of an anthology of Latter-day Saint literature entitled ''A Believing People''. He also has been the president of the

, receiving Life-Long Membership; in 2011 he received the Petitt-Smithe Award for Outstanding Contributions to Mormon Letters. Besides writing a large number of literary essays, reviews, Cracroft wrote a short story entitled ''That My Soul Might See''. He also wrote and edited 13 books, three of them collections of 20th-century literary biographies of Western American authors, and sponsored several conferences about literature and belief, among them, ''Spiritual Frontiers: Beliefs and Values in the Literary West'' as well as a work on

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

's Western-themed writing. Cracroft has also written articles on European literary views of the American west in the 19th century. He was a founding editor of '' Literature and Belief''. Cracroft was a member of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, in which he has served as a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

stake president A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine ha ...

of the Provo Utah East Stake and

mission president Mission president is a Priesthood (LDS Church), priesthood leadership position in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A mission president presides over a geographic area known as a Mission (LDS Church), mission and the M ...

, among other callings. He was president of the

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Mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

from 1986-1989. Cracroft and his wife, the former Janice Alger, are the parents of three children.

References

External links

*
Maxwell Institute bio''Mormon Times'', April 25, 2008
at ''

Meridian Magazine Scot Facer Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor are the founders of the Latter-day Saint oriented website ''Meridian Magazine''. They have also issued a revised edition of Lucy Mack Smith's history of Joseph Smith which reintroduces material from Lu ...

''
Scientific Commons entryarticle that mentions works by Cracroft
*Cracroft's
The Humor of Mormon Seriousness: A Celestial Balancing Act
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cracroft, Richard H. 1936 births American Mormon missionaries in Austria University of Utah alumni Brigham Young University faculty 2012 deaths Mission presidents (LDS Church) American Mormon missionaries in Switzerland University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American academics of English literature American leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saints from Utah Latter Day Saints from Wisconsin Mormon literature Association for Mormon Letters people