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New book hopes to keep Billy Graham's legacy alive for future generations

By Allison Latos, wsoctv.com
By Allison Latos, wsoctv.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. — People around the world have been changed by famed evangelist Billy Graham’s ministry for the past 60 years and has been named of the nation’s most admired people for years.

[BILLY GRAHAM COVERAGE: Billy Graham one of the 10 most admired men in U.S. for 59th time]

Ann Wills, a religious studies professor at Davidson College, is one of the editors of “American Pilgrim,” a new book about Graham.

Wills and a team of scholars spent years researching Graham, not to write a biography like many others, but to examine how the evangelist and his ministry evolved and what influenced those changes.

“His own journey from a pretty conservative, fire-brand evangelist to kind of a statesman,” Wills said.

But despite Graham’s worldwide ministry, many millennials may not know of him.

“This is somebody who is probably not the first person someone of my daughter’s generation may think of when they think of public figures or even religious figures,” Wills said.

[BILLY GRAHAM COVERAGE: Gov. McCrory signs bill for Billy Graham statue]

Channel 9 anchor Allison Latos asked some students on Davidson’s campus if they knew Graham, but most said they hadn’t heard of him or knew much about the reverend.

Wills said she might use “American Pilgrim” to teach young people about Graham’s work spreading the gospel and that there’s more to faith than some first impressions.

“There’s a lot more complication to religious commitment than they may get from briefly looking at the news and how polarized things are,” Wills said.

Wills is also writing a biography about Graham’s late wife, Ruth, and her influence in the ministry. She died June 10, 2007.

Graham turns 99 in November.

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