Levi S. Peterson

Levi Savage Peterson (born 1933) is a Mormon biographer, essayist and fictionist whose best-known works include a seminal biography of Juanita Brooks, his own autobiography, and his novel The Backslider, "standard for the contemporary Mormon novel." He was born and reared in the Mormon community of Snowflake, Arizona and is an emeritus professor of English at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Denmark. He edited Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought from 2004 to 2008.

Bode and Iris

Articles/Essays – Volume 52, No. 2

Listen to the piece here. It may seem odd that an experienced fornicator like Bode Carpenter would get the girl pregnant in the first place—particularly because he carried a condom in the watch pocket of…

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The Shyster

Articles/Essays – Volume 51, No. 1

Arne met Leanne Holburn at church during his final year in an MBA program at the University of Washington. He found her very attractive. Of medium height, she had sculpted cheeks, an aquiline nose, and…

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Kid Kirby

Articles/Essays – Volume 49, No. 2

His name was Reeves Kirby and he was eighteen that summer. He was small of stature and unlikely to grow bigger. Moreover, he had a mild temperament, blond hair, bland blue eyes, and a downy…

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Road to Damascus

Articles/Essays – Volume 11, No. 4

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The Gift

Articles/Essays – Volume 15, No. 2

On a snowy evening, Gerard de Valois stepped from a tram near Quai Marcellis in the Belgian city of Liege. He positioned his hat more firmly, tucked his scarf tightly into the collar of his…

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Panorama, Drama, and PG at Last: A Woman of Destiny by Orson Scott Card

Articles/Essays – Volume 17, No. 4

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The Third Nephite

Articles/Essays – Volume 19, No. 4

Shortly after sunrise Otis Wadby was driving to work in Circleville. He stayed nights with his son in Junction, his wife having expelled him from his home in Circleville because he had taken up with…

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Juanita Brooks’s Quicksand and Cactus: The Evolution of a Literary Memoir

Articles/Essays – Volume 20, No. 1

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In Defense of a Mormon Erotica

Articles/Essays – Volume 20, No. 4

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Twenty Years with Dialogue: A Tribute to Dialogue

Articles/Essays – Volume 21, No. 2

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Juanita Brooks, My Subject, My Sister

Articles/Essays – Volume 22, No. 1

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Eternity Be Damned? The Impact of Interfaith Vows: Eternity with a Dry-Land Mormon

Articles/Essays – Volume 23, No. 2

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Plight and Promise: Windows on the Sea and Other Stories by Linda Sillitoe

Articles/Essays – Volume 23, No. 4

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My Mother’s House

Articles/Essays – Volume 24, No. 3

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Young at Heart: Set for Life by Judith Freeman

Articles/Essays – Volume 25, No. 3

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Lavina Fielding Anderson and the Power of a Church in Exile

Articles/Essays – Volume 29, No. 4

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My College Years: From the Autobiography of Levi S. Peterson

Articles/Essays – Volume 33, No. 3

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Remarks at the Memorial Service for Eugene England, Provo, Utah. August 25, 2001: Salvaged for Mormonism

Articles/Essays – Volume 35, No. 1

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Brothers

Articles/Essays – Volume 36, No. 2

About a year and a half after Mitch fell, he decided on a comeback climb. Understandably, his wife was less than enthusiastic about it. Everyone agreed the fall should have killed Mitch or, worse, made…

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Thinking Globally: Explorations into a Truly International, Multi-Cultural Church

Articles/Essays – Volume 38, No. 4

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Editor’s Introduction: Celebrating Forty Years of Dialogue

Articles/Essays – Volume 39, No. 1

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“Astonished Each Day”: An Interview with Richard J Van Wagoner Utah Artist

Articles/Essays – Volume 39, No. 2

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Retrospection and Assessment

Articles/Essays – Volume 39, No. 2

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Badge and Bryant, or, the Decline and Fall of the Dogfrey Club

Articles/Essays – Volume 43, No. 1

Badge and Bryant Braunhil were first cousins, but they could have passed for fraternal twins, having—both of them—bright blue eyes, big grins, and unkempt blond hair. They lived in Linroth, a Mormon town in northern…

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The Dream

Articles/Essays – Volume 44, No. 1

Niles awoke from a strange dream to find that his snoring had once again driven his wife from their bed. On his way to the bathroom, he peered into the darkened living room and, as…

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Sandrine

Articles/Essays – Volume 45, No. 4

These things happened fifty years ago. It was 1962, the year of the World’s Fair in Seattle. I was twenty-one and had just finished my junior year at Utah State University in Logan. My forestry…

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Jesus Enough

Articles/Essays – Volume 47, No. 4

1886  When Darby turned fifteen, his mother Cora said if he didn’t make up his mind to accept Jesus pretty soon, it would be too late. She said he had to make the choice either…

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