George Beverly "Bev" Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013)

CHARLOTTE, N.C.(AP) – George Beverly Shea, the booming baritone
who sang to millions of Christians at evangelist Billy Graham’s crusades,
died Tuesday after a brief illness.

Spokesman Brent Rinehart of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
said Shea died in Asheville after a brief illness.

Shea was well-known as a gospel soloist before he and Graham met in
the early 1940s. He joined Graham’s crusade team in 1947 and stayed
until Graham’s declining health ended most of the evangelist’s public
appearances nearly 60 years later.

Besides his distinctive voice, Shea was known for his trademark rendition
of "How Great Thou Art" and his inspirational "The Wonder of It All." He
performed live before an estimated 200 million at crusades over the years
and recorded more than 70 albums.

Graham said at Shea’s 100th birthday celebration in February 2009 that
he couldn’t have had a ministry without Shea.

Sandy Kozel

Sidney Poitier turned 86 in February

NEW YORK (AP) – A tiny hymnal from 1640 believed to be the first book ever
printed in what is now the United States is going up for auction, and it could sell for
as much as $30 million.

Only 11 copies of the Bay Psalm Book survive in varying degrees of completeness. Members of Boston’s Old South Church have authorized the sale of one of its two
copies at Sotheby’s Nov. 26.

"It’s a spectacular book, arguably one of the most important books in this nation’s 
history," said the Rev. Nancy Taylor, senior minister and CEO of the church, which 
was established in 1669. Samuel Adams was a member and Benjamin Franklin was baptized there.

At one time, the church owned five copies of the 6-by-5-inch hymnal. One is now at
the Library of Congress, another at Yale University and a third at Brown University.

Taylor says the church voted to sell one of its two remaining copies—both of which
are in "excellent condition" — to increase its grants, ministries and "strengthen our
voice in general as a progressive Christian church."

The book was published in Cambridge, Mass., by the Puritan leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It came just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at
Plymouth.

Max Von Sydow portraying Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told

Carl Adolf "Max" von Sydow has starred in many films and has
had many supporting roles. One of his most memorable film
roles is his portrayal of Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told
(1965).  

 
Von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin in The Exorcist (1973)