Linenthal, Edward Tabor 1947-

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LINENTHAL, Edward Tabor 1947-

PERSONAL: Born November 6, 1947, in Boston, MA; son of Arthur J. (a physician) and Eleanor (a political scientist; maiden name, Tabor) Linenthal; married Ulla Hannele Kuivanen (a microbiologist), 1974; children: Aaron Johannes, Jacob Arthur. Education: Western Michigan University, B.A., 1969; Pacific School of Religion, M.Div., 1973; University of California, Santa Barbara, Ph.D., 1979.

ADDRESSES: Home—Oshkosh, WI. Office—Department of Religion Studies, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, 800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI 54901.

CAREER: Educator and writer. University of California, Santa Barbara, lecturer in American religion, 1978–79; University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, assistant professor, 1979–84, associate professor, 1984–89, professor of religious studies, 1989–, John McRosebush Professor, 1989–90. Post-doctoral fellow, Defense and Arms Control Studies Program, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1986–87. Executive director of Wisconsin Institute for the Study of War, Peace, and Global Cooperation, 1989–.

MEMBER: American Academy of Religion, American Society of Church History.

AWARDS, HONORS: Regents fellowship, University of California, Santa Barbara, 1978–79; distinguished teaching award, University of Wisconsin—Oshkosh, 1984–85.

WRITINGS:

Changing Images of the Warrior Hero in America: A History of Popular Symbolism, Edwin Mellen (New York, NY), 1982.

Symbolic Defense: The Cultural Significance of the Strategic Defense Initiative, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1989.

(Editor and contributor, with Ira Chernus) A Shuddering Dawn: Religious Studies and the Nuclear Age, State University of New York Press (Albany, NY), 1989.

Sacred Ground: Americans and Their Battlefields, University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 1991.

(Editor, with David Chidester) American Sacred Space, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1995.

Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum, Viking (New York, NY), 1995, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor, with Tom Engelhardt) History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past, Metropolitan (New York, NY), 1996.

The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

Contributor to Religious Periodicals of the United States and Twentieth Century Shapers of American Popular Religion. Also contributor to journals, including Soundings, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Fides et Historia, Christian Century, and Studies in Popular Culture. Assistant editor of book review section of Religious Studies Review, 1981–.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on religions of the American presidents, martial space in America, and nuclear warfare and American culture.

SIDELIGHTS: Edward Tabor Linenthal is an educator whose fields of interest include religious studies and American history. He has taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. A prolific writer, Linenthal is a frequent contributor to scholarly journals, and is the author and editor of numerous nonfiction books on the topics of history and religion.

In 1995, Linenthal published Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum. The book follows the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, from its conceptualization to its opening fifteen years later. The author recounts several key events during this time, including the controversies surrounding choosing a site for the museum as well as choosing the overall building design and exhibits to be featured. Linenthal also outlines the political and spiritual dilemmas associated with the creation of the museum.

Overall, Preserving Memory was met positively by critics and readers. Many lauded Linenthal for his ability to present the museum's struggle in a clear and thoughtful manner. The book is "a sobering, yet fascinating, testament to the value of preserving memories with respect and creativity," wrote Donna Seaman in a review for Booklist. Others noted that the author's thorough research made the book a strong addition to related literature. New Leader contributor Andreas Huyssen observed that Linenthal's work has resulted in a "meticulously researched, compellingly written and generously illustrated book."

In The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory, Linenthal recounts the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City and its aftermath. Drawing from more than 150 interviews of people directly affected by the attack, Linenthal explores the far-reaching impact on the American public and the questions the tragedy left unanswered. He also discusses the different ways people have chosen to deal with their grief.

The Unfinished Bombing was also met with generally positive reviews. For some critics, the book discusses important issues that can be used to reflect upon other, more recent national tragedies. "It's striking just how many parallels there are in the reactions to these attacks and the similarities in their ripple effects," wrote Charles Taylor in a review for Powell's Books. For others, the book's strength lies in its ability to bring the event as a whole into focus for a variety of readers. The book "will help teens understand the feelings experienced in the aftermath of extreme violence," observed Booklist contributor Mary Carroll.

Linenthal told CA: "I have always been fascinated by the power of war in human experience, and much of my writing suggests ways we have symbolized war and warrior heroes. My book on American battlefields will examine a part of American patriotic religion that has been curiously neglected by students of American culture. These martial ceremonial centers are found throughout the nation and provide places for the celebration of patriotic orthodoxies as well as places where these orthodoxies are called into question. It is rich and exciting material to write about."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Directory of American Scholars, 10th edition, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

PERIODICALS

American Historical Review, April, 1991, review of Symbolic Defense: The Cultural Significance of the Strategic Defense Initiative, p. 640; December, 1996, review of Preserving Memory: The Struggle to Create America's Holocaust Museum, p. 1652.

American Quarterly, March, 1991, review of Symbolic Defense, p. 157.

Booklist, March 15, 1995, Donna Seaman, review of Preserving Memory, p. 1305; October 1, 2001, Mary Carroll, review of The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory, p. 297.

Books & Culture, May, 1999, review of History Wars, p. 30.

Bookwatch, September, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 6.

Book World, July 2, 1995, review of Preserving Memory, p. 13; August 18, 1996, review of History Wars: The Enola Gay and Other Battles for the American Past, p. 13.

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, January-February, 1997, Linda Rothstein, review of History Wars, p. 63.

Choice, October, 1995, review of Preserving Memory, p. 343.

Christian Century, November 20, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 1134; January 22, 1997, Jon Pahl, review of American Sacred Space, p. 84.

Journalism Quarterly, summer, 1990, review of Symbolic Defense, p. 444.

Journal of American Culture, winter, 1993, review of Sacred Ground: Americans and Their Battlefields, p. 113.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 1991, review of Sacred Ground, p. 1065; February 1, 1995, review of Preserving Memory, p. 138; June 15, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 879; August 1, 2001, review of The Unfinished Bombing, p. 1111.

Kliatt, November, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 27; September, 1997, review of Preserving Memory, p. 36.

Library Journal, August, 1991, review of Sacred Ground, p. 118; March 1, 1995, review of Preserving Memory, p. 92; October 1, 2001, review of The Unfinished Bombing, p. 121.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, August 4, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 1; December 29, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 3.

New Leader, June 5, 1995, Andreas Huyssen, review of Preserving Memory, p. 36.

Political Research Quarterly, March, 1994, review of Symbolic Defense, p. 239.

Public Historian, summer, 1993, review of Sacred Ground, p. 56; spring, 1996, review of Preserving Memory, p. 72; summer, 1998, review of History Wars, p. 105.

Publishers Weekly, February 20, 1995, review of Preserving Memory, p. 186; June 10, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 79; August 20, 2001, review of The Unfinished Bombing, p. 66.

Reference & Research Book News, February, 1990, review of Symbolic Defense, p. 41.

Religious Studies Review, July, 1991, review of Symbolic Defense, p. 277; July, 1992, review of Sacred Ground, p. 245; July, 1998, review of Preserving Memory, p. 248.

Reviews in American History, March, 1993, review of Sacred Ground, p. 1.

Skeptic, April, 1996, review of History Wars, p. 101.

Technology and Culture, July, 1998, review of History Wars, p. 483.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), April 6, 1997, review of Preserving Memory, p. 8.

USA Today, January, 2002, Steven G. Kellman, review of The Unfinished Bombing, p. 81.

Western Historical Quarterly, autumn, 1997, review of History Wars, p. 435.

Whole Earth, winter, 1997, review of American Sacred Space, p. 52.

Wilson Quarterly, spring, 2002, Andrew Burstein, review of The Unfinished Bombing, p. 118.