The sad news that Paul Boyer passed away reached ILYBYGTH offices yesterday.  Professor Boyer was a prolific and engaging cultural and intellectual historian whose work and personality had a huge impact on me as I started my graduate work in American History.  I was just arriving in Madison as Professor Boyer was planning his retirement, but I was lucky enough to meet him several times and he was always gracious enough to help me with my first dips into research and writing about American fundamentalism.

Professor Boyer was the author of several influential works, including Salem Possessed and By the Bomb’s Early Light.  The book that packed the most punch with me, however, was his When Time Shall Be No More (1992).  The book helped ground me in some of the basic cultural and intellectual presumptions of prophecy belief in American history.  More than that, Professor Boyer’s sympathetic outsider’s perspective on such Bible believers inspired me to follow in his footsteps.

My sincerest condolences to Professor Boyer’s family and many friends.