New Version of Top Selling Personal Genealogical Software Available for Free Via Popular Genealogical Internet Service

SALT LAKE CITY- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released announced version 5.0 of its popular personal genealogy management software. systemKey new features include a Palm OS application and the ability to view user screens in six languages and enter data in most known languages (including Asiatic and Cyrillic characters). Personal Ancestral File (PAF) is now available on CD-ROM or as a free download from the Internet.

The program helps users organize their family history records. The new product makes organizing one’s personal genealogy easy to do. It can produce, in automated or manual form, records for personal family histories or charts and logs to help users in their search for missing ancestors. Optional PAF 5.0 Companion software offers enhanced reporting and search capabilities.
PAF 5.0 allows users to view screens …

The Classics Corner Bids Fond Adieu . . . to Yieu and Yiew and You
by Richard H. Cracroft

Editors’ Note: Much to our sadness and loss we have to give in to Richard Cracroft’s desire to go on with his life. We have known and admired him for many years and have been trying to carefully plan his retirement so it would include an ongoing column for Meridian (we haven’t completely given up yet). We ask the Lord’s choicest blessings to be upon Richard and Janice in their “new and relaxed” life.

It’s time to go! Since last October, I’ve enjoyed sharing lists of good books with you-lists of classic LDS biography, history, and novels; and lists of British, American, and World classics-all with the idea of selecting books for possible giving or inclusion in your personal libraries. I’ve heard from many of you and made some new acquaintances

The Soul’s Captain

The media has quoted, repeatedly, from “Invictus” by William E. Henley because of Timothy McVeigh’s choice to use it as his final mission statement. If you are not familiar with it, you might be interested to read a response to Henley’s poem written by a poet, Orson F. Whitney.

Through a Glass Darkly: A Room with a View
by Marilyn Green Faulkner

This business of seeing is a strange process. We know that something mechanical occurs when light hits the retina of the eye, and images are communicated to the brain. That, however, is just the beginning of sight. From quite a young age, we also understand that sight is an inward process as well, and look beyond the surface of faces and objects for their spiritual significance. Perched precariously between the innocence of prewar England and the disasters to come, a young man named Edward Forster penned a novel about a young girl learning to see for herself, and poured into it all of his “insights” (a lovely word) about the clash between civility and nature, between keeping up appearances and living with a vision. He called it A Room with a View.

E.M. Forster was only twenty-eight

“Saints on the Sea”
by Kurt Bestor

[The second in a series of articles regarding the writing, recording, and performing a new oratorio]

“The truth shall set you free.” While this may be true for things spiritual, it hasn’t been the case as it pertains to my current project the “Saints on the Sea” oratorio. Recently, as I did a little web searching, I discovered the truth about the orchestra with which I’m recording – The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. It’s the oldest standing orchestra IN THE WORLD. Founded in 1840, they have established themselves as one of the world’s best, having worked and recorded with some the world’s greatest soloists, conductors, and composers. Suddenly, “yours truly” from little old Provo, Utah feels a little out of his league.

After two and a half months, I finally finished writing the piece. Although it’s being touted as an “oratorio,” it’s turned out

“Focus on the Family” Calls on Governments to De-Ratify Child Convention

On the eve of the final preparatory committee meeting for the UN Special Session on Children, the US-based Focus on the Family has issued a pointed criticism of the highly controversial Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). One of the key issues in the ongoing negotiations for the Special Session is UNICEF’s wish to tie the new document to the original Convention. Many governments are resisting this move.

Focus on the Family points out that “a close look at the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) reveals many unacceptable elements. These elements twist an otherwise praiseworthy treaty into one that intrudes on countries’ national sovereignty and endangers children by interfering with their parents’ rights to direct their upbringing.” Focus on the Family concludes that signatory nations should reassess their commitment to the CRC, which has

Lilies of the Field (1963)
by Jonathan Walker

We often talk about God sending us blessings, but the extent to which God plays a role in our lives rather than just people acting on their own agency is rarely understood. Lilies of the Field explores this issue and offers a compelling solution.

Homer Smith (Sidney Poitier) has been living out of his car as he heads west, “maybe Los Angeles.” Passing through the Southwestern desert his car gets “thirsty” and he stops at a small Catholic mission to get some water for the radiator. The mission is run by several East German nuns who are amazed to see the stranger. They see him as the answer to their prayers. He will build the chapel that they have longed for. Schmidt (as they call him) has different plans. He’s “just passing through,” and anyway, he’s Baptist. Homer’s need for cash compels

Awards for the Best Mormon Books, Movies, and Plays of 2000

President Hinckley, Patricia Holland, Richard Dutcher among those honored.

At the annual Association for Mormon Letters conference held on February 24, 2001, at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, the AML presented awards in several literary categories.

Award for the Essay: Gordon B. Hinckley

The Association for Mormon Letters presents an award in the essay for 2000 to Gordon B. Hinckley for Standing for Something (Times Books, 2000).

Once in a great while, a book comes along that makes such a significant contribution to our culture that it really needs to be recognized in a significant way. This past year, Latter-day Saints witnessed an unimagined phenomenon as the president of the Church wrote a book that ended up on the New York Times bestseller list. That book, Standing for Something, is a forthright, unflinching call for society to return

The Saving Mission of Operation Kids: Does Media and Technology Have to Corrupt Our Children?

“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children,” says Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For Rick Larsen and Dennis Webb, two of the founders of Operation Kids, that is the test of morality of their company, whose goal is to use media and technology to enhance the lives of children. Their first product is ContentWatch, an Internet solution for anybody who ever loved a child. Find out about the details of ContentWatch at the end of this article.

The son he lost suddenly at ten-years-old from spinal meningitis would have been just about the age of the soon-to-be missionaries he works with in his ward, thinks Stewart Park, executive vice-president of Operation Kids. He’s passionate about being the priests’ quorum adviser; he loves the young men he serves as if they