We are thrilled that Chosen Path: A Memoir, by D. Michael Quinn, is now available! And we are equally excited to announce several book events for this new release. On Thursday, February 1, Quinn’s children—Mary Quinn, Lisa Harrison, and Moshe Quinn—will join Signature director and Chosen Path editor Barbara Jones Brown for a discussion and signing at Benchmark Books. On Friday, February 2, Brown and Moshe Quinn (who wrote the foreword for his father’s book and provided the photography for the book’s cover), will speak and sign books at Pioneer Book. And on Thursday, February 8, Signature will partner with The King’s English Bookshop for a panel discussion and signing with Chosen Path’s annotators, Connell O’Donovan, Sue Bergin, Calvin Burke, and Barbara Brown, at Signature’s offices.

It has come to our attention that Amazon has made the printed version of D. Michael Quinn’s Chosen Path: A Memoir, unavailable for purchase at this time, but hardback copies of the memoir will begin shipping approximately January 4. We apologize for any inconvenience and will notify you as soon as the printed version is available for sale again on Amazon.

Discover the new and expanded edition of the journals of one of the most influential figures in early Mormon history with the publication of The Wilford Woodruff Journals, meticulously edited by historian Dan Vogel.

In this important contribution to nineteenth-century Mormonism, Woodruff’s diaries provide an unparalleled firsthand perspective—from the 1830s through the 1890s—into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Vogel’s transcription is the best to date and breathes new life into these records, which include, for the first time, Woodruff’s day books.

The Mormon Studies community lost an icon in October with the death of Lavina Fielding Anderson. She was an important presence and voice for decades as an editor at the Ensign magazine, as an associate editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, editor of the Journal of Mormon History, as a professional editor who helped shape numerous articles and books by others, an insightful essayist, and author or editor of several books of her own. She also served on the Signature editorial board for forty years. Most importantly, she was a friend to everyone. Many of those she touched over the years gathered at Signature’s offices on Thursday, November 30, to share their thoughts about Lavina and what she meant to them. Lavina’s son Christian and his wife Marina also spoke, sharing thoughts they expressed at Lavina’s funeral held a few weeks earlier, including her eulogy.

A reminder that historian Thomas G. Alexander’s discussion and book signing for his new release, John A. Widtsoe: Scientist and Theologian, is tonight at Benchmark Books! Another edition in Signature’s Brief Biography series, this book takes a thorough look at one of Mormonism’s most prominent twentieth-century intellectuals. Coming from an academic background, Widtsoe served as an apostle for more than thirty years before his death in 1952. For him, science and religion could co-exist and there was nothing to fear from the discovery of truth.

In The Old Testament for Latter-day Saints, Alex Douglas explores the Old Testament from various perspectives: as a believer, a skeptic, a secular scholar, and a member of the Latter-day Saint community. He delves deep into biblical scholarship, incorporating insights from disciplines such as ancient Near Eastern archaeology and the rich mythic traditions of Israel’s neighboring cultures. By doing so, Douglas helps the reader appreciate the profound significance the Old Testament held for its earliest readers.

With the recent passing of Lavina Fielding Anderson, Signature Books and the entire Mormon studies community lost a dear friend and important voice. Her words of wisdom were numerous, and her influence as a scholar and as a mentor to many was immeasurable. Thankfully, that influence will live on.

In this episode Signature’s marketing manager Devery Anderson talks with historian Thomas G. Alexander, author of John A. Widtsoe: Scientist and Theologian 1872-1952, a new biography in Signature’s Brief Biography series. Widtsoe served as an LDS apostle for over thirty years and came to this position as an established author, scientist, and administrator, who believed science and religion could be harmonized and that all truth should be embraced and understood. Who was this man who was so influential in his day but who most Latter-day Saints today know little or nothing about?

We at Signature are deeply saddened by the recent passing of our lifelong colleague and friend, Lavina Fielding Anderson. To honor Lavina and her work at Signature and in the Mormon Studies community, we are hosting a public event at our office on Thursday, November 30, at 6:30 p.m. Attendees will be welcome to share their thoughts about Lavina and what she meant to them. Lavina’s son and daughter-in-law will be in attendance. Signature’s offices are located at 508 West 400 North, Salt Lake City. If you are unable to attend in person, feel free to send your thoughts to people@signaturebooks.com and we will read them at the event.

Born in Norway, John A. Widtsoe (1872–1952) was renowned for his expertise in irrigation and dry farming. His pioneering work pushed the boundaries of and contributed significantly to advancements in agricultural practices. Moreover, his forays into the field of biochemistry exemplified his relentless pursuit of scientific understanding.

After receiving a liberal arts education at the Munro Academy in Elbridge, New York, and a stint in the US-Mexican War, James Henry Martineau spent his life as a surveyor, civil engineer, clerk, mapmaker, and pathfinder in Utah. After becoming a Latter-day Saint in 1850, Martineau went with Apostle George A. Smith to settle Parowan in southern Utah, with a commitment to building God's kingdom in the West. As a leader in the Utah territorial militia he conducted military drills, witnessed events surrounding the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the legal trials of its perpetrators, explored wilderness areas, submitted reports, and drew maps to record his travels throughout the entire Mormon corridor.

The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi describes the journey to eternal life as going through a gate of ordinances and traveling a “straight and narrow path.” Twenty-three authors took that gospel roadmap passage as a prompt to write “a Mormon story.” They responded with a surprisingly wide range of realistic and fantastic tales. Many are human reactions to unexpected steps on the path: a lifetime of faith in a patriarchal blessing’s unfulfilled promise, a survivor of violence calling a divided community to repentance, a baptism gone very wrong, and spiritual gifts that extend far beyond the apostle Paul’s list.

In today’s podcast, we talk with Andrew Hall, associate professor of East Asian History at Kyushu University, and Robert Raleigh, editor of In Our Lovely Deseret: Mormon Fictions, published by Signature Books.

Signature has a strong tradition of publishing outstanding fiction. This month we will release a superb collection of short stories edited by Andrew Hall and Robert Raleigh called The Path and the Gate: Mormon Short Fiction. Among the short stories are pieces by Todd Robert Petersen, Alison Brimney, Heidi Naylor, Phyllis Barber, Jack Harrell, David G. Pace, Michael Fillerup, and Steven Peck. The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi described the journey to eternal life as going through a gate of ordinances and traveling a “straight and narrow path.” Twenty-three authors took that gospel roadmap passage as a prompt to write “a Mormon story.” They responded with a surprisingly wide range of realistic and fantastic tales. Put together in a volume of nearly 300 pages, these gems pack quite a punch!

September 2023 marks the thirtieth anniversary of what came to be dubbed “The September Six,” in which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated or disciplined six intellectuals and activists. Today’s guest is Professor Sara M. Patterson, speaking about her just-released book on the subject, The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism. In this thirty-year retrospective, Patterson challenges us to think more deeply about the events of that month and the era in which they unfolded, arguing that it was part of a much broader, decades-long cultural and theological debate over the nature of the church and its Restoration narrative.

In the single month of September 1993, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints excommunicated or disciplined six of its members. These six individuals—some of them intellectuals, some activists, and some both—were dubbed the "September Six." In The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism, Sara M. Patterson challenges readers to think more deeply about the events of that month and the era in which they unfolded. Patterson argues that the clever alliterative phrase "September Six" masks our ability to see that what happened that month was part of a much broader, decades-long cultural and theological debate over the nature of the church and its restoration narrative.

From 1872–1914, Latter-day Saint suffragists in Utah published a women’s rights newspaper called the Woman’s Exponent. In 1974, a group of Boston women that included historians Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and Claudia Bushman began publishing Exponent II, a quarterly periodical that they called a “spiritual descendant” of the original Exponent. Exponent II will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024. As part of that commemoration, Signature Books is honored to publish a book on Fifty Years of Exponent II, co-edited by Katie Ludlow Rich and Heather Sundahl. Today’s podcast offers a sneak peak of this forthcoming book, as presented by Rich at the 2023 Sunstone Symposium.

In September 1993, six scholars and feminists were excommunicated or disfellowshipped by local leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their writings or activism. Marking the thirty-year anniversary of that month, Signature Books is publishing Dr. Sara M. Patterson’s The September Six and the Struggle for the Soul of Mormonism. A professor of theological studies and gender studies at Hanover College, Patterson argues that for decades before and after the events of 1993, the institutional church invested in and policed a purity system, expecting believers to practice doctrinal, familial, and bodily purity. Dissenters within the institution pushed back, imagining instead a vision of the Restoration that embraced personal conscience, truth-seeking and telling, and social egalitarianism at its core.

Signature Books is thrilled to be working with the new director of the Smith-Pettit Foundation, Martha Bradley-Evans, who recently retired from the University of Utah. During her tenure at the university, she was a professor in the College of Architecture and Planning, served as dean of Undergraduate Studies, taught for the Honors College, and was senior associate vice president of Academic Affairs. Bradley-Evans takes the place of Gary James Bergera, who led the foundation from its inception in 1999 through his retirement in 2022.

For episode twenty-seven, Signature Marketing Manager Devery Anderson interviews Ken Cannon II about his new book, "George Q. Cannon: Politician, Publisher, Apostle of Polygamy." George Q. Cannon is generally acknowledged as second only to Brigham Young as the most visible leader of Mormonism in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He became Young’s protégé and was an influential first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for almost twenty-five years, serving with presidents Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow.