Donna Johnson (2)

Join us as Donna talks about her memoir that's certain to be one of the best of the fall. Donna will sign copies of her book after the talk. A compassionate, humorous story of faith, betrayal, and coming of age on the evangelical sawdust trail. She was just three years old when her mother signed on as ... (more)the organist of tent revivalist David Terrell, and before long, Donna Johnson was part of the hugely popular evangelical preacher's inner circle. At seventeen, she left the ministry for good, with a trove of stranger-than-fiction memories. A homecoming like no other, Holy Ghost Girl brings to life miracles, exorcisms, and faceoffs with the Ku Klux Klan. And that's just what went on under the tent. As Terrell became known worldwide during the 1960s and '70s, the caravan of broken-down cars and trucks that made up his ministry evolved into fleets of Mercedes and airplanes. The glories of the Word mixed with betrayals of the flesh and Donna's mother bore Terrell's children in one of the several secret households he maintained. Thousands of followers, dubbed "Terrellites" by the press, left their homes to await the end of the world in cultlike communities. Jesus didn't show, but the IRS did, and the prophet/healer went to prison. Recounted with deadpan observations and surreal detail, Holy Ghost Girl bypasses easy judgment to articulate a rich world in which the mystery of faith and human frailty share a surprising and humorous coexistence.

Austin, Texas religion writer DONNA JOHNSON comes to Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, at 7:30 p.m., to discuss and read from her new book, HOLY GHOST GIRL: A Memoir (Gotham). The author will sign copies following the program. This event is free and open to the public. When ... (more)DONNA JOHNSON was three years old, her mother became the organist for David Terrell, a hugely popular Texas tent preacher whose ministries in the 60s and 70s circled the globe. Until the media dynasties of Billy Graham, Oral Roberts, Jerry Falwell, and those who followed would forever change the landscape of evangelicalism, Brother Terrell ruled the roost. He was one of the last of the great sawdust trail evangelists whose storied tradition traced back to Billy Sunday. In town after town, Terrell enthralled – and healed – thousands a night, speaking the word of God for hours at a stretch beneath the biggest gospel tent in the world. HOLY GHOST GIRL recounts the rise and fall of Brother Terrell from southern folk hero who was beaten by Klansmen for seating blacks and whites together, to womanizing end-time prophet who fathered children with more than one woman outside his marriage, including Donna’s mother. When pressed about his children’s future, he brushed the concern aside with, “Jesus will come before then.” As Terrell’s personal life began to implode, thousands of followers, dubbed Terrellites by the press, descended on backwaters across the south to await the apocalypse. Stories emerged of guitar-shaped swimming pool, fleets of Mercedes Benz, a private jet, and real estate payments made with brown bags filled with cash, and the prophet/healer went to jail. HOLY GHOST GIRL bypasses easy judgment of Terrell and his followers to articulate a rich and a mystical world rendered with the wry observations and details only a kid would notice. DONNA JOHNSON has written about religion for the Dallas Morning News and the Austin American Statesman. With her husband, she owns and operates Bazzirk Inc, a marketing and advertising firm that runs marketing programs around the world. She was awarded a writing residency by the Ragdale Foundation in Spring 2009 and won the Mayborn Creative Nonfiction Prize for this manuscript in progress in 2007. She lives in Austin, Texas, and is active in the local writing community.