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Lot #178
God Letters: Permission Slips

"Do you believe in God?"—from Mother Teresa to Hunter S. Thompson

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Estimate: $1500+
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Description

"Do you believe in God?"—from Mother Teresa to Hunter S. Thompson

Collection of 224 permission slips signed by celebrities and notable figures from a wide variety of fields, returned to Paul Rifkin to consent to the publication of their response to the question ‘Do you believe in God?’ Rifkin originally wrote to prominent people posing as a fifth-grade student doing a school project on religion. Upon receiving replies to his inquiry, he wrote back to ask for permission to publish their unguarded responses. With the approval of many respondents, Rifkin edited a compilation entitled The God Letters, published by Warner Books in 1986. The majority of these slips consist of a photocopy of the respondent’s original letter, with a signed consent form at the bottom; several people clipped off the permission slip and returned that alone.

Highlights include: Joan Baez, Pearl Bailey, Mel Blanc, William F. Buckley, Ellsworth Bunker, John Cage, Erskine Caldwell, Frank Capra, Cesar Chavez, Anna C. Chennault, Mark W. Clark, Arthur C. Clarke, Michael Crichton, Francis Crick, Bo Diddley, James H. Doolittle, Daphne du Maurier, Milos Forman, Allen Ginsberg, John Hersey, Deborah Kerr, Claude Levi-Strauss, Rod McKuen, Stirling Moss, Iris Murdoch, Julie Newmar, Buck Owens, Arnold Palmer, Floyd Patterson, Linus Pauling, Norman Vincent Peale, Sam Peckinpah, Harold Pinter, Oral Roberts, George Romney, Carlos Santana, Rusty Schweickart, Georges Simenon, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, Susan Strasberg, Max Von Sydow, George C. Wallace, Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., and Elmo Zumwalt. In overall very good to fine condition. Due to the large quantity a few other secretarial and/or printed signatures may be included. Interested parties are encouraged to view the collection in person at our offices or call us with specific inquiries, as this collection is sold as is and no returns will be accepted.

Complete list of signers:
Robert Altman
Kenneth Anger
Ed Asner
Lew Ayres
Charles Aznavour
Joan Baez
Pearl Bailey
Rona Barrett
Anne Baxter
Ralph Bellamy
Joan Bennett
Rudolf Bing
Joey Bishop
Mel Blanc
Henry W. Bloch
Julian Bond
Victor Borge
Frank Borman
Helen Gurley Brown
Dave Brubeck
Zbigniew Brzezinski
William F. Buckley
Ellsworth Bunker
Earl Butz
Herb Caen
John Cage
Mary S. Calderone
Erskine Caldwell
Frank Capra
Oleg Cassini
Cesar Chavez
Anna C. Chennault
Craig Claiborne
Mark W. Clark
Arthur C. Clarke
William S. Coffin
Charles Collingwood
Norman Cousins
Harvey G. Cox
Philip M. Crane
Michael Crichton
Francis Crick
Norm Crosby
Bob Cummings
James Dickey
Bo Diddley
Phyllis Diller
Bob Dole
James H. Doolittle
Daphne du Maurier
Douglas Edwards
Ralph Edwards
Milton Eisenhower
Albert Ellis
Gerry Faust
Rhonda Fleming
George Foreman
Milos Forman
William Fugazy
Zsa Zsa Gabor
George Gallup, Jr.
Stephen Gaskin
Archimedes Giacomantonio
John Gielgud
Allen Ginsberg
Ralph Ginzburg
Sandra Good
Jerome ‘Little Anthony’ Gourdine
Bud Greenspan
Monty Hall
Marvin Hamlisch
Billy James Hargis
Julie Harris
Tom Hayden
William Randolph Hearst, Jr.
Henry J. Heimlich
Doug Henning
John Hersey
Walter Hickel
Hildegarde
Paul Horn
Ching-yu Hsu
William B. Huie
E. Howard Hunt
Kim Hunter
Tab Hunter
Marty Ingels
Christopher Isherwood
Burl Ives
Keith Jarrett
Robert Jastrow
William Jovanovich
Kitty Kelley
Deborah Kerr
Walter Kerr
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan
Austin Kiplinger
Fletcher Knebel
Chris Kraft
Paul Krassner
Stanley Krippner
Bowie Kuhn
Walter Lantz
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Tom Lasorda
Paul Laxalt
Janet Leigh
George Leonard
Richard Lester
Claude Levi-Strauss
Art Linkletter
Sol Linowitz
Marty Liquori
Henry Luce III
Robert MacNeil
Karl Malden
Rollo May
George McGovern
Mary McGrory
Floyd B. McKissick
Rod McKuen
Ed McMahon
Audrey Meadows
Jayne Meadows
David Meltzer
Lorne Michaels
Wilbur D. Millis
Newton N. Minow
Marvin M. Mitchelson
Stirling Moss
Mother Teresa
Stewart Rawlings Mott
Iris Murdoch
Bill Naughton
Julie Newmar
Paul H. Nitze
Buck Owens
Arnold Palmer
Floyd Patterson
Linus Pauling
Tom Paxton
Norman Vincent Peale
Drew Pearson
Sam Peckinpah
Digger Phelps
Harold Pinter
Eliot Porter
Nathan Pritikin
Randy Quaid
Maureen Reagan
John Ritter
Lynda Johnson Robb
Joseph Robbie
Oral Roberts
Bill Rodgers
Carl R. Rogers
George Romney
Elisabeth K. Ross
James W. Rouse
Darrell Royal
Mark Russell
Jim Ryun
Carlos Santana
Vincent Sardi
Chris Schenkel
Phyllis Schlafly
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
Daniel Schorr
Rusty Schweickart
Erich Segal
Hubert Selby, Jr.
Del Shannon
Bill Sharman
Martin Sheen
Sargent Shriver
Don Shula
Alan Sillitoe
Georges Simenon
William E. Simon
William French Smith
Paul Smucker
Hank Snow
Jacki Sorensen
Ann Sothern
Benjamin Spock
Ben Stahl
Maurice H. Stans
Bart Starr
Kay Starr
Roger Staubach
Gloria Steinam
Carl Stern
Susan Strasberg
Gerry E. Studds
Loretta Swit
Barry Switzer
Thomas S. Szasz
Charles T. Tart
Studs Terkel
Lowell Thomas, Jr.
Hunter S. Thompson
Lily Tomlin
John Tower
Janet G. Travell
Charles Van Doren
Max Von Sydow
George C. Wallace
Irving Wallace
Jessamyn West
Betty White
Tom Wicker
Lenny Wilkens
G. Mennen Williams
Paul Winchell
Joel-Peter Witkin
Keenan Wynn
Sam Yorty
Loretta Young
Pia Zadora
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.
Howard Zinn
Fred Zinnemann
Elmo Zumwalt.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Fine Autographs And Artifacts
  • Dates: #497 - Ended April 12, 2017