Huge Auction Stills The Voice Of Once Largest Radio Church
- by Michael Stillman
A youthful Garner Ted, with mother Loma and father Herbert W. Armstrong.
Perhaps the issue was that the doctrines of the Worldwide Church of God were a little strange. They were a combination of standard Christianity, a large dash of Old Testament Judaism, some atypical views on certain Christian doctrines, and some very bizarre prophecies. The most notable of these was that the world would be destroyed after a third world war, one started by a unified Europe under the command of a new Hitler. It was supposed to start around 1972, and one of the lessons to be learned from this, like the end-of-the-world prophesies for the year 2,000, is that when you prophesy, don't specify a date. The prophecies were those of Ted's father, church founder Herbert W. Armstrong. One has the suspicion that if Ted had focused too much on the unique doctrines of his father, they probably would have scared away much of the audience. The result was that he seemed to focus more on how he said it rather than what he said. It sounded impressive even if you couldn't quite grasp his point. It has been said he developed his speaking style from news commentator Paul Harvey, another commanding speaker who ultimately doesn't seem to say very much.
Herbert W. began his broadcast ministry in 1935, when Ted was just five. He was undoubtedly a good speaker, but the ministry would not take off until Ted was made its spokesperson in the mid-1950s. The son was on another plain. The ministry would grow through the next two decades, generating the cash to build three branches of Ambassador College, a popular auditorium in Pasadena, California (Ambassador Auditorium), finance filmmaking, including Tatum O'Neil's Paper Moon, produce a widely-read free newspaper, The Plain Truth, and provide for a pleasant lifestyle for various officers. It would also build the library about to be auctioned. Garner Ted would spread from radio to television, and while I never felt he translated as well to the new medium, he did have movie star looks to go with his radio star voice.
Success corrupts. With wealth and power come opportunities that are hard for anyone, even a preacher man, to resist. In 1972, Herbert W. kicked his son off the air, announcing that he was "in the bonds of Satan." Actually, he was more likely in the bonds of women. Ted apparently had a fondness for the coeds at Ambassador College, among others, and some gambling problems. The move was a disaster. Herbert W., now almost 80-years-old, was no match for his son on the radio. He was forced to bring Ted back for a reprise to keep the contributions flowing.
Not that Herbert W. was free from scandal either. Several of his lieutenants would later resign, amid claims of financial improprieties, recurring rumors of incest at an earlier time, and his remarriage, after his first wife's death, to a woman 50 years his junior. That would eventually end in a messy divorce. However, in 1972, father was still trying to balance his son's soul and his own checkbook, but this was not to be. In 1978, the 85-year-old father once and for all kicked his son out of the ministry. He could do so, for while the son brought in the money, the father controlled the empire.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
