I first met Ernie in 1980 through our professional relationships – he was a senior editor at Word Publishing in Waco, Texas and I was an attorney representing one of his favorite people, author and pastor Chuck Swindoll.  Ernie told me on more than one occasion that he considered Chuck to be “his pastor.”  The three of us had a wonderful working relationship for many years through Chuck’s publishing with Ernie and Word. 

Ernie never met a man or a woman that he did not treat like his best friend.  Many would say behind Ernie’s back that he must be a phony person because no one could be that nice and that loving.  I knew Ernie Owen pretty well, not as well as some, but better than most.  I can tell you that there was nothing “phony” about Ernie Owen, even though it was very hard to believe that anyone could be as “good” as Ernie was.  His goodness was very real. 

Ernie was always a man of his word, and a man of peace, joy and kindness.  I learned more about how to treat a woman from Ernie than I learned from anyone before or since.  He was grace personified in every relationship he had on this earth. 

Ernie was always ready to do for you, or anyone else who crossed his path, anything he could do to brighten your day and help you accomplish whatever you wanted to accomplish.  I never had a cross word with Ernie Owen in all the years that I worked with him professionally, through the many, many publishing contracts we negotiated together.  He was a loyal and extremely competent employee.  He was an incredible man.

It was always a joy when my secretary would tell me that Ernie Owen was on the phone and wanted to talk with me, no matter how difficult the conversation, or the contract to be negotiated.  If ever there was a man whom I had privilege to know and work with that I thought exemplified Jesus, it was my friend, Ernest E. Owen.  I have missed him so much since he and Pauline retired and moved to that retirement home they loved down in San Diego and we no longer did business together.  I did have the joy of driving down to play golf with him from time to time and we shared a meal or other fellowship now and then.  The world certainly seems a place that is much the lesser now that Ernie has gone on to accept the rewards he earned as an ambassador for Christ. 

I love you, Ernie.  I wish I had been able to say goodbye.  But, I look forward to having you greet me when the day comes for us to sit down and catch up again in that house that Jesus prepared for you and that you will use to be that personification of grace throughout eternity. 

Because some who read this blog post may want to also honor Ernie in a tangible way, the family has offered these two options:

Mt. Miguel Covenant Village Benevolence Fund

c/o Luverne Sands

Mt. Miguel Covenant Village

325 Kempton St.

Spring Valley, CA  91977

In Honor of Ernest E. Owen

or

Scripps Health Foundation

10666 North Torrey Pines Road 109N

La Jolla, CA 92037

In memory of Ernest E. Owen for the benefit of the cardiology research at Scripps Clinic

(Donations cards will be sent to the attention of Pauline Owen)

Notes of encouragement can be sent to Ernie’s wonderful widow, Pauline Owen, at:

325 Kempton St., # 1004

Spring Valley, CA  91977

The Christian Post has run a great interview of Dr. Swindoll on the topic of this new book.  Here’s how that interview starts:

CP: Would you share with us the idea behind your new book Saying It Well and what your aim for the book was?

Swindoll: I’ve been doing what I have been doing for about 50 years. It occurred to me that it would be helpful if the general public understood not only my philosophy for speaking publicly but also something about the process.

At first I was a little hesitant about doing that because I am not one to call attention to myself. They wanted a lot of it to be in first person and that wasn’t a thrilling idea to me. I always enjoyed writing on biographies but someone else’s rather than my own. However, I thought it would be helpful to know from own end and my own lips, as it were, what I go through and the process that is involved in that. So I addressed everything from my calling and preparing all the way down to the process of putting a message together. However you want to call it, some people are public speakers, others are leaders of large companies and they are required to speak publicly regarding that company, still others present papers and technical information. The point is we are all involved in communication, some of us more than others. I thought it would be helpful if I put that in print so that it would help others go through the process themselves. That was what drove me to write the book.

CP: In the book you reveal that despite your success at being a communicator it was not always that easy for you. The speech problem you experienced was paralyzing for you, how did that shape your vocational view point?

Swindoll: You are referring to my battling with stuttering when I was younger. If anyone has ever seen the movie “The King’s Speech,” though I am not in a category of a king, they will see something of the struggle that I went through. There is nothing more fearful for the average person in our society than to stand before a group of people and speak. When you add to that the battle of stuttering, your problem is exacerbated beyond words.

So when I began to learn how to speak I still had the fear because I always had my speaking interrupted with the impediment. So it took some time to gain confidence over that. I am thankful that over time I have been able to conquer that battle though admittedly there are still times that I go back to the principles that were taught by my speech teacher. My book is designed not to hide that, but to highlight it and to let people know that even if you struggle with some fears or an impediment in your speech, there is help available. You can conquer that and go on to be successful as a speaker or as a preacher or whatever is your calling.

Head on over to the Christian Post to read the rest of the interview.

Y&Y client Senator Jim DeMint recently made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to discuss his new book Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse.  We thought we’d share the video of that appearance with you.