By now many of you have heard the news that Larry passed away on Sunday Feb 24, 2008. At this moment I am in the Minneapolis airport en route to Salem, Oregon, the site of tomorrow morning's memorial service for Larry (which, by the way, I am told will be pretty unorthodox--should we be surprised? :)). Progress on the book has been very slow (for many reasons, first & foremost the ongoing medical situation of our youngest daughter (www.toriisamazing.com), and at times I have wondered if I will ever get it done. Then this past Monday February 25, I received a call from Larry's son Mike, and as soon as my wife told me who was on the phone, I knew. It was the call I hoped I would never get, at least not until the book was done so Larry could have enjoyed it. But that opportunity has passed now, which brings us to the present. The book was never supposed to be "about Larry" in terms of glorifying him, so in that sense, I'm sure Larry is not sad or missing anything. With his passing, though, does come a renewed vigor to work at this as diligently as possible and still carry through the original main purpose--to shed some light on Larry's life but even more than that, to redirect people's attention to the God Larry loved his whole life and the God who Larry is enjoying now, face to face. For now, please know your entries continue to be welcome. I am guessing it will still be at least until the summer before this comes together, so the door is open for more stories to be shared. I will also let you know more about the direction the book will take, since I want to speak with Larry's son Mike, as well as Larry's brother Charles & his wife Kristin, about these matters. If you think of it, please pray for Larry's family at this time. I know how much I miss him; I can only imagine how difficult it is for the Norman family. I do hope to have more news to post after this weekend in Salem (I'm scheduled to be in town thru Monday morning), so do check back in soon to see if there are new developments. One last thing: If you are interested in helping support Larry's family at this time by contributing something towards Larry's funeral expenses (as referenced at www.larrynorman.com), please email me & I will let you know how you can follow up on that (this is one of the things I hope to speak with Mike & Charles & Kristin about this weekend). God bless you, td

I remember as a teen listening to all kinds of music which included AC/DC, Pat Benatar and many others. I was born a rocker which was not the popular thing to be, going to a legalistic Christian school. I was a Christian but needed something more than country music (which I also like) and hymn- style Christian music. Our school was into the record burning of the 70's which I didn't quite understand. I was dating a boy who attended one of these record burning churches. He threatened to break up with me if I traded a night with him for free tickets to my first ever concert, Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill. I couldn't believe how much fun I had and never missed the boyfriend by the way. I knew God was bigger than the do's and don'ts put on us as kids by adults which were not Biblically-based. Larry's song "Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music" reminded me that God could use this and was using the music as I saw people come to Christ that night. As a music teacher today in a Christian school, I remind my students that music choice is important and should reflect your lifestyle. Most importantly, can you reflect Christ as you listen to whatever you have chosen. This teacher will not tell them what style is right or wrong. God is honored when He is honored.

Thanks so much for your ministry and testimony!

Barb Gerber, Mount Joy PA