Donald Wildmon

{{Infobox person

| name = Donald Wildmon

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_name = Donald Ellis Wildmon

| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|1|18}}

| birth_place = Ripley, Mississippi, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2023|12|28|1938|1|18}}

| death_place = Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.

| occupation = {{cslist|Minister|author|radio host|consumer activist}}

| years_active = 1977–2010

| known_for = Founder, American Family Radio {{nobr|and American Family Association}}

| agent =

| notable_works =

| mother =

| spouse = {{marriage|Lynda Lou Bennett|1961}}

| father =

| children = 4

| alma_mater = Millsaps College
Candler School of Theology

| website =

}}

Donald Ellis Wildmon (January 18, 1938 – December 28, 2023) was an American ordained United Methodist minister, author, radio host, and founder and chairman of the American Family Association and American Family Radio.

Life and career

Donald Ellis Wildmon was born in Ripley, Mississippi,{{cite book|title=Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices|author=Chapman, R.|date=2010|publisher=M.E. Sharpe|isbn=9780765622501|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=RA1-PA53|pages=1–53|access-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108191403/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vRY27FkGJAUC&pg=RA1-PA53|archive-date=January 8, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite book|last1=Ownby, Wilson, Abadie, Lindsey & Thomas|title=The Mississippi Encyclopedia|date=2017|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781496811592|page=1330|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1496811593|access-date=January 18, 2018}} the son of Johnnie Bernice (née Tigrett), a schoolteacher, and Ellis Clifton Wildmon, a civil servant.{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Mississippi|author=Capace, N.|date=2001|publisher=Somerset Publishers|isbn=9780403096039|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dlLDIiQv9twC&pg=PA321|page=321|access-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170108191936/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dlLDIiQv9twC&pg=PA321|archive-date=January 8, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|title=Newsmakers|author=Gale Research Inc|journal=Newsmakers. Cumulation.|date=1989|publisher=Gale Research|isbn=9780810322073|issn=0899-0417|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q2NmAAAAMAAJ|access-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171231104022/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=q2NmAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=December 31, 2017|url-status=live}} Wildmon graduated from Millsaps College in 1960. In 1961, he married Lynda Lou Bennett, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. From 1961 to 1963, he served in the U.S. Army. He gained his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from Emory University's Candler School of Theology in 1965.[http://media.afa.net/newdesign/spokespersonsdw.asp Donald Wildmon] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115045720/http://media.afa.net/newdesign/spokespersonsdw.asp|date=November 15, 2011}}

In June 1977, he moved to Tupelo, Mississippi, to establish the National Federation for Decency (NFD), the predecessor to the modern American Family Association, because after watching television one night in December 1976 he felt that no primetime television program was appropriate for his family with young children.{{cite web|last=Limberg|first=Val E.|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wildmondona/wildmondona.htm|title=Wildmon, Donald|publisher=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=July 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530011245/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/W/htmlW/wildmondona/wildmondona.htm|archive-date=May 30, 2009|url-status=live}}{{citation|last=Winbush|first=Don|title=Interview with Rev. Donald E. Wildmon: Bringing Satan To Heel|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/printout/0,8816,957949,00.html|magazine=Time|date=June 19, 1989|volume=133|issue=25|access-date=November 15, 2019|quote=I sat down one night to watch television with my family ... Very shortly into the program, somebody was jumping into bed with somebody else's wife, a scene of adultery. Of course it was normal, approved — you know, there was no kind of condemnation or showing it as being wrong ... I got into another program, which we watched for five minutes or so, and the first thing I know, somebody has called somebody else an s.o.b., but they didn't use the initials. And I asked my children to change the channel again. This was in 1976, and we had three networks plus PBS. I got involved in a pretty good mystery, and all of a sudden the scene changed and one man has another man tied down and is working him over with a hammer. I asked the children to get up and turn the set off.}} With a membership of 1,400, NFD's first television advertiser boycott was during spring 1978 and against Sears for sponsoring All in the Family, Charlie's Angels, and Three's Company.{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/threescompa/threescompa.htm|title=Three's Company|publisher=Museum of Broadcast Communications|access-date=July 18, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203103643/http://museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/threescompa/threescompa.htm|archive-date=February 3, 2009|url-status=live}} Sears withdrew sponsorship of the latter two programs.{{Cite web|last1=Groth|first1=Aimee|last2=Lubin|first2=Gus|date=August 5, 2011|title=The Unstoppable Rise Of The American Family Association|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/rise-of-american-family-association-2011-8|access-date=October 8, 2020|website=Business Insider}}{{Cite book|last=Heldman|first=Caroline|title=Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2017|isbn=9781501715402|pages=6–7}}

In February 1980, Wildmon founded the Coalition for Better Television (CBTV), this time with the help of Jerry Falwell and claiming a nationwide membership of 5 million.{{citation|url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,951754,00.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912090717/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,951754,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 12, 2012|title=Sanitizing the Small Screen|last=Clarke|first=Gerald|date=June 29, 1981|magazine=Time|volume=117|issue=26}} However, CBTV disbanded and Wildmon started Christian Leaders for Responsible Television without Falwell's involvement.{{Cite web|last=Selcraig|first=Bruce|date=October 17, 2005|title=America's Art Critic|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1990/10/06/america-s-art-critic/|access-date=October 8, 2020|website=Tampa Bay Times|language=en}}

In 1986, the owners of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain pulled adult magazines from its stores after a boycott by the NFD.{{Cite news|last=Shiver Jr|first=Jube|date=April 11, 1986|title=7-Elevens Act to Stop Adult Magazine Sales|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-04-11-mn-3854-story.html|access-date=October 8, 2020}}

=Campaign for Decency=

Throughout the late 1970s, Wildmon actively protested television series that he thought promoted immoral lifestyles. He spoke against such programs as Three's Company, M*A*S*H and Dallas.{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/threescompa/threescompa.htm|publisher=museum.tv|title=The Museum of Broadcast Communications - Encyclopedia of Television | Three's Company archives|access-date=January 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904164445/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/T/htmlT/threescompa/threescompa.htm|archive-date=September 4, 2013|url-status=live}}

= ''Damned in the U.S.A.'' =

In 1991, the British television documentary Damned in the U.S.A., made for Channel 4's Without Walls arts series{{Cite web|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150369970|title=Collections Search | BFI | British Film Institute}} and directed by Paul Yule, about the then current state of censorship in the United States, chronicled the battle between Wildmon and artists Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe. The documentary won the International Emmy for Best Documentary, amongst several other awards. Wildmon sued the producers for $8 million in damages after a distributor got the rights to show the film in the United States, stating that he had signed a contract with the producers that prevented distribution in the USA. A federal court found that Wildmon's contract did not support his claim concerning distribution of the film and the documentary was released in 50 cities nationwide.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-09-10-ca-479-story.html|title=Wildmon Fails in Bid to Thwart Film|date=September 10, 1992|access-date=September 7, 2011|first=Robert|last=Koehler|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108032935/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-09-10/entertainment/ca-479_1_british-documentary|archive-date=November 8, 2012|url-status=live}}

= Illness and retirement =

On August 18, 2009, Tim Wildmon released the news via email that his father had been admitted to the North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo over the weekend of August 15–16, with what was thought to be a serious case of meningitis. After running tests, however, doctors determined that he had Saint Louis encephalitis, a disease usually contracted from mosquitoes. He spent 121 days in the hospital and rehabilitation, and later underwent surgery for cancer on his left eye. On March 3, 2010, it was announced that Wildmon was stepping down as chairman of the American Family Association. His son Tim was expected to become the new chairman.{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hed6vrMOh4ttOoflFBLm_9_o5EYQD9E7ADKG0 |title=Donald Wildmon retires as Chairman of the American Family Association |access-date=November 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308021757/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hed6vrMOh4ttOoflFBLm_9_o5EYQD9E7ADKG0 |archive-date=March 8, 2010 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=March 3, 2010 |title=AFA founder Don Wildmon resigns as chairman |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-afa-founder-don-wildmon-resigns-as-chairman-2010mar03-story.html |access-date=January 30, 2023 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US}}

On December 28, 2023, Wildmon died in Tupelo, Mississippi, at the age of 85, due to complications from Lewy body dementia.{{cite news|url=https://www.wtva.com/news/local/donald-wildmon-founder-of-american-family-association-dies-in-tupelo/article_bc012db4-a5bb-11ee-b4bf-a7ee11c4fdb5.html|title=Donald Wildmon, founder of American Family Association, dies in Tupelo|first=Zac|last=Carlisle|publisher=WTVA|date=December 28, 2023|accessdate=December 28, 2023}}

Publications

Wildmon, Donald E. (1975) Stand up to Life. Abingdon Press. {{ISBN|978-0-687-39290-2}}
Wildmon, D. (1985) Home Invaders. David C. Cook. {{ISBN|978-0-89693-521-1}}
Wildmon, D. (1986) The Case Against Pornography. David C. Cook. {{ISBN|978-0-89693-178-7}}
Wildmon, D. (and Randall Nulton; 1989) Don Wildmon: The Man the Networks Love to Hate. Bristol. {{ISBN|978-0-917851-14-8}}
Wildmon, D. (1997) Following the Carpenter: Parables to Inspire Obedience in the Christian Life. Thomas Nelson. {{ISBN|978-0-7852-7215-1}}
Wildmon, D. (2009) Speechless: Silencing the Christians: How Secular Liberals and Homosexual Activists are Outlawing Christianity (and Judaism) to Force Their Sexual Agenda on America. Richard Vigilante. {{ISBN|0-9800763-3-1}}
Friedeman, Matt. Wildmon, Donald E. (2001) In the Fight: A Mississippi Conservative Swings Back. Well Writers' Guild. {{ISBN|978-0-9711004-1-1}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060618093938/http://www.afa.net/carpentersbench/aboutdw.asp Don Wildmon's biography] on the American Family Association Web site

Category:1938 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century American Methodist ministers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century American Methodist ministers

Category:Activists from Mississippi

Category:American evangelicals

Category:American Family Association

Category:American male non-fiction writers