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Tim LaHaye, Left Behind creator, dies at 90

Tim LaHaye, a creator of the Left Behind series, who was once named the most influential American evangelical, died July 25 in the San Diego area at age 90 after a recent stroke.

He and his wife of 69 years, Beverly LaHaye, were active in religious broadcasting and publishing, education, and conservative political organizing.

Left Behind, the first in the series, which follows the rapture its authors saw as depicted in 1 Thessa­lonians 4:16–17, was published in 1995.

Yvonne Studevan, descendant of AME founder Richard Allen, among those celebrating denomination's 200th anniversary

Standing outside the historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Yvonne Studevan was full of pride as she saw her great-great-great-great-grandfather being honored with a new, six-foot bronze statue.

Richard Allen started the nation’s first independent black denomination, which celebrated its 200th anniversary at its General Conference in early July. The 2.5-million-member denomination has grown from 16 delegates at its first meeting to 1,506 today.

Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and teacher of tolerance, is dead at 87

Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died at age 87.

Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holo­caust memorial and museum, confirmed July 2 that he died at his home in Manhattan.

As an author, playwright, professor, and speaker, Wiesel dedicated his life to the remembrance of the 6 million Jews and millions of gay and lesbian people, Roma, and others who perished in the Nazi death camps.