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Richard S. Van Wagoner (July 23, 1946 – October 10, 2010) was an American historian, audiologist, and author who published works on the history of Utah and the history of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Early life and education Van Wagoner was a Lehi, Utah, native and a fifth-generation Mormon."Utah, LDS historian won acclaim", Salt Lake Tribune, 2010-10-12. He was an Eagle Scout and was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the church's Central States Mission. In 1970, he graduated from Brigham Young University with an M.S. degree.
Career Trained as a clinical audiologist, he began professional practice in 1977 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Van Wagoner wrote the books Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess and Mormon Polygamy: A History.Michael DeGroote, "Richard Van Wagoner, historian, dies at 64", Deseret News, 2010-10-12. His 1994 biography of Sidney Rigdon won awards from the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association.
Van Wagoner was a member of the board of Signature Books, and was described after his death as a "trailblazer in Mormon studies", having published historical articles in Utah Historical Quarterly, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and Sunstone. He lived in Lehi, Utah, and acted as the town's historical archivist.
Personal life From the early 1980s, Van Wagoner lost his hearing due to otosclerosis; he received a cochlear implant in 2001, which partially restored his hearing.
Van Wagoner died unexpectedly at his home in Lehi, Utah, at age 64.
Works Books
Articles
Sunstone Symposium presentations
Van Wagoner, Richard; Allen D. Roberts (August 27, 1982). "From Grace to Grace" Bradley, Martha; Richard Van Wagoner (August 23, 1985). "Changed Faces: Official LDS Positions on Polygamy, 1890-1-80" Van Wagoner, Richard S.; Lynne Watkins Jorgensen (August 12, 1995). "The Making of a Mormon Myth: The 1844 Transfiguration of Brigham Young - and - The Mantle of the Prophet Joseph Passes to Brother Brigham and the Twelve Apostles: A Collective Spiritual Witness" Van Wagoner, Richard S. (August 17, 1996). "Sidney Rigdon and the Elect Sisterhood" Ehat, Andrew E.; Richard S. Van Wagoner (August 22, 1996). "Pseudo-Polyandry: Explaining Mormon Polgyny's Paraboxical Companion" Van Wagoner, Richard; Breck England (August 23, 1996). "Orson Pratt, Jr"
Notes
External links The Richard S. Van Wagoner Papers (J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah)