Reflections of a Mormon Historian - Sandra Tanner Reviews "Chosen Path" | Ep. 1867

When Adversaries Agree: Sandra Tanner Reads D. Michael Quinn's Memoir

Sandra Tanner and D. Michael Quinn spent decades on opposite sides of Mormon history. She was the evangelical critic who left the church and built a career documenting its troubling historical record. He was the believing scholar who stayed as long as he could, convinced that honest history and faithful Mormonism could coexist. They were not enemies in the cartoonish sense, but they occupied genuinely hostile territory relative to each other. So when Tanner picked up Quinn's posthumous memoir, Chosen Path, and found herself warming to the man she had argued against for thirty years, it was worth paying attention.

On Mormon Stories Podcast Episode 1867, host John Dehlin sat down with Tanner to work through her reading of the memoir, which was authored by Quinn and copy-edited after his death. What emerged from that conversation was less a book review than an unexpected act of historical reckoning.

Background: Two Historians, One Contested Record

Quinn's path through Mormon history is well documented. He studied at BYU, earned a master's at the University of Utah, and completed his PhD at Yale. He served a mission in Britain under mission president Marion D. Hanks, a figure who also presided over the young Jeffrey R. Holland and Quentin Cook, both now Latter-day Saint apostles.

From the beginning, Quinn wanted to be the ultimate Mormon. His memoir describes how patriarchal blessings and offhand remarks from church leaders fed a conviction that he was destined for the apostleship someday. That belief drove a ferocious work ethic and an uncompromising commitment to primary sources.