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"You
should write a book."
Perhaps in
your life you've said that to someone
whose life seems larger-than-life.
They've witnessed more challenges, humor,
and human drama than most of us.
Such has been the life of Minnesota priest
Monsignor Thomas Knopf-Bigelow.
"You
should write a book," his friends
told him.
North Star
Press has published a collection of five
stories from the life of Monsignor
Knopf-Bigelow, titled In The Eye of
the Beholder: Five True Stories With a
Wink, a Nod, and a Tear. In
this book, Bigelow tells us true-life
stories that are in turns funny, tragic,
and heart-warming.
The
interesting life of Thomas D.
Knopf-Bigelow began in southern Minnesota,
where he was born and raised. After
a stint in the Air Force as a policeman,
he pursued a career as an investigator,
working on cases that included the first
prosecution under the Minnesota Human
Rights Law. After many years, he
realized that he had a calling to a
greater public service. He became a
priest in the Old Catholic Church.
Today,
Monsignor Knopf-Bigelow continues his
interesting life as a servant of God. He works as a sheriff's
chaplain for Ramsey County, does
investigative work for a humanitarian
group based in El Salvador, and provides
support to an orphanage in Vietnam.
He has served as an ordinary parish
priest. In a great demonstration of
fearlessness, he has also been a high
school driving
instructor.
In his
book, Bigelow introduces us to fascinating
people and events that have intersected
with his life. They include a
disturbed woman whose tragic death mirrored
the sufferings of Christ; a violent bigot
who finally meets justice; a Native
American woman in search of her long-lost
family; and complete strangers who came
together one night to herd an ark's-worth
of animals to safety when an animal
shelter caught fire. We also get a
story about how Bigelow got his hands on a
500-pound bell from a 16th-century Spanish
warship and installed it at an Air Force
chapel (much to the surprise of the chaplain).
His stories are as varied as his life has
been.
Anyone who
knows Monsignor Bigelow knows that there
are many more stories in him. For now, he has
given us five that will make us
laugh, cry, and cheer.
In
The Eye of the Beholder: Five True Stories
With a Wink, a Nod, and a Tear by
T. D. Knopf-Bigelow (St. Cloud, MN:
North Star Press, 2004).
You can contact
the author at thomas@monsignorbigelow.net.
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