Mr. Falwell's own life had an unlikely beginning. He was born Aug. 11, 1933, in Lynchburg, Va., to an intensely religious mother and a father who said he was an atheist. His father was a bootlegger during Prohibition, and in one scrap fatally shot his own brother in self-defense.And he was more subtle than his caricature:
He was widely denounced by homosexual activists as a "homophobe." But Mel White, who served as both friend and ghost writer for Mr. Falwell's autobiography and later left his wife and established a relationship with another man, often attended Mr. Falwell's church, and the two engaged in a vigorous public exchange of open letters.
Mr. Falwell once said from the pulpit: "There has to be repentance. Homosexuality is no more sinful than adultery or fornication, but is as sinful. But if we were to stop sinners from attending our church, this place would be a lumberyard."
