About
Learn about the Zion series and its author.
About the Series
The Zion series began as a concept as early as 1996 when Larry Barkdull, Lance Richardson and Ron McMillan teamed to write two best-selling historical fiction novels on the ancient city of Enoch. These books (ZION—Seeking the City of Enoch and ZION—The Long Road to Sanctification) sold tens of thousands of copies, but the series came to an abrupt end when Lance passed away in 2004. The fictional series was to end with one more book.
Thereafter, the surviving authors pursued other interests. Ron went on to become a New York Times best-selling writer, co-authoring such mega-hits as Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations and Influencer. Larry continued writing award-winning books for Deseret Book and Covenant Communications. He also worked in his non-profit companies, supporting LDS arts and experimenting with the Internet as a missionary tool.
During that time, Larry researched, gathered materials and outlined for what was to become one of the most comprehensive works on the subject of Zion ever attempted, The Three Pillars of Zion. Because the research was rich in doctrinal concepts, the sheer weight of the principles would not support a fictional format. Therefore, after years of preparation and deliberation, he determined to write a doctrinal series on Zion. The resulting work is heavily documented with over 5,000 references and a massive bibliography.
Originally, the work comprised a collection of five books in one volume, plus an introductory book called Portrait of a Zion Person. But when Larry wrote two more books in the series (No Poor Among Them and In One Year), he determined to retire the volume and republish the series as eight individual books.
Moreover, the first fictional series will also be re-released, and the third book that had been planned will finally be added to the series. Here is a list of titles and release dates:
The Three Pillars of Zion Series
- Introduction: Portrait of a Zion Person
- Book 1 — Zion—Our Origin and Our Destiny
- Book 2 — The First Pillar of Zion—The New and Everlasting Covenant
- Book 3 — The Second Pillar of Zion—The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
- Book 4 — The Third Pillar of Zion—The Law of Consecration
- Book 5 — The Pure in Heart
- Book 6 — No Poor Among Them
- Book 7 — In One Year—The 3rd Nephi Model for Becoming a Zion Person (release 2012)
About the Author
Larry Barkdull is a longtime publisher and writer of books, music, art and magazines. For nine years, Larry Barkdull owned Sonos Music Resources and published the Tabernacle Choir Performance Library. Larry Barkdull was also the owner and publisher of Keepsake Books. Over the past 30 years, he published about 600 products for numerous authors, composers and artists. Larry Barkdull founded two non-profit organizations: The Latter-day Foundation for the Arts, Education and Humanity to promote LDS arts, and Gospel Ideals International (www.Gospelideals.org) to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ on the Internet.
The books Larry Barkdull has written have sold in excess of 300,000 copies, and they have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Italian and Hebrew. He is the recipient of the American Family Literary Award; the Benjamin Franklin Book Award; and Foreword Magazine’s GOLD Book of the Year Award for best fiction. His most recent books are Priesthood Power—Blessing the Sick and the Afflicted; Rescuing Wayward Children; and The Shepherd Song.
Larry Barkdull is a regular columnist for Meridian Magazine. He writes articles that alternate between “Becoming a Zion Person” and “Rescuing Wayward Children.” Larry Barkdull has been published in LDS Living Magazine, and he has been interviewed repeatedly. He is also a speaker for church groups. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have ten children and growing number of grandchildren. They live in Orem, Utah.
Here is the list of book titles and other creative works by Larry Barkdull:
Recent projects by Larry Barkdull
- The Three Pillars of Zion—August 2009, re-released June 2011-12.
- Priesthood Power: Blessing the Sick and the Afflicted—(2008) Covenant Communications
- Rescuing Wayward Children—(2009) Covenant Communications
- The Shepherd Song—(2009) Deseret Book
National Market (various publishers)
- The Mourning Dove—(1996) general fiction (Golden Books/St. Martins Press)–Over 200,000 books in print; Winner: 1996 American Family Institute Award for best fiction; Translated into Japanese, Korean, Italian and Hebrew; Paperback edition under contract with Deseret Book.
- The Touch of the Master’s Hand—(1997) general fiction (Golden Books/St. Martins Press)
- Emergency Essentials—Tips for Preparedness—(2003) non-fiction emergency preparedness book
- Cold Train Coming—(2004) general fiction (Deseret Book/Shadow Mountain)–Winner: 2004 Benjamin Franklin Book Award for Popular Fiction, presented by the Independent Book Publishers Association of America; Winner: 2004 Foreword Magazine’s GOLD Book of the Year Award for General Fiction.
LDS Market
- Scripture Scouts series—(1986-1989) Produced twenty-four, 30-minute audio stories for children (Deseret Book)
- Praise to the Man—(1997) (Deseret Book)
- GIFTS—True Stories of God’s Love—(2004) (Deseret Book)
Self-published and other books by Larry Barkdull
- Zion—Seeking the City of Enoch—(1997) (KenningHouse)
- Zion—The Long Road to Sanctification—(2000) (Arcadia Publishing)