Bill Leslie remembers: Covering Billy Graham

I had spent the previous two years developing sources in the Graham organization with hopes of landing an interview with the world famous evangelist. Finally, a call came down from the mountain that I would get to see Mr. Graham along with a very small group of journalists who would be covering his upcoming Charlotte crusade. I was thrilled.

I had heard about Billy Graham for much of my life. My mother, Charlotte Bergeron Leslie, lived near “Billy Frank” as she called him in Charlotte as a child. My mother grew up on Selwyn Avenue just around the corner from the Graham dairy farm on Park Road.

I had seen the evangelist on television as a child and even emulated his demonstrative gestures in a large full-length mirror at home in Morganton. I grew up in the Episcopal Church and had never seen anyone with such energy and passion in the pulpit.

In college I heard and saw my first impersonation of Billy Graham. UNC classmate and close friend Rick Dees delivered a humorous rendition of the famous preacher and even turned it into a radio skit in Birmingham, Memphis and Los Angeles. Graham thought the skit was funny and agreed to meet with Rick. They talked about heaven. The evangelist told Rick: “It’s all about grace and forgiveness. God is just looking for that little mustard seed of faith. Go ahead. You have nothing to lose and heaven to gain!”

At Montreat I asked Graham about why God chose a North Carolina farmboy to become the most influential evangelist ever. He said he had no idea as to why. He said his preference was to be a simple country preacher. However, his calling was much larger in scope. I also remembered him saying he wouldn’t be surprised if there was human life in other parts of the universe.

The 30 minute question-and-answer session at Montreat ended with a chance to chat on a personal level with Graham and his wife Ruth. They were both warm and gracious. He gave me a copy of his book “Just As I Am” and signed it for me.

I almost became a neighbor to Billy Graham at Montreat.

In 1995, I bought a small lot in that mountain community with hopes of eventually retiring there. My lot was just a stone’s throw from the Graham property. Eventually, I sold the lot and purchased a mountain cottage in Alleghany County.

My first Billy Graham crusade was in Raleigh at Carter Stadium in 1973. I attended a service with my girlfriend Cindy Miller who later became my wife. In June we will celebrate 42 years of marriage.

I worked with photo journalist Jay Jennings at Montreat and also at the 1996 Charlotte crusade and the 2001 Louisville crusade. In Louisville, we enjoyed interviewing Graham’s long-time choir director Cliff Barrows and soloist George Beverly Shea along with son Franklin Graham. We really enjoyed seeing a laid-back Billy Graham at a park. He was wearing sneakers, blue jeans and a baseball cap.

That evening when the crusade began Billy Graham was met with rousing applause at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

The applause went on and on until Graham asked the Louisville crowd why they were cheering so much, exclaiming: “”I’m not a horse!”