Walter Ralston Martin (1928–1989)

Born September 10, 1928, in New York, N.Y.; died of a heart attack, June 26, 1989, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Clergyman, broadcaster, and author. Martin was a Baptist minister who since 1964 hosted a religious call-in talk show that aired on more than one hundred radio stations throughout the United States and Canada. Known especially for criticizing the cult aspects of religions, Martin wrote The Kingdom of the Cults, which sold more than a half million copies, and several other books on cult religious practice. Additional books by Martin include Jehovah of the Watchtower, The Christian Science Myth, The Truth About Seventh-day Adventism, The Maze of Mormonism, and Essential Christianity.