"I, Saul" One Of My Favorite Authors

Jerry B. Jenkins

Last night I had the opportunity to hear one of my favorite authors speak at an event sponsored by our local library. 

Jerry B. Jenkins is a best selling Christian fiction author. He's written 181 books including the popular "Left Behind" series. 

Because I have read all 16 "Left Behind" books; I've read more of his books than any other author. Michael Creichton is a distant 2nd. I've read six of his books.  

Mr. Jenkins' latest "I, Saul" is based on the life of the Apostle Paul before his infamous life changing encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus. 

The event was nothing spectacular. It was a group of about 100 people listening to an author discuss the details of his new book. But it was kind of cool to also hear Mr. Jenkins talk about his personal history, career, and favorite titles among those he's written.  

During the subsequent 30 minute Q&A session; I had the opportunity to ask him a question I've wondered about for quite a while. 

I asked him how he came up with the name "Nicolae Carpathia" for the anti-Christ character in "Left Behind." 

I was curious to know if it had anything to do with the ship named "Carpathia" that rescued the survivors of the Titanic disaster in April 1912.

He said the character's first name is a common one in Romania (where the character lives and initially rises to political power) and his last name is the same as a mountain range in that country. 

However, he did bring up the fact that he was very happy to see the name of his "Left Behind" antagonist scrolling across the theater screen on the hull of a ship at the conclusion of the 1997 James Cameron movie. He said,"I thought, 'Hey there's some free publicity for my books.' when I saw it." 

After about an hour the event ended and Mr. Jenkins sat down at a table to start signing books for the guests. I didn't have a book so the night was over for me. 

It was a fun night and a pleasure to meet one of my favorite authors in person.