ENTERTAINMENT

Family celebrates life, mourns death of Utah author Blaine Yorgason

Oct 9, 2024, 4:03 PM | Updated: Oct 10, 2024, 9:04 am

Two people smiling...

Kathleen Wagstaff Yorgason and Blaine Michael Yorgason. (Courtesy Yorgason family)

(Courtesy Yorgason family)

SALT LAKE CITY — Noted Utah author Blaine Michael Yorgason died on Tuesday after complications brought on by dementia. He was 81.

Best known for works such as “Charlie’s Monument,” “The Bishop’s Horse Race,” and “Windwalker,” Yorgason authored scores of books in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. His final published work was “All That Was Promised,” a historical book about the St. George Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, printed in 2013. He counted 88 published works that included short stories.

“He loved telling stories,” daughter Tami Bestenlehner said. “He loved taking history and making it into a story.”

Yorgason graduated from Brigham Young High School and earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Brigham Young University. He taught at BYU from 1977 to 1980 after teaching in the Church Educational System. He was a Church missionary in Chicago.

“He did love to teach. When he taught seminary and at BYU, he thoroughly loved that,” Bestenlehner said.

Yorgason married Kathleen Wagstaff of Orem, and they had seven children.

Blaine Yorgason co-wrote some books with his brother, also a notable author, Brenton G. Yorgason. Among those was “The Bishop’s Horse Race,” based on a story about their great, great grandfather, who made a bet about how fast he could ride a horse from Sanpete County to the Hotel Utah in Salt Lake City.

The 1980 film “Windwalker,” was adapted into a movie filmed in Utah. Blaine Yorgason co-wrote the screenplay with Ray Goldrup, directed by Kieth Merrill, who won an Academy Award for his documentary “The Great American Cowboy.”

“Windwalker” notably used Native American languages with subtitles and was set before the arrival of Europeans.

The brothers wrote “Chester, I Love You,” which was adapted into a Disney TV movie, “The Thanksgiving Promise,” directed by Beau Bridges.

Bestenlehner said one of the most important works her father wrote wasn’t published for the public.

“Tall Timber” was written about the author’s great-grandfather and served as a uniting force for the extended family. Another book, “One Tattered Angel,” was even more personal for Blaine Yorgason’s immediate family, about Bestenlehner’s little sister who passed away. It’s the story of the family’s adoption of a girl born with no brain.

“He had a lot of people who would write to him or talk to him about their own stories.  He loved listening to other people’s stories.”

He had seven children, 29 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren. At press time, funeral services had not been announced.

Bestenlehner said she thinks of her loss in terms of her father, not the author. She said while his legacy includes his works, for his family, it’s what he taught them, his example, and his faith.

“To the very end, that was the most important: his family and his relationship with Jesus Christ.”

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Family celebrates life, mourns death of Utah author Blaine Yorgason