The Cross and the Switchblade: A True Story of the Saving Power of Faith.

WILKERSON, David with John & Elizabeth Sherrill. [Pat Boone].

$2,500.00

Item Number: 137030

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1967.

First edition of the author’s best-selling “modern day sequel to the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament” (Pat Boone). Octavo, original cloth. Signed by David Wilkerson on the half-title page and signed by American actor Pat Boone, who starred as Wilkerson in the 1970 film adaptation of the book, on the front free endpaper, “God bless James! Pat Boone John 1: 12,13.” After reading a copy of the book he saw at an airport newsstand on the way to Mexico City, Pat Boone was immediately taken with it. He and an associate, Clint Davidson, took out an option on the book but were unable to raise the finances needed to produce a film. Boone said “the uniform response was that ‘religion is poison at the box office’. When Rick Ross, who had spent 15 years making films for Billy Graham’s organization, became involved the project began to take shape, and filming began in Harlem in October 1969. “I’ve been trying to get this story filmed for five years,” said Boone. “Working in Harlem has been wonderful – everyone, including the police, has been very cooperative. Maybe they sense this isn’t a religious or a ‘church’ drama.” Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. Jacket design by Ellen Raskin.

One fateful night in 1958, small-town Pennsylvania preacher David Wilkerson opened a copy of Life magazine to a picture of seven teenage boys on trial for murder. As he looked at their desperate faces, a sudden conviction possessed him to go to New York to help those boys. As a result of his efforts on their behalf, Wilkerson became aware of the terrible need for practical and spiritual help among the youth in metropolitan areas. Upon publication in 1963, the book became a bestseller, with more than 15 million copies distributed in over 30 languages. In 1970, a film adaptation was released, starring Pat Boone as David Wilkerson and Erik Estrada (in his screen debut) as Nicky Cruz, the teen gang member whose life was transformed by Wilkerson's ministry.