Hatrack River Forum: Card family genealogy; or: are you related to this guy?

This is topic Card family genealogy; or: are you related to this guy? in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

Okay, I've never done a thread directed to the Cards before. I don't even know if they'll ever see this. But I have a question, and I don't know who else to ask. The question is as follows:

Are you in any way related to composer Arlen Card?

I know it's kind of a long shot. But you're both Mormons named Card, so I thought I'd ask. I've been looking for one of his albums compulsively for around five years now, with absolutely no success. I thought if you happened to be related, someone might be able to give me a pointer. In any case, I thought it was worth a shot.

Thanks, and good day. [Hat]

Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :

Arlen is Scott's brother.

Posted by kacard (Member # 200) on :

Pop is right as usual. Arlen is Scott's brother. As to albums -- there are only two I know of. The soundtrack album to "Mountain of the Lord" and the cast recording of "Barefoot to Zion" (music by Arlen, lyrics by Scott.) But I don't think Barefoot is actually available anymore. Good luck.
Kristine

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

Cool. What a coincidence. Glad I asked.

Here's the big story. I went on a mission in the mid '90s. As most RMs know, a mission give a person a saturation in LDS media. Most of it I didn't like. Of the videos we were able to show to investigators, I found the majority embarassing and unwatchable. One of the few exceptions was Mountain of the Lord, which I loved. Likewise, I brought lots of classical music on the mission. I like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but most other LDS music makes me physically ill. All of my companions felt the exact opposite. Michael McLean and the like are as close as they get to pop music, and since they wouldn't touch classical music with a 10-foot pole, that meant that we were on opposite sides of the missionary-music spectrum. But I had a couple of comps with the soundtrack to the aforementioned Mountain of the Lord, and I absolutely loved it. It was one of the only pieces of music that my classical-music-hating companions and I could agree on, and I heard it a lot. I suppose it stands to reason that it was a product of the Card family. They have a knack for creating art that is a credit to my faith, which is rare.

Missionaries aren't terribly affluent, and I had enough companions with the album that I never got it myself. A couple years after I got home I was watching the movie, and I decided to go out to the local Deseret Book and pick myself up a copy of the soundtrack. They didn't have it. For the next couple years, I'd check every Deseret Book I saw and I never found it. Finally, I found out that it had gone out of print. To make a long story short, I've searched everywhere. Used CD stores. The internet. I even talked to several bigwigs at the Deseret Book publishing department. No one has been able to help me. The album has a great deal of symbolic and nostalgic value to me, and I've put more effort into finding it than any other piece of media I've ever come in contact with. Finally, since I can think of no other option, I thought I'd bring it to the Hatrack family.

So, now that I have some good news from Papa Moose, I'm wondering if anyone on the forum can hook me up with an unwanted used copy, or perhaps Arlen's email address, so that I can ask him if he has a spare copy I could buy. I hope you can help. In any case, thanks for being so indulgent with my tale of woe and intrigue.

Cheers. [Big Grin]

[ September 26, 2003, 11:45 AM: Message edited by: Speed ]

Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :

Kristine:

I won't mention any specifics, but I just wanted to say thanks. You really are as nice as I've heard. I owe you a big one.

[Hail]

-Speed