"To preserve the reputation of the Fraternity unsullied must be your constant care."

BE A FREEMASON

Monday, January 22, 2007

Ed King and MasonicInfo.com


Every author, no matter what they may say to the contrary, is always jittery until they read the first outside review of their book. They peek into Amazon and lurk around discussion boards and make random searches of Google until two or three weeks after it's released when they finally hit one.

Brother Ed King, the tireless author of the MasonicInfo.com website snuck the first review of Solomon's Builders in on me last week, and I am humbled by his kind remarks.

In the acknowledgments of the book, I listed websites like the Grand Lodge of British Columbia, Phoenixmasonry, and Paul M. Bessel's extensive site as indispensable sources of arcane Masonic information that no other researchers dig up, and that Masonic students, authors and the rest of us would be lost without. The one I left out - and I don't know how I did it - was Ed King's MasonicInfo.com. I assure Ed and everyone else that it was not intentional, and this is no post-script suck-up for a kind review, either. Ed has some of the most extensive and up to date information available on fakes, myths, conspiracy theories and Masonic scam artists available anywhere.

One of the charges made to a new Freemason says, "Neither are you to suffer your zeal for the institution to lead you into argument with those who, through ignorance, may ridicule it." It has unfortunately been that admonition that has kept Masons from responding to the attacks of anti-Masonic authors, ministers, comic-book artists and other slanderous peddlers of conspiracies and hate-laden "literature." Ed King has almost single-handedly taken them on and exposed them with the facts - along with his own strong opinions. Is he "unbiased?" Nope, and proud of it. Which is what makes his website such a guilty pleasure to read through. He is truly one of the unsung heroes of the fraternity, and has labored long without the recognition he deserves.

Thanks, Ed. For all that you do.

5 comments:

  1. Your Dummies book inspired me to look further into Freemasonry. Now I'm an Entered Apprentice and I can't wait for my copy of Solomon's Builders to arrive from Amazon!

    I actually did give a mini review of your Dummies book in my own blog a few weeks ago here. It wasn't an in-depth review but I concluded that I belive it was the best one to get if someone was looking for an introduction to the Craft.
    Keep up the good work!

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  2. I've always liked Ed's site. Sure, he's opinionated, but so are we :)

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  3. Ed King is a crazed nut who slanders whom ever he likes with no regard to truth. the Grand Lodge of Maine is guilty of allowing this hate from a member of their Grand Lodge.

    Fre speech yes, free to slander and lie? NO

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  4. Ed is scarcely a "crazed nut" and I assure you the Grand Lodge of Maine would have spoken to him long ago if he was truly engaging in Masonic slander.

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  5. Brother Hodapp,

    I spent almost 6 months researching Freemasonry before I petitioned a lodge in Indianapolis. MasonicInfo.com is probably the web site that I spent most of my time on. I used it to look up anything derogatory that I found on anti-masonic sites. I always recommend his site to other Masons, and even to non-Masons. It is an excellent site.

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