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Bible book turns into a mystery for Parkersburg man

Photo by Jeff Baughan Craig Gorrell of Parkersburg holds his copy of the 1950 book “Bible Readings for the Home” in which he found a number of items, including a color negative of a senior citizen woman, whose identity Gorrell is attempting to discover.

PARKERSBURG — Craig Gorrell bought a book at Bookends in Belpre titled “Bible Readings for the Home.”

It is a book of “200 vital scripture topics in Question and Answer form,” states a subtitle on an inward book. The price tag read $12.

“OK,” says Gorrell. “I’m generally purchasing books of a religious nature but this one stuck out to me before I ever saw what was in it.”

Among the things found in the book was a “poem which seemed to honor mothers but it’s not handwritten,” he said. “Then there’s this color negative of a woman. The mystery is who it is.”

Gorrell describes himself not as an avid reader, “but as an avid book skimmer. I bought the book about four months ago but opened the book for the first time about four days later. That’s when I found the poem and the negative.”

Photo Provided A print made from the negative found in Craig Gorrell’s purchased book “Bible Readings for the Home,” which he purchased at Bookends in Belpre.

Gorrell said when hunting for books, to him, “the subject matters more than who the author is. There are many authors to this book with so many topics in it, so this time, the subject definitely was of more interest than who wrote it.”

One will find Gorrell in the book stores and libraries looking for books instead of reading the electronic version.

“I have to have something tangible in my hands,” he said. “If I am reading a book, it’s a book, not a tablet.”

But this particular book, which took Gorrell by surprise, has a publication date of 1950 by Review & Herald Publishing Association of Washington, D.C. Gorrell said he has “no idea if the woman is from the area or not.

“I guess I’m taking it upon myself to find out who the lady is.”

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