D Magazine By John Bloom Published in FrontBurner April 29, 2021 12:46 pm Editor’s note: Ole Anthony died April 16, at the age of 82. It has taken folks a few days to learn the news. The New York Times ran an obituary two days ago. John Bloom (aka Joe Bob Briggs) was a friend of Anthony’s and profiled him for D Magazine in a 1999 story titled “The God Thing.” Ole Anthony was a complicated man. Several journalists over the years tried to understand him, usually looking for the “gotcha” factoid that would reveal him to be a charlatan or a con man — and they usually found it! Insecure about his lack of a formal education, he tended to inflate his credentials and pretend to have skills he didn’t have. He basked in the attention of intellectuals and media figures. He never met a microphone he didn’t love. Before his conversion experience in the ’70s, he was a heartless corporate creep and politician. And not just any politician — he was the kind that always bent the rules and at one time was engaged almost exclusively in the business of selling access to the Dallas mayor’s office.