Last week Jennifer Robinson and Denny Fridkin sojourned to Larry Norman’s gravesite in Salem Oregon to pay their respects. Jennifer traveling all the way from Australia to Los Angeles, and then Denny Fridkin driving her a thousand miles from Los Angeles up to Salem. After a long prayerful and tearful visit at Larry’s gravesite, Jennifer and Denny met with Charles Norman. (Charles did not have to travel as far geographically, but after all the harassment his elderly mother, sisters, and nephew had to endure from the director of Fallen Angel, I know that this was a long trip for Charles to make as well.) If there had been no Fallen Angel, I believe (and most of the Normans concur) that this meeting would have happened years ago and resulted in either reconciliation or closure between the families depending on the results of the paternity test. Now, with all the damage done by outsiders, the road is full of obstacles. But love hopes all things…

Denny described Jennifer’s meeting with Charles as an auspicious event. I applaud all three of them here for bringing some peace into such a volatile situation. Hopefully the conversation will continue to pave the way to a peaceful resolution, this time without an incendiary video and traveling circus burning the bridges of reconciliation.

A few days later, Jennifer and Denny were in San Francisco. So I grabbed my tape recorder and I drove across the bridge to interview them. Jennifer spoke of praying and weeping at the gravesite, and of her love for Larry, and her anger that all of the beautiful things she had said about him had been edited out of the Fallen Angel video. Denny spoke about Larry leading him to Christ and had us all laughing as he recalled funny stories about life as Larry’s roommate. Of course it wasn’t all love and laughter. There is still the question of Jennifer’s son, Daniel, and his relationship to Larry, and, on the other side, the collaboration with Fallen Angel. But a conversation has begun between the Normans and the Robinsons, so there is hope. I told Jennifer and Denny I would do what I could to help them, but cautioned them that the only thing that I could see that would derail the hopes of a DNA test would be for either of them to involve again the director/producer of Fallen Angel.

Please join with us in praying for everyone involved.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold on to the word of life.” Philippians 2:14 -16 (NIV)