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Angels Don't Die: My Father's Gift of Faith

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There is a bitterness toward Ronald Reagan that does not subside. As the man was laid to rest on June 11, 2004 - there were two Tribune Columnists in South Florida that blamed President for AIDS epidemic caused by budget deficits. According to these elitist critics, Reagan created class warfare. Yet as we have witnessed from the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, The Gipper's mourners came from all walks of life.

When Patti Davis wrote scandalous books about her family, it was front page news. I found "Angels Don't Die" on the bargain rack of a bookstore chain shortly after publication. Like Ruben "Hurricaine" Carter's out-of-print book "The 15th Round," sometimes you do not find a book, sometimes the book finds you.

Patti wrote a book in which she reconciles with her father. "Angels Don't Die - My father's gift of Faith" is a spirtual book of common sense philosophy and conviction. Patti comes to grips with her father's emotional distance. Despite his showmanship and gregarious nature, Patti learns that her Daddy was really a very shy man.

This is a great book for people with older parents,
especialy as a coping tool for Baby Boomers and
Generation X reconciling with the World War II Generation.

I have read several of her books. She's a good writer. I admire her nonconformity/questioning/candor/spirit/honesty/empathy/intuitionand altruistic love for her family. There were troubles in their family. There are troubles in every family or so I've heard. There was justifiable questioning and normal rebellion. What family hasn't experienced this? She helped to eliminate the mystic of famous people being perfect for me. The books she writes are not just about her family, but they do encompass the members as a portrayal of idealogical norms at the time, some of which she did not agree with .She was/is very vocal/honest. I believe that she writes from her heart and the book, for her, was cathartic. She tried to deduce, through her writing, what the problem was and how to fix it. She wanted to help her family, while, at the same time show their true nature. I want to extend, as always, my highest regards and heartfelt condolences during their time of grief.

Before reading this book, I couldn't help but wonder what a daughter who seemingly had devoted her entire life to embarrassing, humiliating, and politically opposing her father could possibly have to say about him as he entered the twilight of his life. Now, after reading the book, I'm still somewhat at a loss. The sentiments expressed are endearing, but the story line seems too slick, too polished, and perhaps a little too contrived to be easily believable. Is it really possible that the author could ignore her father's guidance and fret about such things as death all through her lifetime and then in the sunset of his life take solace in his thoughts and the examples he had set for her when she was but a child? I can't help but wonder.

Her introduction of political bias toward the end of the book also disappointed me. It seemed unnecessary; but it was also somewhat telling. By doing so, Patti made it clear that she never did, and at the time the book was written still didn't, understand her father, conservatism in general, or her father's conservative ideals. This was evident when she expressed surprise that her father could possibly believe that "God doesn't make distinctions on the basis of skin color" and went on to say that after hearing him say this she suggested to her brother that her father had spoken to the wrong convention. Ronald Reagan must surely have been one of the last people on earth who would believe otherwise; and either convention would certainly have cheered such a pronouncement -- albeit for different reasons. How could she not know that?

In any event, and regardless of her motives, I'm glad Patti Davis wrote this book. Hopefully, it helped set Reagan's mind at ease; and although it doesn't contain much new information about him, that which is included is quite revealing of his true nature and beliefs. So, despite its diminutive size and any questions concerning the author's objectives, it still makes a contribution to the Reagan legacy. As a minimum, it dispels the liberal myth that Ronald Reagan was not a spiritually motivated and deeply religious man. Hence, whether or not you question the author's motives, as I did, it is still worth reading.

Ms. Davis has written another fine book about her father, the late President Ronald Reagan. The book focuses on her father's spiritual ideas, which Patti learns to use in her own life. Ronald Reagan doesn't preach, by teaches through his actions and by simple stories. Patti learns true spiritual ideals-forgiveness, how to get along with others, and faith in God. In the background is Nancy Reagan whose quiet faith also encourages Patti to gain wisdom and strength.

Patti's parents read this book before it was published, so included are two introductions written by her parents. According to the press this book brought the family closer together. By writing this book Patti discovered how her parents had encourage her to live a productive life, and she also realized how to relate better to her parents.


The book was published in 1995 right before President Reagan retired from public life. President Ronald Reagan's letter written in November 1994 to the public announcing that he has Alzheimer's is included at the end of the book. An astute reader can recognize some of the symptoms of this disease from Reagan's behavior; although I don't think Patti recognize that her father was suffering from this disease at the time that she was writing it. I would recommend Patti's other book, The Long Goodbye, which details her father's struggle with this illness.

Angels Don't Die, My Father's Gift of Faith is a short 121-page book with simple stories, which are intriguing and offer lessons about life. I particularly enjoyed the animal stories, the descriptions of nature, and the near death experience of her father. Since this book focuses on forgiveness and spiritual maturity I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to mend a relationship or become closer to family members.

I look forward to reading Patti Davis' next book.

What a beautiful memoir for a daughter to write about her father. Patti Davis, as we all know, was at one stage the anti-Reagan of the Reagan family (hence her dumping of her father's surname.) For whatever reasons, she was at war with herself and consequently, she blamed her parents. Patti has since found peace within herself, and re-discovered her great love for her parents and indeed their great love (and patience) towards her. She also writes in an exquisite manner.

The title for this work comes from a question that the young Patti asked her father, namely, whether it was true that when you saw a falling star, it meant that an angel had just died. Ronald Reagan replied comfortingly, "Angels don't die" and this explanation was just one of many that he gave to his daughter's questions about life and death, and in doing so he imparted to his daughter the greatest gift anyone can give: the gift of faith.

Ronald Reagan, Patti explains, lived what appeared to be a `charmed life' and I find her explanation of this to be fascinating. To live a charmed life you have to be able to stand back from your life with its various problems in order to gain some perspective. The space between yourself and the situation you find yourself in is then filled with prayer. God takes away your fears, and gives you insights and answers in your heart.

Ronald Reagan lived his entire life with this ability to stand back and offer everything up to God. That's how he managed to take on the responsibilities of president with such ease and remain himself. He always treated people equally, be it a King or a doorman.

Though it didn't set out to do so, what I think this book leaves the reader with is the truth that in the end its not what level of success you might achieve in life financially or politically, what's ultimately important is character. And, Ronald Reagan's character was one of the most evolved that a person can attain.

I recommend this book for the above reasons; it's also good in that it details some of the supernatural occurrences surrounding Reagan (including angelic visitations) and helps readers in their own appreciation and understanding of their relationship with their parents.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It tells of how much faith Reagan had and also how he gave her the greatest gift ever...faith. Wonderful, touching quick read.

This book is about the personal faith of Ronald Reagan, written by his daughter, author Patti Davis. I first became acquainted with Patti when I read her book, "The Long Goodbye", detailing the emotional process of saying goodbye during the 9 years that her father suffered from Alzheimer's. She is an excellent writer and has a gift of digging deep into a subject, looking for nuances that would otherwise be overlooked. Outstanding read!

Patti Davis, as befits someone who studied and then lived Drama & Creative Writing, has written a dramatic little book only ostensibly about her father, whom after years of denigrating she has found worthy of praise, because it's really All About Her. What it showcases above all is her astoundingly crummy writing, which leaves no figure of speech behind. A sample:

"If I had thought to look upward, to the branches of my father's life and character, I would have known that he never intended to wade onto old battlefields. He had his eyes set on stars."

So we have Reagan the tree out wading, but on a battlefield, with uplifted eyes. Most people have to work hard to write this badly, but apparently, for Patti Davis, it's a gift.

Storytelling, Davis tells us, teach lessons that "light candles in the blackest nights. . . I etched some of those stories on the cave walls of my mind and then rolled a rock in front of the opening to the cave." Plato, meet the entombed Christ. Where the heck was the editor?

A prayer is "like a firefly on its way to Heaven." Memories are "like fossils in rock" except when they are "tiny white sails," or when she strings them together like an "add-a-pearl necklace." Her mother "carved a moat around the purest acreage of his character." Spiritual insights simmer, lay dormant, and then dust themselves off.

Her story--because this is All About Her--has been "hanging on the wind like an echo." Her father's humor is sweet and smooth like a milkshake. In relating to her parents, "it's like coming to a fork in the road. . . I could continue to wade through the troubled times [or] pick up the shiny moments to put in my pocket, place under my pillow, keep dusted and safe on a shelf or an altar." That's what happens when your heart is "an angry little moon." But her faith is simple, "as clear and uncomplicated as a stream."

Perhaps all this is understandable, for she Has Suffered So Much. The clearest, most lucid passage in this execrable book are the paragraphs describing her anguish . . . when her dog died.

I can hardly wait to read her next book, which covers her father's decline into Alzheimer's, to see how she Suffered So from that. There can be no doubt that the death of Reagan, that great man, will be similarly trivialized by a daughter who is, to use another simile, like a thorn in the flesh.

For a charmingly written antidote, read the other daughter's book, First Father, First Daughter, by Maureen Reagan.