Larry Norman’s tragic post-mortem

Music | Allegations of infidelity, fathering a child out of wedlock, and manipulating fellow CCM artists mar in death what was a pioneering life of making music | Arsenio Orteza

Most of the stories published following the death of the Christian music legend Larry Norman last February summarized his pioneering role in the launching of "Jesus rock" and the far-reaching influence of his music. Several cited his history of broken relationships (two ex-wives, ex-friends including Contemporary Christian Music [CCM] artists Randy Stonehill, Daniel Amos, Tom Howard, and Steve Scott), but none mentioned what may have been Norman's most severely broken relationship of all—because the woman at the center of it had remained silent for 18 years.

The silence was broken on May 10, when Christian journalist Mark Joseph posted an open letter (dated April 28) on his Bully Pulpit News website from an Australian woman calling herself "Jennifer McCallum." It read in part, "[O]ne of [my] children, Daniel Robinson, was fathered by Larry Norman. And, for the last few years . . . and in the immediate aftermath of his passing, I have fought a losing cause to get recognition for . . . Daniel, by either Larry or the Norman family." McCallum went on to say that she had become pregnant with Daniel during a "10-week tour of Russia in 1989."