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Gaunt and bald, Neal A. Maxwell pulled himself up to the lectern to address millions of Mormons assembled across the globe for the LDS Church's April 1997 General Conference.

It was shocking to see the LDS apostle, known for his eloquence and energy - and his once full head of hair - debilitated by 46 days and nights of chemotherapy.

But Maxwell's weakened image was part of the sermon he wanted to deliver that day: In the midst of life's "fiery furnaces," there is grace, wisdom and hope.

And he would know. The apostle lived with leukemia for seven years, a battle that took him in and out of the hospital and left him near death several times. He died Wednesday at 11:45 p.m., surrounded by his family.

For some who knew him, it was a miracle he held on as long as he did. For others, that was no consolation.

Most apostles come from the business world, but Maxwell, 78, was an educator, a philosopher, a writer, and a brilliant public speaker. Even those who found his talks a little deep, won't soon forget the man who worked for the CIA, once turned down a request to run for the U.S. Senate and who was humble enough to play pool in his pajamas.

"For many, many people, it will be hard to imagine the world without him," said Jim Jardine, a Salt Lake City lawyer who was his student and friend.

The LDS First Presidency described Maxwell as "most extraordinary."

"His incisive mind, his tremendous teaching abilities and his remarkable leadership have greatly assisted in moving forward the work of [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] in all the world," the three-man governing body said in a news release Thursday. "We greatly sorrow over the passing of our beloved associate and friend."

But it was Maxwell the writer and preacher who commanded his followers' respect and awe.

Maxwell wrote more than 30 books, in what his biographer, Bruce Hafen, called "an intoxicating, almost annual exercise in self-expression."

He was a student of British literature, particularly the Christian fantasies of C.S. Lewis, as well as political science and history. His own writings were laced with alliteration. Consider this from a 1999 sermon: "Surging selfishness, for example, has shrunken some people into ciphers."

When teased, Maxwell said he couldn't help himself. That is the way it came to him.

Karl Quilter of Salt Lake City called Maxwell the "Isaiah of our times."

As with the enigmatic words of the biblical prophet, Quilter said Thursday on Temple Square, "you almost have to read [Maxwell's] writings and teachings more than once to make sure you get the meaning and then you can go back and read it again and learn something new."

For readers whose first language is not English, it was even more challenging. Luiz Thiago Furlan, a native of Brazil who is studying at Weber State University, grappled with the formality of Maxwell's writing. Then he heard the apostle speak at the October 2003 General Conference and realized the depth of his faith. "It was a very strong, strong testimony and I thought what a privilege it was to see and hear it for myself," Furlan said.

Maxwell had a "tremendous ability to address in profound and sophisticated ways the deepest issues people struggle with,'' Jardine said.

In the last few years, his ideas were shaped as much on the anvil of experience as by books. Especially by his experience with cancer.

When Jardine called a friend in Washington whose wife had cancer, the friend replied that she was especially comforted by Maxwell's weekly calls.

"There are hundreds and maybe thousands who had that same experience," Jardine said.

Neal Ash Maxwell was born July 6, 1926, in Salt Lake City to Clarence Homer and Emma Ash Maxwell.

He attended Granite High School, where he hoped to play on the school's storied basketball team. When he failed to make it, Maxwell turned from sports to academics. After the Army and a mission to Canada, he attended the University of Utah, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1952, a master's degree in 1961 and an honorary law degree in 1969.

He married Colleen Hinckley in November 1950. They had three daughters - Becky Ahlander, Nancy Anderson and Jane Sanders - and a son, Cory. From 1952 to 1956 Maxwell worked in Washington, D.C., first for the CIA and then as a legislative assistant to Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, R-Utah.

But in 1956, Maxwell returned to the U., where he held a variety of positions, starting as assistant director of public relations, then working up to dean of students and eventually academic vice-president. During his years at the university, Maxwell developed a close relationship with scores of students and became a kind of intellectual bridge between Mormons and others.

In 1970, the church brought him into full-time work as head of the LDS education system. From there, he became a member of the Quorum of the Seventy and, in 1981, a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, a lifetime calling.

As an apostle, he visited every continent, talked with government leaders and buoyed up the members. In 1998, he and church President Gordon B. Hinckley presented two volumes of personal history to PresidentClinton. During the 2002 Winter Games, he carried the Olympic torch.

Through it all, he tried never to sacrifice time with his wife and family.

Ever the teacher, Maxwell would correct his children's schoolwork, reports and presentations, urging them on to greater excellence.

''I didn't have to use a dictionary until I went away to school,'' Cory Maxwell once recalled. ''I just asked Dad.''

Maxwell spent hours in one-on-one conversations with each child, writing them a personal note of gratitude every Thanksgiving. Later, he and his wife organized a quarterly "grandchildren's fireside'' to which every child in the family over age 10 was invited to discuss religious topics, explore the scriptures or discuss philosophy.

His life became the fulfillment of a promise he made in the foxholes of Okinawa. Shaking and crying in the mud, amid exploding shells, Hafen writes, Maxwell pledged his life in service to God should he live.

The soldier kept his word.

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Tribune reporter Lori Buttars contributed to this report

http://extras.sltrib.com/images/ldsleadership.pdf">Order of seniority in the LDS Church's leadership hierarchy (pdf)