Jerry Lee Lewis was not the only early rock-and-roller from a strict Christian background who struggled to reconcile his religious beliefs with the moral implications of the music he created.. It was on October 8, 1957, that bible-school dropout Jerry Lee Lewis laid down the definitive version of “Great Balls Of Fire,” amidst a losing battle with his conscience and with the legendary Sam Phillips, head of Sun Records.  It was hours into the “Great Balls Of Fire” session when Jerry Lee began arguing with Sam Phillips that the song was too sinful for him to record. As the two talked loudly over each other, Phillips pleaded with Lewis to believe that his music could actually be a force for moral good. erry Lee somehow made peace with the conflict over the course of the next hour, becoming comfortable enough to begin making various unprintable statements on his way to saying with enthusiasm, “You ready to cut it? You ready to go?” just before launching into the take that would soon become his second smash-hit single. Find Jerry Lee Lewis on hoopla

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David Shannon, writer and illustrator of children’s books, was born  in Spokane, Washington on October 5, 1959. In 1998 he won the Caldecott Honor for his No, David!. He has also written A Bad Case of Stripes, How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball, and The Amazing Christmas Extravaganza. Shannon illustrated Audrey Wood’s The Bunyans, various books by Jane Yolen including The Ballad of the Pirate Queens and Encounter, as well as Melinda Long’s How I Became a Pirate and Pirates Don’t Change Diapers.  Find David Shannon at the library.