About Paul B. Skousen

Paul B. Skousen has been slaughtering the English language for 30 years at firms and agencies in New York, Washington, D.C., and downtown Lindon, Utah. His writings have confused corporate executives, senators, congressmen, the CIA, FBI, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush, Sr. – but usually in a good way. He also speaks fluent three-year-old.

 Telling it like it is ....

He invented a mathematical formula to get something for nothing, published a joke in Reader’s Digest, drove a semi-trailer truck in circles, and delivered two babies on purpose.

He holds the record for the longest paper-airplane flight in a BYU ballroom, he built a solar bread baker, he set a 100-yard-dash record in high school, he built a model sailing ship from scratch, he played the tenor sax in Reno, he made roof trusses by hand, he started a rumor that was published in Time Magazine, he asked Gerald Ford two loaded questions, he enjoyed a first-name friendship with Ollie North, and he was the subject of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story.” He once broke his dog’s tail.

Approaching_Petra in Jordan

Crawling into an undiscovered Roman-era chamber in southern Israel

Emerging from a buried Roman complex

He has stood between the paws of the Sphinx, crept inside the Great Pyramids, swam in the Dead Sea, climbed the hill of Calvary, caught Pharaoh’s Revenge in Jordan, excavated ancient pottery, snorkeled in the Caribbean, toured a loaded missile silo, stepped in pooh outside of Luxor, walked right past Toronto’s Hockey Hall of Fame, got sunburned in Maui, changed the orbit of a spy satellite, held counterfeit $100 bills, mortally wounded a yapping dog in Belgium, got seasick in St. Thomas, test-fired a captured AK-47, got lost in the belly of a spy plane, wailed at the Wailing Wall, jay-walked in Rome, watched a midnight storm at Nagshead, yelled at a drug smuggler in Tijuana, smelled $50 million in used cash, changed a diaper atop the World Trade Center, passed a kidney stone, was stung raising honey bees, flew in the President’s seat aboard Marine One, ate fondue in Lucern, peeled off a piece of foil from Apollo 11, climbed inside a smuggled Soviet MiG 21, got caught smooching in Parley’s Canyon, confessed to it on live radio, and witnessed his wife writing the first check at the new Nauvoo Temple clothing desk. He once measured the speed of light.

He has shoveled the walks for President Ezra Taft Benson, collected fast offerings from Marvin J. Ashton, and shook the hands of President David O. McKay, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra T. Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and Miss Universe 1984. None will admit having ever met Mr. Skousen.

He and his wife, Kathy Bradshaw Skousen, are the parents of 10 children – all boys except for six girls. For genealogical purposes, she is his fourth cousin twice removed. He was educated at BYU and Georgetown University, has published "The Skousen Book of Mormon World Records -- Premier Edition," “Brother Paul’s Mormon Bathroom Reader,” and "The Skousen Book of More Amazing Mormon World Records." No hobbies.

I have no clue where these miniature humans come from. In 2006 we had nine of them, now there are a dozen, with no end in sight. They're as cute as can be, but what are we supposed to do with them?
A Gaggle of Grandbabies
There's a trick to riding camels that the guys don't get right at first. But after about 10 minutes, it makes sense to avoid straddling the camel like a horse and to wrap one leg around the saddle horn. The midnight trip up Mt. Sinai to see the traditional place where Moses received the Ten Commandments was a 45 minute ride by camel and an hour climb up some 700 stone steps. It was a delightful experience. At night the stars in Egypt are almost bright enough to help you see the camel fleas before they bite. Riding a camel up Mount Moses in Egypt
The security fence in Israel includes many miles of these 25-foot-tall cement slabs. The fence can be installed and moved quite easily. There remains a large complaint by the Palestinians over the existence of the fence, but terrorist attacks in Israel have been reduced by 98 percent since the fence went up. The Palestinians complain that they're cut off from resources, the market, and family. The Israelis promise that when the Palestinians decide to co-exist on the land in peace, the fence will come down. Right now about 95 percent of the fence rests on the boundaries agreed to after the 1967 war. The other five percent will be adjusted at the negotiation table to which the Palestinians have an open invitation.

Touching the security fence in Israel that has reduced terrorism by 98 percent since its installation.

Standing atop the traditional place where Moses received the Ten Commandments in Egypt.

Tradition says it was somewhere around here that Moses stood to converse with God and receive the Ten Commandments. This breathtaking view of the amazing granite mountains typical in this part of Egypt made for the perfect end to a long night of travel up the slopes in the dark. The camels were sure footed for the first part of the trek, we were not so lucky on foot, but we made it before sunrise and enjoyed a beautiful start to another day in Egypt. All along the route up the mountain, Egyptian traders were awake all through the night, burning the midnight oil and happy to accept our American dollars for their various wares that included clay pottery and lamps, polished rocks, carvings, pocket knives, rugs, drinks, candy bars, and stuffed toy camels with "Made in China" tags written in Arabic. The eastern trade routes from Asia are alive and well in Egypt.

The whole gang in April 2007.