About the Composer

Born in the prominent Hall family of Coffeyville, Kansas on May 17, 1919, Verna May Hall (birth name) emerged as a motion picture actress, recording artist, television and radio host of “The Word with Dr. Verna Hall Linzey,” and “Operation Freedom.” She was a bestselling author, master of biblical languages, Bible translator, and speaker. In the motion picture Iniquity, which is a modern version of the account of David and Bathsheba, her role was that of the lead juror. 
 
The songwriting and poetry of Verna May Hall Linzey portrays her philosophy of life that made her an American English icon. 

Verna received the 2006 “Best Non-Fiction of the Year” Award from the San Diego Christian Writers’ Guild for her book, The Baptism with the Holy Spirit, She also authored The Gifts of the Spirit, Spirit Baptism, and Pearls of Gold (The Poetry of Verna Hall Linzey). 

She received the Gold Record Award for “Best Vocals in Southern Gospel Music” from the International Biographical Centre for her CD, O Blessed Jesus in 2012. This album included the Triumphant Quartet and Sisters singing backup vocals. The Triumphant Quartet was nominated for a Grammy Award and has been voted as the number one quartet in Southern Gospel Music for several years in a row.

In 2015, Verna received the Best-Selling Author’s Award from the National Critics’ Choice as the translator of Proverbs for the Modern English Version Bible. The MEV has been in the top ten-selling English Bible translations in 2015 according to the Evangelical Christian Publishing Association. Verna is the Chief Editor of the New Tyndale Version Bible translation.

On Sunday, May 8, 2016, a commemorative edition of the Modern English Version Bible was presented to the Queen, Her Majesty Elizabeth II, at Windsor Castle by Verna Linzey, the translation committee, and her publisher. 

Verna was subsequently named “Mother of the Fleet” by Admiral Frederick C. Johnson, USN (Ret.) and his staff of Navy and Marine officers at MCAS Miramar in San Diego, California. In 2018, she posthumously received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. Her husband, Captain Stanford E. Linzey, Jr., CHC, USN (Ret.) was a World War II hero as a survivor of the USS Yorktown as a sailor when it was sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Battle of Midway.