1942–1959: Early life
She was born Tamara Faye LaValley in International Falls, Minnesota, to Pentecostal preachers Rachel Minnie (née Fairchild; 1919–1992) and Carl Oliver … See more

Messner's 11 years with cancer were highly publicized. She was first diagnosed with colon cancer in March 1996, but later revealed she had endured bleeding for a year out of embarrassment at the prospect of … See more

In June 2006, a stage musical titled The Gospel According to Tammy Faye opened at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival and was subsequently developed as a larger professional production. The show features songs by J. T. Buck and a book by Fernando Dovalina. … See more

• I Gotta Be Me (1978), ISBN 978-0089221480
• Run to the Roar (1985), ISBN 978-0892210732
• Tammy: Telling It My Way (1996), ISBN 9780679445159
• I Will Survive...and You Will Too! (2003), See more

• Bekkering, Denis (2018). American Televangelism and Participatory Cultures: Fans, Brands, and Play With Religious "Fakes". Palgrave Macmillan. See more

• Tammy Faye Messner Interview at Archive of American Television
• The Re-Invention of Tammy Faye: Former Christian Broadcasting Queen Has New Gay Following, National Public Radio All Things Considered, June 20, 2002 See more