- PFLUGERVILLE, Texas (AP) -- The personal belongings of America's most prominent
atheist went up for sale Saturday, bringing $10 for a penny with "In
God We Trust" crossed out and $2,000 for a Bible.
The Internal Revenue Service seized Madalyn Murray O'Hair's belongings
to pay back taxes and creditor fees after she disappeared in September
1995. O'Hair helped knock organized prayer from public schools in a 1963
Supreme Court case and founded several atheist organizations. The penny
was no shock -- she often crossed out words relating to God from her coins
and bills -- but the Bible surprised several people. "There is some
irony in that Bible," Austin lawyer Jimmy Nassour said. O'Hair received
it from a group of Oklahoma schoolgirls in 1968. "I was willing to
go up to $500, but I got caught up in the moment." Nassour said he
may sell it to a museum. An earlier attempt to hock her belongings ended
in March 1997 when a last-minute federal bankruptcy petition was filed
on behalf of O'Hair, her son Jon Garth Murray and granddaughter Robin Murray-O'Hair,
all of whom were missing.
While the bulk of O'Hair's belongings sold briskly in the auction, her
most personal items -- her diaries, birth certificate and photographs --
remain tucked away in a safe deposit box in a downtown Austin bank. They
are to be sold separately. It was not known how much was raised by the
auction.
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