Newspaper headlines agreed. Billy Graham—“heaven’s super salesman,” “the Lord’s top salesman”—knew how to close the deal. If he just read from a telephone book, one associate quipped, people would stand up and commit their lives to Christ.

Louis Zamperini, who died July 2 at age 97, was a case in point. The Olympic distance runner and World War II hero is the subject of Laura Hillenbrand’s acclaimed 2010 biography, “Unbroken,” and of the new Angelina Jolie-directed movie based on the book.

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