Michael Robertson grew up singing church songs out of hymn books—classics like “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” and “Lord, I ...

He refused to succumb himself to the ways of the world, to the standard norms and boxes that people wanted to put him in,’ said coauthor Stephen Michael Newby of Crouch.

a friend described him in a news story as the “godfather of gospel music” in Longview. He helped start a statewide choir and was a leader in a nationwide Christian music organization.