Gaines was working in a small auction gallery in 1971 when he met former child evangelist Marjoe Gortner at Max 's Kansas City , a New York restaurant and club . Although Gaines had never published anything before he convinced Gortner to allow him to write his biography , which was published by Harper & Row ( now HarperCollins ) in 1973 . The movie of " Marjoe " won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Documentary , and although the film was not based on Gaines ' biography , the attention brought by the Academy Award helped promote the book " Marjoe " into a religion bestseller and establish Gaines ' career as a writer
1972 Academy Award
45th Academy Awards
Steven Gaines