It took three years for Lawrence Wright’s book Going Clear to find a publisher in England when little Silvertail Books brought out Wright’s epic history of the Church of Scientology last month. When Ron Miscavige brings out his book on May 3, he won’t have to wait for the same treatment.
Humfrey Hunter, the publisher at Silvertail, has announced that his imprint will be bringing out Ron’s book, Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me, in the UK on the same date that it hits bookshelves in the US.
“I’m thrilled that Silvertail is publishing this book. In the history of the Church of Scientology, the release of Ron’s memoir will, I suspect, prove to be a significant moment. Ron’s story is a hugely important one, and he is a brave man to make public something so personal,” Hunter tells us.
Full disclosure: Silvertail is also the publisher of The Unbreakable Miss Lovely, our history of Scientology’s attempt to destroy the life of journalist Paulette Cooper. Hunter also published John Sweeney’s 2013 book about Scientology, Church of Fear, and brought back into print Russell Miller’s biography of L. Ron Hubbard, Bare-Faced Messiah.
And on May 3, Hunter will issue Ruthless under the same title as its St. Martin’s Press edition in the US, but with a different cover, seen above.
On Friday, April 29, Ron will be interviewed by Dan Harris on ABC’s 20/20, reminiscent of when Harris did the same with Leah Remini in late October, a few days before her book became available and then went to the top of the nonfiction bestseller lists.
Also, the full hour of April 29’s 20/20 will be devoted to Scientology. And what a turnaround that is for ABC. In 2012, when the break up of Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise created a media frenzy about Scientology, 20/20 set out to do a full hour-long program on the church. We were interviewed by Elizabeth Vargas for a couple of hours. So was Jenna Miscavige Hill, the Headleys, and many others. Then, when Cruise and Holmes worked out a settlement only 11 days after announcement of the split, 20/20 shelved the program and none of that footage was used. Later that summer, ABC also cancelled an interview with Maureen Orth after it had been announced. Orth was going to talk about her Vanity Fair story about Scientology “auditioning” women in 2004 to be the next companion for Tom Cruise. But intense lobbying by Scientology’s attorneys gave ABC cold feet, and Orth was bumped.
Now, four years later, 20/20 is taking advantage of Ron Miscavige’s book to put together that full hour on Scientology and its controversies. We can hardly wait.
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Los Angeles counselor Rachel Bernstein wants to help
We asked Chris Shelton, who interviewed Rachel Bernstein at his video channel, to tell us about the services she’s offering in the Los Angeles area…
There are many victims of cults out there, especially Scientology, who don’t know what to do or where to go for help. Scientology paints anything having to do with psychiatry or psychology as inherently evil but these are exactly the kinds of services many people need when they come out of a cult group. Feelings of introversion, confusion, loss, guilt and even fear or anger can be difficult or nearly impossible to deal with alone. Participating in a group can be a great first step to help pierce the isolation caused by a cult experience, since friends and family often don’t understand what a former cult member is experiencing.
Rachel Bernstein has been helping people with cult recovery for literally decades. She’s a family and couples therapist but she also specializes in cult recovery, which is uncommonly rare for those in the therapy field. She’s run many group therapy sessions as well as one-on-one counseling. She provides a safe environment to talk about what people have experienced and what they are going through now. She gives the group members an opportunity to learn what destructive cults are all about and how to undo the manipulative influences they lived under. A group setting gives a unique experience because the members learn from each other and are not just lectured at or told what to think or do. Everyone has an opportunity to help each other.
Rachel’s services are not given for free but are affordable and the scheduling is generally flexible. She offers not only in-person services but also has done online consultations individually and with groups.
— Chris Shelton
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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 19, 2016 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
