We’re getting pretty excited for tomorrow’s L. Ron Hubbard Birthday Event in Clearwater, Florida, when we expect that Scientology leader David Miscavige is going to reveal something about the church getting its own television network.
But it’s also the one day all year when Dan Sherman gets to shine. He’s the in-house official biographer of Hubbard, and at the Birthday Event each year he takes the stage and spins a few yarns from Hubbard’s life, pretending that he’s done some new research into this or that anecdote.
We’ve covered Dan’s speeches in the past, and they are precious. What’s he going to talk about this year? Well, we might have gotten a hint with a new mailing that a tipster forwarded to us. It was sent out to Scientologists this week, urging them to come to the Clearwater event. Church members are getting bombarded with messages to attend the Clearwater party tomorrow or one in their local cities a week later. This particular mailing relied on a Hubbard quote to sell the event. Here it is…
For fun, we looked up the 1952 lecture that excerpt comes from. In it, Hubbard had been talking about odd results of auditing that seemed to indicate that you might have somehow been in a couple of different places at the same time.
Then, he goes into his humorous tale of his double, Pedrito. Here’s the full segment from the lecture…
A red-headed Brazilian Nazi that was the spitting image of Hubbard? Well, the man could tell a tall tale, couldn’t he? (Funny though, some former Scientologists take this stuff way too seriously, and get spun up about body doubles and CIA sleeper agents and whatnot. Sure, sure.)
In 1998, the church actually had a journeyman writer, Kevin J. Anderson, turn Hubbard’s Pedrito story into a full-blown spy novel, “Ai! Pedrito!” which Kirkus Reviews dismissed as “Dreadful preadolescent plotting in comic-strip prose.” Ouch.
Anyway, we only wish we could attend the event at Ruth Eckerd Hall Saturday night, especially if Dan Sherman is going to dig into Hubbard’s Pedrito story. Please, leak us the DVD, someone!
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Make your plans now!
Head over to our HowdyCon 2018 website to start making your travel plans!
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 9, 2018 at 07:00
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The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2017 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2017), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
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 | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
