Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman [214]
[>] "freeloader's bill": According to Hubbard, any staff or Sea Org member who fails to complete a contract is considered a "freeloader." This includes those who "blow."
10. Flag
For the story of Scientology's infiltration of Clearwater, I relied on personal interviews with Larry Brennan and Sandra Mercer, as well as with the journalist Richard Leiby, who was both an eyewitness to events and a reporter of them. He was tremendously helpful in assisting me in separating the wheat from the chaff and also served as a crucial check on history. The seminal news coverage of Operation Goldmine, as Scientology's takeover of Clearwater was called, was done by the St. Petersburg Times, notably in a series of investigative stories by the reporter Charles Stafford, published on December 16–30, 1979, and later compiled in a special report, "Scientology: An In-Depth Profile of a New Force in Clearwater" (St. Petersburg Times, January 9, 1980). In addition, myriad subsequent stories in the Times as well as in the now-defunct Clearwater Sun newspaper informed this chapter, as did Mike Wallace's investigative report on 60 Minutes, "The Clearwater Conspiracy."
Tom De Vocht was tremendously helpful in providing information on David Miscavige's strategy in Clearwater and his connection to Bennetta Slaughter. Caroline Brown and Sandra Mercer also gave me detailed insight into Slaughter and took pains to explain "safe pointing" and Scientology's overall strategy in Clearwater after 1990. Michael Pattinson, Sandra Mercer, and Greg Barnes spoke to me about Lisa McPherson's declining emotional state in 1994 and 1995. I relied once again on the CPD files for most other details of Lisa's story, from her quest to go Clear, her initial Introspection Rundown at the Fort Harrison, her experience at the Orlando trade show, and then her ultimate breakdown and brief hospitalization. In addition, for insight and explanation of Lisa's auditing experience, I referred to depositions and affidavits given by Hana Whitfield and Jesse Prince during the McPherson civil investigation.
[>] "I am discomfited by": Charles Stafford, "Scientology: An In-Depth Profile of a New Force in Clearwater," St. Petersburg Times, December 20, 1979.
[>] threatened to sue: Though the Church of Scientology didn't sue the Times, in February 1976 the Times sued the church and L. Ron Hubbard for conspiring "to harass, intimidate, frighten, prosecute, slander, defame" Times employees. The paper dropped the suit early in 1977. According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times (January 9, 1980), those at the paper had decided to do so "rather than present evidence that could have harmed an innocent third party."
[>] "Church functionaries were directed": Ibid.
[>] "politically fascist organization": Clearwater Sun, March 11, 1979.
[>] "Scientology is going to be part": Clearwater Sun, October 31, 1980.
[>] "I'm not here to complain": Transcript of City of Clearwater Commission Hearings re: The Church of Scientology, May 8, 1982 (www.lermanet.com/82cwcommission/4-001-077.htm).
[>] "the person you work with": As quoted by the programming director of a local radio station, St. Petersburg Times, December 23, 1988.
[>] "the largest community of Scientologists": "Destination," the Flag promotional brochure, Church of Scientology International, 1993.
[>] "stable, reliable, expert": Hubbard, HCO Policy Letter, January 12, 1973.
[>] In 1993, she earned more: St. Petersburg Times, October 31, 1997.
[>] "The rundown is verysimple": Hubbard, HCO Bulletin, January 23, 1974, revised April 25, 1991.
[>] She was having trouble: Tampa Tribune, December 15, 1996.
[>] "extremely foreseeable": Estate of Lisa McPherson v. Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Case No. 97-01235: First Amended Complaint, December 4, 1997.
11. Seventeen Days
For information about the Introspection Rundown, I relied on L. Ron Hubbard's own description of the process, as well as on interviews with several former Scientologists who are familiar with it: Nancy