Inside Scientology - Janet Reitman [227]
Of the many former and current Scientologists, academics, and researchers who spoke with me, I am most grateful to the woman I have called "Sandra Mercer"; without her insights, encouragement, and guidance, I would never have understood the first thing about Scientology. I am also deeply indebted to Nancy and Chris Many, who, over countless tuna sandwiches and cans of Diet Coke, educated me about the Sea Organization, provided me with a library of Scientology texts and other documents, and offered their house as a refuge and meeting place. A special thank-you also goes to Anne, Jeffrey, and Anthony Aylor; Chuck Beatty; Jason Beghe; Maureen Bolstad; Larry Brennan; Caroline and John Brown; Tanja and Stefan Castle; Neville Chamberlin; Art Cohan; Jana Daniels; Mark Fisher; Steve Hall; Jeff Hawkins; Marc and Claire Headley; Mike Henderson and Donna Shannon; Bruce Hines; Gale Irwin; Don Jason; Jason Knapmeyer; Dan Koon; Sinar Parman; Mat Pesch; DeDe Reisdorf; Glenn Samuels; Amy Scobee; Teresa Summers; Tom De Vocht; Natalie Walet; the late Alan Walter; Kendra Wiseman; Astra Woodcraft; and the many other former and current Scientologists who shared with me their joys, sorrows, fears, hopes, and disappointments during my five years of research into this mysterious and often incomprehensible church. That a number of them still value L. Ron Hubbard's technology, if not the organizational management of the Church of Scientology—and were eager to differentiate between the two—is a testament to the growing number of Scientologists who hope to form an independent, and free, movement. I wish them all the best of luck in doing so.
On the academic front, Drs. Stephen A. Kent and J. Gordon Melton, with their distinctly different views on Scientology, have each spent years painstakingly collecting Scientology's vast trove of doctrine, publications, and other materials; they made that research available to me. I am also deeply indebted to Kristi Wachter, who patiently scanned many of the key documents on the Lisa McPherson case and posted them online, and to Mark Bunker, of XenuTV, for his massive archive of news and video footage, articles, transcripts, and other materials. In Clearwater, Lee Strope and his colleagues in the law enforcement community proved invaluable when it came to understanding the Lisa McPherson case.
Of the many friends and colleagues who provided assistance and support, I want to particularly thank my father, Alan Reitman, a meticulous line editor and the man who inspired me to become a journalist and who never ceased to amaze me with his generosity, love, and guidance. Josh Hammer and Shannon Burke read early drafts of the book and offered valuable criticism, as did Richard Leiby, who knows more about Scientology than most journalists and shared his knowledge and insights freely. Nora Connor, my researcher, spent months synthesizing complex legal data and poring over documents and transcripts; Alex Provan fact-checked every paragraph; Amelia McDonnell-Parry transcribed my interviews and also organized my office and files—not an easy task. Chris Steffen did additional transcribing and reporting. Raney Aronson at PBS's Frontline and Lisa Santandrea were amazing friends and sounding boards. To all I say thank you.
Finally, Lee Smith, an amazing journalist who understands better than most the emotional and financial costs of this profession, not only insisted I write this book but stuck it out with me through all the years it took me to finish it. Key chapters could not have been completed without his editorial guidance; the entire book could not have been written without his patience, encouragement,