Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief(144)

18 “We carefully wrapped”: Hubbard, “Tailwind Willies,” republished in Adventurer/Explorer: Daring Deeds and Unknown Realms, The Ron magazines, 1996, pp. 44–50.

19 “Restless young men”: Adventurer/Explorer: Daring Deeds and Unknown Realms, The Ron magazines, 1996, p. 10.

20 “collect whatever one collects”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 52.

21 That was almost the end: “Seekers of Pirate Haunts Finally Go,” Baltimore Morning Sun, June 25, 1932.

22 It soon became evident: James Free letter to Robert H. Burgess, June 21, 1986; James Stillman Free oral history, National Press Club, Mar. 25, 1992.

23 seven or eight hundred dollars: James Stillman Free oral history, National Press Club, Mar. 25, 1992.

24 “I tied a hangman’s noose”: Doris Hamlin “Daily Record,” 1932, in Library of Congress collection.

25 “the worst and most unpleasant”: “Doris Hamlin, Jinx Ship, Reaches Port,” Baltimore Evening Sun, Sept. 7, 1932.

26 “glorious adventure”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 56.

27 To fill the usual: Gruber, The Pulp Jungle, pp. 20–24.

28 a hundred thousand words: What Is Scientology?, p. 581. Hubbard’s eldest son, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., claimed that his father exaggerated his output. “Through the early fifties, he used to tell everybody that he had written seven million words of fiction. But, in fact, it probably never exceeded a million words.” Testimony of L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., City of Clearwater Commission Hearings Re: The Church of Scientology. May 5, 1982. Of course, that’s still an extraordinary output.

29 a roll of butcher paper: Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth, DVD, directed by Erik Nelson, 1982.

30 It was a physical act: Russell Hays tape with Barbara Hays Duke, June 30, 1984.

31 “First draft, last draft”: Interview with anonymous former Sea Org member.

32 Ron fashioned an incubator: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, pp. 64–65.

33 “the prettiest place”: Hubbard letter to Russell Hays, Sept. 14, 1936.

34 “vague offers”: Ibid. Aug. 18, 1936.

35 “I have discarded Hollywood”: Ibid., Sept. 14, 1936.

36 But in the spring: Ibid., Mar. 7, 1936.

37 He later claimed: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 69.

38 “dumb Jew producers”: Hubbard letter to Russell Hays, July 21, 1937.

39 “Never write about”: Ibid., Dec. 4, 1937, quoted in Letters and Journals: Literary Correspondence, The Ron magazines, 1997, pp. 55–58.

40 “While under the influence”: Hubbard letter, Jan. 1, 1938, quoted in The Philosopher: The Rediscovery of the Human Soul, The Ron magazines, 1996, p. 9.

41 The nurse looked startled: Forrest Ackerman interview, “Secret Lives—L. Ron Hubbard,” Channel 4, UK, 1997; Arthur J. Cox, “Deus Ex Machina: A Study of A. E. van Vogt,” Science-Fiction Advertiser, July 1952. Cox’s account varies in that he reports Hubbard as saying that the incident took place “during an operation being performed upon him for certain injuries received in the service.”

42 “Don’t let him know!”: Church of Scientology International, “Port Orchard Washington, January 1, 1938,” 2012, www.ronthephilosopher.org/phlspher/page08.htm.

43 “Once upon a time”: The Philosopher: The Rediscovery of the Human Soul, The Ron magazines, 1996, pp. 11–12.

44 “I have high hopes”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 81.

45 Hubbard explained to his agent: Ibid., p. 79. Gerald Armstrong testified that Hubbard “stated that seven people originally read it and a couple of them jumped out of windows and another two went insane.” Church of Scientology California vs. Gerald Armstrong.

46 The last time he showed Excalibur: Forrest Ackerman interview, “Secret Lives—L. Ron Hubbard,” Channel 4, UK, 1997.

47 “worthless”: Hubbard letter to Russell Hays, Oct. 20, 1938. (Also quoted and mistakenly dated as Dec. 31, 1937, in Letters and Journals: Literary Correspondence, The Ron magazines, 1997, pp. 59–61.) 48 “a tall, large man”: Asimov, I. Asimov, p. 72.

49 “A deviant figure of”: Amis, New Maps of Hell, p. 84.

50 Fanzines and sci-fi clubs: I was aided in this insight by Steven Weinberg, who recalled for me the science-fiction club at Bronx High, which he attended in the 1940s; he and his classmate Sheldon Glashow, who was also in the club, went on to share the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979.

51 “Science fiction, particularly”: Hubbard, introduction to Battlefield Earth, p. xix.

52 “I had, myself, somewhat”: Ibid., p. xvi.

53 “In his late twenties”: L. Sprague de Camp, “El-Ron of the City of Brass,” from “Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers,” Fantastic, August 1975.

54 “Because of her coldness”: “The Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard,” www.gerryarmstrong.org/50grand/writings/ars/ars-2000–03–11.html. The church disputes the authenticity of this document, claiming that it is a forgery.

55 “I loved her and she me”: Ibid.

56 Polly had discovered: Russell Miller interview with Robert MacDonald Ford, “The Bare-Faced Messiah Interviews,” Sept. 1, 1986, www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/?miller/interviews/robford.htm.

57 “two-fold, one to win”: Miller, Bare-Faced Messiah, p. 89.

58 While he was stranded: Ibid., pp. 90–91.