L. Ron Hubbard

submarine chaser. [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/01idx.htm 173' subchasers] from [http://www.navsource.org/ Navsource] ] In May 1943, while taking the USS "PC-815" on her shakedown cruise to San Diego, Hubbard attacked what he believed to be two enemy submarines, ten miles (16 km) off the coast of Oregon. The "battle" took two days and involved at least four other US vessels plus two blimps, summoned for reinforcements and resupply. After reviewing instrument data, battle reports, interviews with the various captains and taking into account the fact that Japanese submarines didn't regularly operate there, Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander Northwest Sea Frontier concluded; "An analysis of all reports convinces me that there was no submarine in the area. ... The Commanding Officers of all ships except the "PC-815" state they had no evidence of a submarine and do not think a submarine was in the area." ["Battle Report - Submission of.", A16-3(3)/PC815, Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander NW Sea Frontier, 8 June 1943; ] In June 1943, Hubbard was relieved of command after anchoring "PC-815" off the Coronado Islands, which is Mexican territory. He further erred by conducting gunnery practice there. An official complaint from Mexican authorities, coupled with his failure to return to base as ordered, led to a Board of Investigation. It determined that Hubbard had disregarded orders, admonished him by letter to include in his records and transferred him to other duties. Since this was the third leadership position Hubbard had lost during his tenure, he was not given command authority on his next assignment. His service ended with an honorable discharge after resigning his commission in 1950. In all he had one promotion and six decorations to show for his service. However he would claim to have accomplished much more than that in the decades which followed. It would also come out that he was relieved of command twice, and was also the subject of negative reports from his superiors on several occasions.

Post war activities

After the war, Hubbard met Jack Parsons, an aeronautics professor at Caltech and an associate of the British Intelligence occultist [Richard B. Spence "Secret Agent 666: Aleister Crowley, British Intelligence and the Occult", Feral House, 2008 ISBN-10: 1932595333] Aleister Crowley. [Aleister Crowley "The Confessions of Aleister Crowley: an autohagiography", Penguin, 1989 ISBN-10: 0140191895] Hubbard and Parsons were allegedly engaged in the practice of ritual magick in 1946, including an extended set of sex magic rituals called the Babalon Working, intended to summon a goddess or "moonchild." [Aleister Crowley "Moonchild", Weiser Books, 1975 ISBN-10: 0877281475] The Church says Hubbard was working as an ONI agent on a mission to end Parsons' supposed magical activities and to "rescue" a girl Parsons was "using" for supposedly magical purposes. In a 1952 lecture series, Hubbard recommended a book of Crowley's and referred to him as "Mad Old Boy" [Philadelphia Doctorate Lectures, Lecture #40 titled "Games/Goals", 12 December 1952: About "Limitations on self and others"] [Lecture #45 titled "Development of Scientology: Characteristics of a Living Science", 13 December 1952: About "Life Science"] and as "my very good friend". [L. Ron Hubbard, "Conditions of Space/Time/Energy" Philadelphia Doctorate Course cassette tape #18 5212C05] Hubbard later married the girl he said that he rescued from Parsons, Sara Northrup. [ [http://www.xenu-directory.org/share/19691228-uk-sundaytimes.gifScientology: A new light on Crowley] , Sunday Times, December 28, 1969 (Article starts with "Scientology has sent us the following information:")] Hubbard also described Parsons as his friend in his Scientology lectures rather than a person he was investigating. Crowley recorded in his notes that he considered Hubbard a "lout" who made off with Parsons' money and girlfriend in an "ordinary confidence trick."

Sara Northrup became Hubbard's second wife in August 1946. [ L.A. Times Article, 2 May 1951] It was an act of bigamy, as Hubbard had abandoned, but not divorced, his first wife and children as soon as he left the Navy (he divorced his first wife more than a year after he had remarried). Both women allege Hubbard physically abused them. He is also alleged to have once kidnapped Sara's infant, Alexis, taking her to Cuba. Later, he disowned Alexis, claiming he was not her father and that she was actually Jack Parsons' child. [cite book | author=Miller, Russell | authorlink=Russell Miller| title=Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | publisher=Henry Holt & Co | location=New York | edition=First American Edition | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0-8050-0654-0 | pages = 305-306 | url = http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html |chapter=18. Messengers of God | chapterurl=http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfm18.html] Sara filed for divorce in late 1950, citing that Hubbard was, unknown to her, still legally bound to his first wife at the time of their marriage. Her divorce papers also accused Hubbard of kidnapping their baby daughter Alexis, and of conducting "systematic torture, beatings, strangulations and scientific torture experiments."Lattin, Don. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/02/12/MN115109.DTL "Scientology Founder's Family Life Far From What He Preached"] , "San Francisco Chronicle", February 12, 2001] [cite web | title = A Ringing In The Ears | url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,856774,00.html | work = TIME Magazine | date = 1951-05-07 | accessdate = 2008-02-14 ]

Hubbard returned to writing fiction briefly for a few years, his best-remembered work from this period being the "Ole Doc Methuselah" series for Campbell's "Astounding Science Fiction" magazine. It was in the pages of this magazine that the first article on Dianetics appeared; while some fiction works appeared after that (including "Masters of Sleep," which promotes Dianetics and features as a villain "a mad psychiatrist, Doctor Dyhard, who persists in rejecting Dianetics after all his abler colleagues have accepted it interp|and believes in prefrontal lobotomies for everyone") [cite journal | last = Frenschkowski | first = Marco | year = 1999 | month = July | title = L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 4 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/frenschkowski.html | accessdate = 2007-02-22] [de Camp, L. Sprague. " [http://www.xenu.net/archive/oca/elron.html El-Ron Of The City Of Brass] ".] most of Hubbard's output thereafter was related to Dianetics or Scientology. During Hubbard's transition from science fiction to Dianetics, his story "The Professor was a Thief" was adapted and aired on the Dimension X radio show, whose writers form a sort of who's-who of luminaries in the golden age of science fiction: Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Clifford D. Simak, Robert A. Heinlein and Fletcher Pratt, but also newer lights such as Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Bloch. Several of Hubbard's associates during this period have recalled that he made comments about starting a religion to make money rather than writing fiction.cite news
first=Richard|last=Leiby
title=The Church's War Against Its Critics — and Truth
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/06/AR2005070601351_4.html
page=C1
work=Washington Post
date=1994-12-25] Hubbard did not make a major return to non-Dianetics fiction until the 1980s.

Dianetics

Beginning in late 1949, Hubbard sought to publicize Dianetics, the self-improvement technique. Unable to elicit interest from mainstream publishers or medical professionals, [ [http://www.ronthephilosopher.org/phlspher/page14.htm The Birth Of Dianetics - Ron (L. Ron Hubbard) The Philosopher: Rediscovery of the Human Soul ] ] Hubbard turned to the legendary science fiction editor John W. Campbell, who had for years published Hubbard's science fiction. The first article on Dianetics was published in "Astounding Science Fiction". The science fiction community was divided about the merits of Hubbard's offering. Campbell's star author Isaac Asimov criticized Dianetics' unscientific aspects, and veteran author Jack Williamson described Dianetics as "a lunatic revision of Freudian psychology" that "had the look of a wonderfully rewarding scam." [cite book | first = Jack | last = Williamson | title = Wonder's Child: My Life in Science Fiction | publisher = Bluejay Books | year = 1984] But Campbell and novelist A. E. van Vogt enthusiastically embraced Dianetics: Campbell became Hubbard's treasurer, and van Vogt—convinced his wife's health had been transformed for the better by auditing—interrupted his writing career to run the first Los Angeles Dianetics center.

In April 1950, Hubbard and several others established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey to coordinate work related for the forthcoming publication of a book on Dianetics. The book, entitled "", was published in May 1950 by Hermitage House, whose head was also on the Board of Directors of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. With "Dianetics," Hubbard introduced the concept of "auditing," a two-person question-and-answer therapy that focused on painful memories. According to Hubbard, dianetic auditing could eliminate emotional problems, cure physical illnesses, and increase intelligence. In his introduction to "Dianetics", Hubbard declared that "the creation of dianetics is a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and arch."

"Dianetics" sold 150,000 copies within a year of publication. Upon becoming more widely available, Dianetics became an object of critical scrutiny by the press and the medical establishment. In September 1950, "The New York Times" published a cautionary statement on the topic by the American Psychological Association that read in part, "the association calls attention to the fact that these claims are not supported by empirical evidence," and went on to recommend against use of "the techniques peculiar to Dianetics" until such time it had been validated by scientific testing. "Consumer Reports," in an August 1951 assessment of Dianetics, [ [http://www.xenutv.com/print/consumer-review-0851.htm Dianetics Review] ] dryly noted "one looks in vain in "Dianetics" for the modesty usually associated with announcement of a medical or scientific discovery," and stated that the book had become "the basis for a new cult." The article observed "in a study of L. Ron Hubbard's text, one is impressed from the very beginning by a tendency to generalization and authoritative declarations unsupported by evidence or facts." "Consumer Reports" warned its readers against the "possibility of serious harm resulting from the abuse of intimacies and confidences associated with the relationship between auditor and patient," an especially serious risk, they concluded, "in a cult without professional traditions."

Branch offices of the Foundation opened in five other US cities before the end of 1950. In August of that year, amid public pressure to show evidence of the book's claims, Hubbard arranged to present a Clear (the end product of Dianetics) in the Shrine Auditorium. He presented a physics student, Sonya Bianca, who failed to answer several questions testing her memory and analytical abilities. ["L. Ron Hubbard." "Secret Lives". Channel 4. 1997] Many of the Dianetics practices folded within a year of establishment, and Hubbard abandoned the Foundation, denouncing a number of his former associates to the FBI as communists. [cite web | first = Jamie | last = Doward | title = Lure of the celebrity sect | url = http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1217884,00.html | work = Special reports | publisher = The Observer | date = 2004-05-16 | accessdate = 2007-10-19] [cite book | author=Miller, Russell | authorlink=Russell Miller| title=Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | publisher=Henry Holt & Co | location=New York | edition=First American Edition | year=1987 | id=ISBN 0-8050-0654-0 | url = http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html |chapter=10. Commies, Kidnaps and Chaos | chapterurl=http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfm10.html]

cientology

In March 1952, Hubbard moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Hubbard started the Scientology religion while he was living in Phoenix. [ [http://www.lronhubbard.org/Houses/Phoenix/ L. Ron Hubbard's House at Camelback, Phoenix, Arizona ] ] In mid-1952, Hubbard expanded Dianetics into an "applied religious philosophy" which he called Scientology. That year, Hubbard also married his third wife, Mary Sue Whipp, to whom he remained married until his death (though separated by the early 70s, when Mary Sue was incarcerated for her involvement in Operation Snow White). With Mary Sue, Hubbard fathered four more children—Diana, Quentin, Suzette and Arthur—over the next six years.

Quentin Hubbard, born in 1954, was groomed to one day replace him as head of the Scientology organization.pp. 213-214] Quentin was uninterested in his father's plans and had preferred to become a pilot. He was also deeply depressed, allegedly because he was homosexual. [cite news | title = Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard | publisher = Channel 4 (England) | date= 1997-11-19 | url = http://www.xenutv.com/int/secretlives.htm | accessdate = 2007-02-22] Quentin attempted suicide in 1974, then in 1976 died under circumstances that might have been suicide or murder. [ [http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/quentin-coronor.htm Quentin Hubbard Coroners Report] ] [ [http://www.whyaretheydead.net/Quentin_Hubbard_22/ Life and death of Quentin Hubbard] ] [ [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/ My Nine Lives in Scientology] , by Monica Pignotti]

On February 10, 1953 Hubbard was awarded an honorary Ph.D. by Sequoia University, California, "in recognition of his outstanding work and contributions in the fields of Dianetics and Scientology."cite book | last = Malko | first = George | origyear = 1970 | edition = First Delta printing | year = 1971 | month = October | title = | publisher = Dell Publishing | location = New York] (This non-accredited body was closed by the California state courts 30 years later [" [http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/credentials.html Some Questionable Creationist Credentials] ", talkorigins.org, May 31, 2002. Retrieved January 7, 2007. Sequoia University was issued a permanent injunction in 1984 by a Los Angeles judge and ordered to "cease operation until the school could comply with state education laws." The school offered degrees in osteopathic medicine, religious studies, hydrotherapy and physical sciences] after it was investigated by California authorities on the grounds of being a mail-order "degree mill." [) John B. Bear and Mariah P. Bear, "Bears' Guide to Earning College Degrees Nontraditionally", p.331. Ten Speed Press, 2003.] ) In December of that year, Hubbard declared Scientology a religion and the first Church of Scientology was founded in Camden, New Jersey. He moved to England at about the same time, and during the remainder of the 1950s he supervised the growing organization from an office in London. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor near the Sussex town of East Grinstead, a Georgian manor house owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur. This became the world headquarters of Scientology. Hubbard says he conducted years of intensive research into the nature of human existence; to describe his findings, he developed an elaborate vocabulary with many newly coined terms. [http://www.scientology.org/gloss.htm The Official Scientology and Dianetics Glossary] ] He codified a set of Scientology axioms and an "applied religious philosophy" that promised to improve the condition of the human spirit, which he called the "Thetan." [ [http://www.scientology.org/wis/WISENG/34/34-scax.htm Scientology Axioms] ] The bulk of Scientology focuses on the "rehabilitation" of the thetan.

Hubbard's followers believed his "technology" gave them access to their past lives, the traumas of which led to failures in the present unless they were audited. By this time, Hubbard had introduced a biofeedback device to the auditing process, which he called a "Hubbard Electropsychometer" or "E-meter." It was invented in the 1940s by a chiropractor and Dianetics enthusiast named Volney Mathison. This machine is used by Scientologists in auditing to evaluate "mental masses" surrounding the thetan. These "masses" are said to impede the thetan from realizing its full potential.

Hubbard also said a good deal of physical disease was psychosomatic, and one who, like himself, had attained the enlightened state of "clear" and become an "Operating Thetan" would be relatively disease free. According to biographers, Hubbard went to great lengths to suppress his recourse to modern medicine, attributing symptoms to attacks by malicious forces, both spiritual and earthly. Hubbard insisted humanity was imperiled by such forces, which were the result of negative memories (or "engrams") stored in the unconscious or "reactive" mind, some carried by the immortal thetans for billions of years. Thus, Hubbard asserts, the only possibility for spiritual salvation was a concerted effort to "clear the planet," that is, to bring the benefits of Scientology to all people everywhere, and attack all forces, social and spiritual, hostile to the interests of the movement.

Church members were expected to pay fixed donation rates for courses, auditing, books and E-meters, all of which proved very lucrative for the Church, which paid directly to Hubbard and his family. In a case fought by the Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, D.C. over its tax-exempt status (revoked in 1958 because of these emoluments) the findings of fact in the case included that Hubbard had personally received over $108,000 from the Church and affiliates over a four-year period, over and above the percentage of gross income (usually 10%) he received from Church-affiliated organizations."Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology", Report by Sir John Foster, K.B.E., Q.C., M.P., Published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London December 1971. Cited at http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/fosthome.html .] However, Hubbard denied such emoluments many times in writing, proclaiming he never received any money from the Church.

L. Ron Hubbard's philosophy, Scientology, and the Church of Scientology that he founded are controversial. Some documents written by Hubbard himself suggest he regarded Scientology as a business, not a religion. In one letter dated April 10, 1953, he says calling Scientology a religion solves "a problem of practical business," and status as a religion achieves something "more equitable...with what we've got to sell." In a 1962 official policy letter, he said "Scientology 1970 is being planned on a religious organization basis throughout the world. This will not upset in any way the usual activities of any organization. It is entirely a matter for accountants and solicitors." [Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter, HCOPL, 29 October, 1962, as cited in cite journal | last = Beit-Hallahmi | first = Benjamin | authorlink = Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi | year = 2003 | month = September | title = Scientology: Religion or racket? | journal = Marburg Journal of Religion | volume = 8 | issue = 1 | url = http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/beit.html | accessdate = 2007-01-07] The allegation from his 1940s colleagues that he saw religion as a way to become rich has cast further doubt on his motives.

According to "The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction", ed. Brian Ash, Harmony Books, 1977: "... [Hubbard] began making statements to the effect that any writer who really wished to make money should stop writing and develop [a] religion, or devise a new psychiatric method. Harlan Ellison's version ("Time Out", UK, No 332) is that Hubbard is reputed to have told John W. Campbell, 'I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word.' Sam Moskowitz, a chronicler of science fiction, has reported that he himself heard Hubbard make a similar statement, but there is no first-hand evidence." Hubbard himself was also quoted as driving his people toward financial results. For example, in one of his bulletins to officials Hubbard implored:quotation|"Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it." and "Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop,"|L. Ron Hubbard [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-3,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] 1991 Page 3, Time Magazine. Psychiatrists say these sessions can produce a drugged-like, mind-controlled euphoria that keeps customers coming back for more. To pay their fees, newcomers can earn commissions by recruiting new members, become auditors themselves (Miscavige did so at age 12), or join the church staff and receive free counseling in exchange for what their written contracts describe as a "billion years" of labor. "Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop," implored Hubbard in one of his bulletins to officials. "Make money. Make more money. Make others produce so as to make money . . . However you get them in or why, just do it."] Among the most damning testimonies is the 1994 affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon, who quit after 21 years of membership in Scientology from 1971 to 1992 and member of the Sea Organization ("Sea Org") from 1972 onward. During this time he had been Hubbard's butler and further held many more functions. Due to his former Marine training, he had been in charge of much of the security systems, and of the extreme coercive measures used by the church of scientology. He received training in, and witnessed, the deliberate misuse of the Hubbard Technique on many people. Further along the same lines, in 1991 he was ordered to set up the Hemet base so that in case of crisis it could be defended against being taken over by the authorities - upon which church money paid for various unregistered weapons (assault rifles, shotguns, a.s.o.), large quantities of gunpowder and all other elements of a high security systems. He makes it clear that this and more is in accordancee with Hubbard's thinking and wishes. [http://www.xenu-directory.net/documents/tabayoyona19940305.html Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon (5 March 1994)] . Source: [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.scientology/msg/0a74da41cf91057d alt.religion.scientology] .]

Legal difficulties and life on the high seas

Scientology became a focus of controversy across the English-speaking world during the mid-1960s, with the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, the Australian state of Victoria and the Canadian province of Ontario all holding public inquiries into Scientology's activities. [ [http://whyaretheydead.net/Cowen/audit/ofpapers.html Official Papers on Scientology] ] Hubbard left this unwanted attention behind in 1966, when he moved to Rhodesia, following Ian Smith's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Attempting to ingratiate himself with the white minority government, he offered to invest large sums in Rhodesia's economy, then hit by UN sanctions, but was asked to leave the country. In 1967, L. Ron Hubbard further distanced himself from the controversy attached to Scientology by resigning as executive director of the church and appointing himself "Commodore" of a small fleet of Scientologist-crewed ships that spent the next eight years cruising the Mediterranean Sea. Here, Hubbard formed the religious order known as the "Sea Organization" or "Sea Org," with titles and uniforms. The Sea Org subsequently became the management group within Hubbard's Scientology empire.

He was attended by "Commodore's Messengers," teenage girls dressed in white hot pants who waited on him hand and foot, fixing his shower and dressing him and even catching the ash from his cigarettes. He had frequent screaming tantrums and instituted brutal punishments such as incarceration in the ship's filthy chain-locker for days or weeks at a time and "overboarding," in which errant crew members were blindfolded, bound and thrown overboard, dropping up to convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on into the cold sea, hoping not to hit the side of the ship with its sharp barnacles on the way down. [Wakefield, Margery. "Understanding Scientology", Chapter 9. [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/wakefield/us-09.html Reproduced] at David S. Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site.] Some of these punishments, such as imprisonment in the chain-locker, were applied to children as well as to adults. A letter Hubbard wrote to his third wife, Mary Sue, when he was in Las Palmas around 1967: "I’m drinking lots of rum and popping pinks and greys..."In "L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?" Corydon, expanded 1992 paperback edition, page 59] The author of an unauthorized Hubbard biography also says that "John McMasters told me that on the flagship "Apollo" in the late sixties he witnessed Hubbard's drug supply. 'It was the largest drug chest I had ever seen. He had everything!'". This was confirmed by Gerry Armstrong through Virginia Downsborough who said in 1967 Hubbard returned to Las Palmas totally debilitated from drugs. [in "Bare-Faced Messiah" copyright (c) 1987 by Russell Miller, p. 266] cquote|"We found him a hotel in Las Palmas and the next day I went back to see if he was all right, because he did not seem to be too well. When I went in to his room, there were drugs of all kinds everywhere. He seemed to be taking about sixty thousand different pills. I was appalled, particularly after listening to all his tirades against drugs and the medical profession. There was something very wrong with him... My main concern was to try and get him off all the pills he was on and persuade him that there was still plenty for him to do."|Virginia Downsborough "He was existing almost totally on a diet of drugs. For three weeks Hubbard was bedridden, while she weaned him off his habit."Interview with Virginia Downsborough, Santa Barbara, October 1986, [http://www.religio.de/books/atack/contents.htm "A Piece of Blue Sky"] copyright (c) 1990 by Jon Atack, p. 171] His drug use appears to pre-date the 1967 accounts. [ "Messiah or Madman" copyright (c) 1987, 1992 by Bent Corydon p. 59] A letter written by Hubbard to his ex-wife was given special attention in the Church of Scientology v. Armstrong case,quotation|"I do love you, even if I used to be an opium addict."|L. Ron Hubbard

In March 1969, the Greek Government branded L. Ron Hubbard and his group of 200 disciples "undesirables". The group had been living aboard the 3,300 ton Panamanian ship "Apollo" and had been docked in the harbor of Corfu island since August. On March 18th, local authorities issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the Scientologists, but Hubbard was granted an extension due to engine problems. The expulsion order was the result of mounting pressure from American, British, and Australian diplomats to examine the activities of the "Apollo" occupants. Most of the occupants were American, some were British, Australian, and South African. [New York Times, Mar 19, 1969;pg.33 ]

In 1977, Scientology offices on both coasts of the United States were raided by FBI agents seeking evidence of Operation Snow White, a church-run espionage network. Hubbard's wife Mary Sue and a dozen other senior Scientology officials were convicted in 1979 of conspiracy against the United States federal government, while Hubbard himself was named by federal prosecutors as an "unindicted co-conspirator."cite news|author=Robert W. Welkos|coauthors=Joel Sappell|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientologysidec062490,0,7034344.story |title=Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison |work=Los Angeles Times |date= 24 June, 1990|accessdate=2006-05-22] At this time the IRS also had evidence that he had skimmed millions of dollars from church accounts and secreted the funds to destinations overseas. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-3,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] 1991 Page 3, Time Magazine. During the early 1970s, the IRS conducted its own auditing sessions and proved that Hubbard was skimming millions of dollars from the church, laundering the money through dummy corporations in Panama and stashing it in Swiss bank accounts.] Facing intense media interest and many subpoenas, he secretly retired to a ranch in tiny Creston, California, north of San Luis Obispo.

In 1978, as part of a case against three French Scientologists, Hubbard was convicted of making fraudulent promises and given a four year prison sentence and a 35,000₣ fine by a French court. [cite web | first = Lucy | last = Morgan | title = Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology | url = http://www.sptimes.com/News/32999/Worldandnation/Abroad__Critics_publi.html | work = | publisher = St. Petersburg Times | date = 1999-03-29 | accessdate = 2007-10-30] Hubbard was not in the country at the time of the trial, and didn't retain legal assistance. The case was subsequently appealed by one of the other convicts in 1980. During this appeal, the court indicated that all those who had been convicted could be pardoned, if they filed their own appeals against the original ruling. A second defendant did in 1981, and the fraud charges were canceled by judgment on November 9, 1981. Hubbard himself never took any action, and the fine was never enforced. [Reuters wire service, printed in Sunday Star (Toronto), 2 March 1980, also in International Herald Tribune, 3 March 1980:"The Paris Court of Appeal has recognized the U.S.-based Church of Scientology as a religion and cleared a former leader of the movement's French branch of fraud. ... The court's president indicated that the three others, who were sentenced in their absence, might be acquitted if they appealed."] [Judgment of 9 Nov 1981, 13eme Chambre Correctionnelle du TGI de Paris, p. 171, "...l'intention de tromper pour obtenir la remise n'etant alors pas etablie. Auusi bien sa relaxe s'impose." - ".. the intention to deceive being not then established. Therefore her discharge is imperative." (typo in original French)]

Hubbard's refusal to speak with British immigration officials about this conviction is said to have later caused the British Home Office to re-affirm an earlier decision to bar him from the UK. [cite news |title= Scientology leader is ordered: Stay away|work= Daily Mail|date= 1984-07-29] In 1989 however the then Home Office Minister of State, Tim Renton, confirmed in writing that from 1980 until the date of his death, Hubbard had been free to apply for entry to the United Kingdom under the ordinary immigration rules and that any ban had been lifted on July 16, 1980. [Home Office, Letter of Tim Renton, 24 Feb 1989: "I can indeed confirm that the ban on Scientologists entering this country ... was removed on 16 July 1980."] [The Sunday Times, 13 July 1980 "Ministers to lift ban on Scientology," by Michael Jones and John Whale]

The accuracy of Hubbard's self-representations were challenged in court during a 1984 custody case of a Scientologist and his former wife about two of their children. The judgment of the High court of London (Family Division) quotes the single judge, Latey, that Scientology is "dangerous, immoral, sinister and corrupt" and "has its real objective money and power for Mr. Hubbard."

The 1965 Anderson Report, an inquiry on Hubbard and Scientology held in Australia, presented Hubbard as a man who made "pretentious and completely misleading pronouncements on scientific matters of which he is ignorant" based on knowledge that was "fragmentary and inaccurate and sometimes positively incorrect."

All that he writes and says is either accepted by his followers or, at the very least, it is not rejected. They are taught that they are entitled to question his pronouncements, but they are conditioned to the belief that whatever he says is right. [ [http://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/ar06.html] 1965 Anderson Report biography of Hubbard]

A later finding in the report addresses his assertion of medical knowledge and ability by saying:

Hubbard's claims to have found the only known cure for atomic radiation effects is not only unsubstantiated, but, in view of its obvious military value, hardly likely to have been left uninvestigated by military authorities if it was of any value whatever. [http://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/lee.html#evaluation] 1965 Anderson Report evaluation of Hubbard as a physician ]

"Fair Game" was introduced by Hubbard as a policy against people or groups that "actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology or a Scientologist by Suppressive Acts." He defined it as: "ENEMY — SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed". [HCO POLICY LETTER OF 18 OCTOBER 1967, Issue IV (canceled)]

In July 1968, Hubbard revised this definition to a somewhat milder wording: "ENEMY — Suppressive Person order. May not be communicated with by anyone except an Ethics Officer, Master at Arms, a Hearing Officer or a Board or Committee. May be restrained or imprisoned. May not be protected by any rules or laws of the group he sought to injure as he sought to destroy or bar fair practices for others. May not be trained or processed or admitted to any org." [ [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/audit/foster07.html HCO POLICY LETTER OF 21 JULY 1968] , quoted in the Foster Report, cancels the earlier HCO POLICY LETTER OF 18 OCTOBER 1967, Issue IV] The use of the expression "Fair Game" was canceled altogether in October 1968, with Hubbard stating that quotation|The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations. This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP.|L. Ron Hubbard [Hubbard, HCOPL 21 October 1968, Cancellation of Fair Game] Hubbard later explained that: quotation|There was never any attempt or intent on my part by the writing of these policies (or any others for that fact), to authorize illegal or harassment type acts against anyone. As soon as it became apparent to me that the concept of 'Fair Game' as described above was being misinterpreted by the uninformed, to mean the granting of a license to Scientologists for acts in violation of the law and/or other standards of decency, these policies were canceled."|L. Ron Hubbard [Hubbard, affidavit of 22 March 1976, quoted in David V Barrett, The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, Cults and Alternative Religions, p. 464 (Octopus Publishing Group, 2003)] While the number of incidents involving so-called dirty tricks or unethical actions dropped in the years that followed,J. Gordon Melton, "The Church of Scientology", Studies in Contemporary Religion, Signature Books, Salt Lake City 2000, p. 36] several judges and juries have through their decisions or comments asserted that the tactics continued beyond Hubbard's order canceling use of the term Fair Game in 1968. [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062990x,0,5646473.story?page=5On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes] The Los Angeles Times, June 29 1990 by Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers Page 5 "Church spokesmen maintain that Hubbard rescinded the policy three years after it was written...But various judges and juries have concluded that while the actual labeling of persons as "fair game" was abandoned, the harassment continued unabated."]

In the mid-1970s Hubbard decided to end his life at sea and covertly returned to the United States, living for a while in Florida.

Later life

During the 1980s Hubbard returned to science fiction, publishing "Battlefield Earth" and then the ten-volume "Mission Earth". He also wrote an unpublished screenplay called "Revolt in the Stars" in 1977, which dramatizes Scientology's OT III teachings. [ [Bare-Faced-Messiah, "Making Movies" http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/bs6-1.htm] ] Hubbard's later science fiction sold well and received mixed reviews, but some press reports describe how sales of Hubbard's books were inflated by Scientologists purchasing large numbers of copies in order to manipulate the bestseller charts. [cite web |url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062890,1,737186,full.story?coll=la-news-comment&ctrack=5&cset=true |title = Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers |accessdate = 2007-07-30 |last = Welkos |first = Robert W. |coauthors = Sappell, Joel |date = 1990-06-28 |work = The Scientology Story |publisher = Los Angeles Times] [McIntyre, Mike (April 15, 1990). [http://www.ex-cult.org/Groups/Scientology/sandiego.txt Hubbard Hot-Author Status Called Illusion] . "San Diego Union", p. 1.] While claiming to be entirely divorced from the Scientology management, Hubbard continued to draw income from the Scientology enterprises; "Forbes" magazine estimated "at least $200 million gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982".

Hubbard died at his ranch on January 24, 1986, aged 74, reportedly from a stroke. [cite web | title = L. Ron Hubbard, Church of Scientology founder, dies | url = http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1986/8601020951.asp | work = | publisher = Seattle Post-Intelligencer | date = 1986-01-28 | accessdate = 2007-12-27] Scientology attorneys arrived to claim his body, which they sought to have cremated immediately per his will. They were blocked by the San Luis Obispo County medical examiner, who ordered a drug toxicology test of a blood sample from Hubbard's corpse. The examination revealed a trace amount of the drug hydroxyzine (brand name Vistaril). [ [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] Image of Hubbard's toxicology report] [Supplementary Coroner Report, 30 Jan 1986] [Letter of Sheriff-Coroner E. Williams, 4 Nov 1987] Vistaril is an antihistamine and mild sedative sometimes used for symptomatic treatment of anxiety, neurosis or as an adjunct in non-related diseases in which anxiety is apparent. It is also useful as an anti-emetic (to prevent nausea), and in treating allergic pruritus such as chronic urticaria and atopic and contact dermatoses. [http://www.pfizer.com/pfizer/download/uspi_vistaril.pdf; VISTARIL® (hydroxyzine pamoate) Capsules and Oral Suspension; Pfizer; accessed 2007-04-11] After the blood was taken, Hubbard's remains were cremated.

The Church of Scientology announced Hubbard had deliberately discarded his body to do "higher level spiritual research," unencumbered by mortal confines, and was now living "on a planet a galaxy away." ["The Making of L. Ron Hubbard," "Los Angeles Times", June 24, 1990, pg. A40] In May 1987, David Miscavige, one of Hubbard's former personal assistants, assumed the position of Chairman of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a corporation that owns the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology ("L. Ron Hubbard" is now a trademark of the RTC [ [http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=45qd30.4.1 Trademark Electronic Search System] ] [ [http://www.hubbardcollege.org/site/copyrighttrademarks.html Hubbard College of Administration - Copyrighted Trademarks] ] [ [http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?NoticeID=3916 Scientology claims copyright and trademark infringement] ] [ [http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/paquette-goes-nuts.htm Re: Unauthorized Use of 'Registered Trademark'] ] [ [http://www.skeptictank.org/clp14.htm CST Legal Papers 12 Mitchell Affidavit] ] ). Although Religious Technology Center is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, Miscavige is also the ecclesiastical leader of the religion. [Religious Technology Center [http://www.rtc.org/david-miscavige.htm David Miscavige Biography] (accessed 2007-05-08)] Heber Jentzsch is the President of Church of Scientology International. [ [http://www.scientology.org/scnnews/jentzsch.htm Heber C. Jentzsch] ]

Personality

Publicly, Hubbard was sociable and charming.cite video | people = World in Action | title = The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard | medium = Television Interview | publisher = Granada Television (England) | location = North Africa | year= 1968] Privately, he wrote entries in his notebook like "All men are your slaves," and "You can be merciless whenever your will is crossed and you have the right to be merciless." After a 1940 sailing trip that ended with engine trouble on his yacht, he began a three-month stay in Ketchikan, Alaska. Hubbard worked as the host of a popular maritime radio show where he was known as a "charismatic storyteller". He also incurred a debt from First National Bank in the amount of $350 which was not repaid.cite web |url = http://www.sitnews.us/JuneAllen/Hubbard/011905_hubbard.html |publisher = Stories in the News |title = L. Ron Hubbard's Alaska Adventure | accessdate = 2007-11-07] Hubbard was also apparently interested in and talented at hypnosis. In a 1948 demonstration for a gathering of science fiction buffs in Los Angeles, Hubbard successfully convinced one person he was cradling a baby kangaroo.

But during this same period, Hubbard was financially destitute, and suffered from feelings of depression as well as suicidal thoughts, according to a letter he wrote in 1947 requesting assistance from Veterans Affairs. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865-2,00.html The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power] Page 2, Time Magazine. The founder of this enterprise was part storyteller, part flimflam man. Born in Nebraska in 1911, Hubbard served in the Navy during World War II and soon afterward complained to the Veterans Administration about his "suicidal inclinations" and his "seriously affected" mind.] quotation|Toward the end of my (military) service, I avoided out of pride any mental examinations, hoping that time would balance a mind which I had every reason to suppose was seriously affected....I cannot account for nor rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal inclinations, and have newly come to realize that I must first triumph above this before I can hope to rehabilitate myself at all.|L. Ron Hubbard

Hubbard was prone to self-aggrandizement and exaggeration, and in 1938, he wrote a letter to then-wife Margaret "Polly" Grubb reading, "I have high hopes of smashing my name into history so violently that it will take a legendary form, even if all the books are destroyed. That goal is the real goal as far as I am concerned." In 1984, during the Church of Scientology's lawsuit against Gerry Armstrong, Judge Paul G. Breckenridge Jr. described Hubbard as "charismatic and highly capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating and inspiring his adherents." However, the judge ruled against the Church, and in so doing said, "The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements."

Hubbard was regarded as abusive by some family members and former associates. He married his second wife, Sara Northrup, on August 10, 1946, without revealing his existing marriage and children. This was one reason for her later divorce from Hubbard. During those legal proceedings, Northrup alleged abuse by Hubbard, and produced a letter she received from Margaret "Polly" Grubb during the proceedings recounting her treatment by him. It reads, in part, cquote|Ron is not normal... I had hoped you could straighten him out. Your charges probably sound fantastic to the average person – but I've been through it – the beatings, threats on my life, all the sadistic traits which you charge – 12 years of it.

And several of those trusted to be near him say Hubbard was prone to emotional fits when he became upset, using insults and obscenities. Former Scientologist Adelle Hartwell once described such an outburst: "I actually saw him take his hat off one day and stomp on it and cry like a baby."

But the financial windfall that came with the success of Scientology allowed Hubbard to hide this and other aspects of his personality that contrasted with the image of himself currently celebrated by Scientologists, who regard Hubbard as "mankind's greatest friend". [ [http://www.lronhubbardprofile.org/profile/cont.htm "L. Ron Hubbard, A Profile"] - Church of Scientology-produced profile of Hubbard] The few who worked at his side saw personality flaws and quirks not reflected in the staged photographs or in Hubbard's church-produced biographies.

Writing career

Hubbard was an unusually prolific author and lecturer. Because the majority of Hubbard's writings of the 1950s through to the 1970s were aimed exclusively at Scientologists, the Church of Scientology founded its own companies to publish his works - Bridge Publications for the US and Canadian market and New Era Publications, based in Denmark, for the rest of the world. New volumes of his transcribed lectures continue to be produced; that series alone will ultimately total a projected 110 large volumes. Hubbard also wrote a number of works of fiction during the 1930s and 1980s, which are published by the Scientology-owned Galaxy Press. All three of these publishing companies are subordinate to Author Services Inc., another Scientology corporation.

Hubbard was awarded the 1994 Ig Nobel Prize in Literature (a parody of the Nobel -- the name derives from the word "ignoble") for "his crackling Good Book, "Dianetics," which is highly profitable to mankind—or to a portion thereof." [cite web | url = http://improbable.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html#ig1994 | title = Winners of the Ig Nobel Prize | publisher = Improbable Research | accessdate = 2008-03-24]

In 2006, Guinness World Records declared Hubbard the world's most published and most translated author, having published 1,084 fiction and non-fiction works that have been translated into 71 languages. [http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2006/12/07/guinness-gracious/ Guinness Gracious; Vox - Columbia Missourian; Sean Ludwig; December 7, 2006; accessed 2007-02-11] [cite web | url = http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001476331 | title = Guinness World Records: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author | accessdate = 2007-02-12 | last = Maul | first = Kimberly | date = 2005-11-09 | work = The Book Standard]

A selection of Hubbard's best-known titles are below; a bibliography of Hubbard's more popular work is available in a separate article.

Fiction

*"Buckskin Brigades" (1937), ISBN 0-88404-280-4
*"Final Blackout" (1940), ISBN 0-88404-340-1
*"Fear" (1951), ISBN 0-88404-599-4
*"Typewriter in the Sky" (1951), ISBN 0-88404-933-7
*"Ole Doc Methuselah" (1953), ISBN 0-88404-653-2
*"Battlefield Earth" (1982), ISBN 0-312-06978-2
*"Mission Earth" (1985-87), 10 vols.

cientology and Dianetics

*"," New York 1950, ISBN 0-88404-416-5
*"Child Dianetics. Dianetic Processing for Children," Wichita, Kansas 1951, ISBN 0-88404-421-1
*"Notes on the Lectures" Parts of transcripts and notes from a series of lectures given in Los Angeles, California in November 1950, ISBN 088404-422-X
*"Scientology 8-8008," Phoenix, Arizona 1952, ISBN 0-88404-428-9
*"Dianetics 55!," Phoenix, Arizona 1954, ISBN 0-88404-417-3
*"" Phoenix, Arizona 1955, ISBN 1-4031-0538-3
* "The Creation of Human Ability" 1955
*"Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought" Washington, DC 1956, ISBN 0-88404-503-X
*"The Problems of Work" Washington, DC 1956, ISBN 0-88404-377-0
*"Have You Lived Before This Life" East Grinstead, Sussex 1960, ISBN 0-88404-447-5
*"Scientology: A New Slant on Life," East Grinstead, Sussex 1965, ISBN 1-57318-037-8
*"The Volunteer Minister's Handbook" Los Angeles 1976, ISBN 0-88404-039-9
*"Research and Discovery Series," a chronological series collecting Hubbard's lectures. Vol 1, Copenhagen 1980, ISBN 0-88404-073-9
*"The Way to Happiness," Los Angeles 1981, ISBN 0-88404-411-4

Fictionalized depictions in media

*Hubbard turns up in a fellow pulp author's fiction as early as Anthony Boucher's 1942 murder mystery "Rocket to the Morgue" which features cameos by members and friends of the "Mañana Literary Society of Southern California" in which Hubbard makes a dual appearance as D. Vance Wimpole and Rene Lafayette (a pen name of Hubbard).cite book | last = Pendle | first = George | authorlink = George Pendle | title = Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons | year = 2005 | publisher = Harcourt | isbn = 978-0-15-100997-8 | pages = pg.253 | chapter =]

*Del Close, who apparently knew Hubbard personally through his involvement in science fiction fandom, fictionalized an encounter between them in an autobiographical story in the comic book "Wasteland". The story showed Hubbard hypnotizing Close in order to probe the latter's subconscious memories in a similar manner to that of the subjects whose past life recollections appear in Hubbard's "Have You Lived Before This Life".

*Hubbard and Scientology were parodied in an episode of the animated television series "South Park" entitled "Trapped in the Closet".

Fictional versions of L. Ron Hubbard have appeared in countless novels, motion pictures, television cartoons, video games and other media, particularly in the form of parodies. (See Scientology in popular culture.)

Notes

External links

;Official biographical sites
* [http://www.lronhubbard.org/search/indxlrh.htm Index of L. Ron Hubbard Site]
* [http://www.lronhubbardprofile.org A profile of L. Ron Hubbard]
* [http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/pg79.htm ScientologyToday: Who is L. Ron Hubbard?] 6 commonly asked questions by the media
* [http://www.authorservicesinc.com Author Services Inc.] Various fictional genres by L. Ron Hubbard
* [http://www.writersofthefuture.com Writers of the Future] A contest founded by L. Ron Hubbard to encourage upcoming fiction and fantasy writers

;Unofficial biographies (online)
* [http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt "L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?"] by Bent Corydon
* [http://www.religio.de/books/atack/contents.htm "A Piece of Blue Sky"] by Jon Atack Contains biographical material in addition to other topics.
* [http://www.religio.de/books/bfm/bfmconte.html "Bare Faced Messiah"] by Russell Miller

;Further mention of Hubbard
*Operation Clambake [http://www.xenu.net site] . (critical material on Hubbard and Scientology)
* [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/scientology/scientology.html U.S. Government FBI Files] for Hubbard via The Smoking Gun
* [http://slate.msn.com/id/2122835/?nav=ais "L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology's esteemed founder," by Michael Crowley] ("Slate" magazine, July 15, 2005)
*Frenschkowski, Marco, [http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/frenschkowski.html L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature] , Marburg Journal of Religion, Vol. 1. No. 1. July 1999, ISSN 1612-2941
*imdb name|id=0399196|name=L. Ron Hubbard
*isfdb name|id=L._Ron_Hubbard|name=L. Ron Hubbard
* [http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001476331 Guinness World Records: L. Ron Hubbard Is the Most Translated Author]
* [http://www.iblist.com/author896.htm L. Ron Hubbard] at the Internet Book List [http://www.iblist.com]

Persondata
NAME= Hubbard, L. Ron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Hubbard, Lafayette Ronald
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Speculative fiction Author, Founder, Scientology
DATE OF BIRTH= March 13, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH= Tilden, Nebraska
DATE OF DEATH= January 24, 1986
PLACE OF DEATH= San Luis Obispo County, California