A Piece of Blue Sky

Infobox Book
name = A Piece of Blue Sky
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Book Cover
author = Jon Atack
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country =
language = English
series =
subject = Scientology
genre = non-fiction
publisher = Carol Publishing Group
release_date = August 19, 1990
english_release_date =
media_type = Hardcover
pages = 448
isbn = ISBN 0-8184-0499-X
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed" is a book written in 1990 by Jon Atack, investigating L. Ron Hubbard and his enterprises such as Dianetics and the Church of Scientology. The book is critical of Scientology, its origins and leadership.

In the book, Atack noted that Paulette Cooper's "The Scandal of Scientology" fascinated him, and was his motivation to do more research on the subject."A Piece of Blue Sky", Jon Atack, Bibliography, References Summary [http://www.apologeticsindex.org/A%20Piece%20of%20Blue%20Sky.pdf] , Chapter One.] . Atack wrote: "I happened upon the hard-to-find "Scandal of Scientology" by Paulette Cooper. Now I was fascinated, and started collecting everything I could get my eager hands on - magazine articles, newspaper clippings, government files, anything."

"A Piece of Blue Sky" has been cited as a principal source of reference in academic papers by professor of sociology and history of religion Stephen Kent, Ph.D. [Stephen Kent, Ph.D., "International Social Control by the Church of Scientology", presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, November 1991.] and by professor of neuropsychiatry Louis Jolyon West, M.D. [Louis Jolyon West, M.D., "Psychiatry and Scientology", presented as the "Distinguished Psychiatrist" lecture, American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, Washington DC, 6 May 1992.] .

The book is available in its entirety on the internet [http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/apobs/ here] .

cientology takes legal action

Before the book had even been released, Scientology attorneys sought to have a stop put to it in court. [ [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/holmes/bluesky4.txt New Era Publications International v. Carol Publishing Group] , January 30, 1990, No. 89 Civ. 3845 (L.L.S.), United States District Court, Southern District of New York.] [ [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/holmes/bluesky5.txt Decision, New Era Publications International v. Carol Publishing Group] , May 24, 1990, (2d Cir., 1990) (904 F.2d 152).] [cite web | title = Publisher Victorious on Hubbard Biography | url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6D6113EF934A15756C0A966958260 | work = | publisher = New York Times | date = 1990-05-27 | accessdate = 2007-12-15 ] Their efforts were unsuccessful.

In 1995, a British court found Atack guilty of libel against Margaret Hodkin, the headmistress of Scientology's Greenfields School in the U.K. [ [http://members.chello.nl/mgormez/childabuse/arg100694.html Scientology in the Media] , East Grinstead Evening Argus, June 10, 1994, "The Missing Word".] and issued an injunction against Atack forbidding him from publishing the offending paragraph on page 336 of the book. The paragraph, however, is available to be read in full on the court injunction itself. [ [http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/holmes/bluesky3.txt Court Injunction] , Hodkin v. Atack, May 18, 1995, 1993 H. No.2412.]

Amazon.com controversy

Amazon.com was the subject of controversy when it removed the book from its listings, then reversed itself and included it after public outcry. [ [http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-514702.html Amazon reverses decision on book ban] , Charles Cooper, ZDNet News, May 20, 1999.] [cite news |first = Polly |last = Sprenger |title = Scientology Book an Open Issue |url = http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,19869,00.html |publisher = Wired News |date = 1999-05-25 |accessdate = 2006-10-06]

Title origins

The origin of the title A Piece of Blue Sky is explained at the beginning of the book:

References

External links

* [http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/apobs/links.htm A Piece of Blue Sky - Web links and Related Documents] , Operation Clambake
* [http://home.snafu.de/tilman/j/bluesky_background.html Background, A Piece of Blue Sky] , Chris Owen, May 21, 1999
* [http://www.apologeticsindex.org/A%20Piece%20of%20Blue%20Sky.pdf PDF version, A Piece of Blue Sky]

ee also

*"Bare Faced Messiah", biography, overcame legal actions from Scientology
*"", biography, overcame legal actions from Scientology