The Road to Jonestown
Page 62
She secretly made a flight reservation: Teri Buford O’Shea interview.
On November 1, Ryan formally wrote to Jones: Stephenson, Dear People, pp. 107–8; RYMUR 89-4286-AA-1-f-6; AA-1-f-1.
Jones did admit an outside guest: Reiterman, Raven, pp. 470–71.
Jones initially refused them permission to go: Jim Jones Jr. interview.
Their departure caused a significant change: Ibid.
“I heard some congressman wants to come here”: RYMUR 89-4286-Q-161 (rest illegible).
He ordered staff at Lamaha Gardens: RYMUR 89-4286-AA-1-Q-1 and 2.
Mingo wouldn’t meet with Sharon Amos: RYMUR 89-4286-E-3-A-2.
a few saw Ryan’s visit: Reiterman, Raven, pp. 472–73.
Carolyn prepared and presented: RYMUR 89-4286-X-3-a-32a.
Stephan finally refused on behalf of the players: Jim Jones Jr. interview.
Tropp sent a memo to the leaders: RYMUR 89-4286-AA-1-k-1.
Charlotte Baldwin signed the Jonestown guest book: RYMUR 89-4286-c-6-a-2-i.
Leo Ryan had a final meeting: Moore, Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple, p. 91.
Bonnie Burnham was also along: Thielmann, The Broken God, pp. 113–22.
FORTY-NINE: FINAL DAYS
Temple staffers at Lamaha Gardens were startled to see: Laura Johnston Kohl interview.
Sharon Amos told Ryan that he was trespassing: RYMUR 89-4286-E-3-A-2-13; E-3-A-2-11.
The others who’d arrived in Guyana with Ryan: Thielmann, The Broken God, pp. 123–35; Reiterman, Raven, pp. 481–84; Charles Krause, Guyana Massacre: The Eyewitness Account (New York: Berkley, 1978), pp. 13–20.
Jones soon learned who had come: Feinsod, Awake in a Nightmare, p. 171.
Bonnie Burnham and Clare Bouquet were both rebuffed: RYMUR 89-4286-E-3-A-2-4.
Ambassador Burke agreed to meet: San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, November 17, 1978; Thielmann, The Broken God, pp. 125–27.
The congressman took a harder line: San Francisco Examiner, November 24, 1978.
On Friday morning he sent Jim McElvane: Tim Carter interview.
The Jonestown kitchen worked extra shifts: Ibid.
Marceline Jones addressed the settlers by loudspeaker: Ibid.
As night fell, dinner was served: Reiterman, Raven, pp. 492–94.
Jack Beam suggested to Jones that Leo Ryan be asked: Tim Carter interview.
Jones had an announcement: Stephan Jones, “Death’s Night,” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010), last modified March 29, 2016, Jonestown Institute.
Don Harris hadn’t immediately told the other reporters: Reiterman, Raven, p. 503.
a man had passed him a note that read: Fondakowski, Stories from Jonestown, p. xiii.
Ryan already had a plan: Stephenson, Dear People, pp. 118–19.
“He passed him a note”: Fondakowski, Stories from Jonestown, pp. 224–25.
the radio crackled with a terse, three-word report: RYMUR 89-4286-1304 (rest illegible).
FIFTY: “SOME PLACE THAT HOPE RUNS OUT”
This chapter contains material from my interviews with Tim Carter, Jim Jones Jr., Laura Johnston Kohl, Kit Nascimento, Desmond Roberts, Gerald Gouveia, and one email exchange with Tracy Parks.
Authors whose books provided critical information include Tim Reiterman (Raven, pp. 503–70); Denise Stephenson (Dear People pp. 110–42); Charles Krause (Guyana Massacre, pp. 65–107); Laura Johnston Kohl (Jonestown Survivor, pp. 74–78); Leigh Fondakowski (Stories from Jonestown, pp. 221–34); Bonnie Thielmann (The Broken God, pp. 131–36); Tim Stoen (Marked for Death, pp. 233–35); Mark Lane (The Strongest Poison [Charlottesville, VA: The Lane Group, 1980], pp. 142–69); Rebecca Moore (Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple, pp. 92–102); Leslie Wagner-Wilson (Slavery of Faith, pp. 96–102); and Julia Scheeres (A Thousand Lives, pp. 212–34).
Various descriptions of the attack at the Port Kaituma airstrip come from articles in the San Francisco Examiner (November 20, 1978, November 24, 1978) and Newsweek (December 4, 1978).
Herbert Newell and Clifford Gieg never had a chance: Herbert Newell, “The Coldest Day of My Life,” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010), last modified December 18, 2013, Jonestown Institute; RYMUR 89-4286-1842.
Jones spoke with the would-be defectors: Los Angeles Times, November 27, 1978.
he asked, “Does this change everything?”: Washington Post, November 26, 1978.
Amos spelled the word out: Here and in much of my additional description of events in Georgetown on 11/18/78, I use information from “Death’s Night,” a gripping essay by Stephan Jones provided courtesy of the Jonestown Institute.
the Jonestown assassins fired volleys of shots: There is some doubt about the identities of the Port Kaituma shooters. RYMUR 89-4286-1681-C-1 and 2 list those posthumously indicted for the attack as Wesley Karl Breidenbach, Ronnie Dennis, Stanley Gieg, Eddie James Hallmon, Ronald De Val James, Earnest Jones, Robert Kice, Thomas Kice, Anthony Simon, Ron Tally, Albert Touchette, and Joe Wilson. Certainly some, probably most of them, were involved. In any event, all the men named by the FBI died in Jonestown later that day after taking poison.
He began, “How very much I’ve tried”: Tape Q 042, Jonestown Institute.
the adults in the pavilion began shuffling into line: I base part of the description here on remarks made by Stephan Jones during his lecture at Bucknell University.
FIFTY-ONE: WHAT HAPPENED?
The first word that something terrible had happened: RYMUR 89-4286-1.
After discarding their last suitcase of cash: Tim Carter interview.
Charles Garry exclaimed: Ibid.
one misconception evolved into part: Omaha World-Herald, August 7, 2015.
These provided convincing evidence: RYMUR 89-4286-1894 x-1-a-50 through 54; Stephenson, Dear People, pp. vx–xvii; Fondakowski, Stories from Jonestown, p. 251; Tim Carter interview.
Guns were found in Jonestown: RYMUR 89-4286-2334.
There was an astonishing amount of money: Teri Buford O’Shea, Fielding McGehee, and Tim Carter interviews; Washington Post, November 29, 1978; “How Much Did Peoples Temples Have in Assets?,” edited by Fielding McGehee, last modified May 24, 2014, Jonestown Institute.
For the next four and a half months: Rebecca Moore, “Last Rights,” last modified August 31, 2014, Jonestown Institute.
The Baldwins contacted a local funeral parlor: Ernie Mills interview.
Stephan blurted that he was the one: Jim Jones Jr. interview; Stephan Jones, “Chuck,” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010), last modified December 18, 2013, Jonestown Institute.
Before being permitted to go on their way: Laura Johnston Kohl and Tim Carter interviews.
The government also wanted reimbursement: RYMUR 89-4286-915; 1780, 2164, and 2195; New York Times, October 11, 1979; Stephenson, Dear People, pp. 142–43; Fondakowski, Stories from Jonestown, p. 301; Teri Buford O’Shea and Laura Johnston Kohl interviews.
Dianne Feinstein, now acting mayor: Tim Carter interview.
On December 3, only thirty people: New York Times, December 4, 1978.
three days later papers were filed: RYMUR 89-4286-2164.
FIFTY-TWO: AFTERMATH
State launched an internal investigation: RYMUR 89-4286-1961.
The FBI was equally adamant: RYMUR 89-4286-2124.
On May 21, 1979, investigators made their official report: RYMUR 89-4286-2180.
Both governments agreed that someone had to legally answer: New York Times, November 27, 1978; RYMUR, 89-4286-1936, 2164.
Michael Prokes called a press conference: RYMUR 89-4286-1992, 2006, 2035.
they tried to remain anonymous: Jeanne Jones Luther interview.
Suzanne Jones reunited with her brothers: Jim Jones Jr. interview.
“I do not want people to think”: Smart, “My Life in—And After—Peoples Temple.”
“[Members] believe that service to the Diety”: RYMUR 89-4286-FF-2-15c.
All other opinions expressed i
n this chapter are my own, and are based on extensive interviews including at a Jonestown Institute Labor Day Reunion in San Diego in 2014.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS
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Brown, Willie. Basic Brown: My Life and Our Times. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Burrough, Bryan. Days of Rage: America’s Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence. New York: Penguin Press, 2015.
Cox, Bill. Snippets. Self-published.
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———. The White Album: Essays. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1979. (Paperback reprint, 2009.)
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Eliade, Mircea (editor-in-chief). The Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan, 1987.
Feinsod, Ethan. Awake in a Nightmare: Jonestown, the Only Eyewitness Account. New York: W. W. Norton, 1981.
Ferm, Vergilius. An Encyclopedia of Religion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1976.
Fondakowski, Leigh. Stories from Jonestown. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
Guinn, Jeff. The Life and Times of Charles Manson. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2014.
Halberstam, David. The Fifties. New York: Ballantine, 1994.
———. War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals. New York: Scribner, 2002.
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Krause, Charles. Guyana Massacre: The Eyewitness Account. New York: Berkley, 1978.
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Layton, Deborah. Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor’s Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple. New York: Anchor, 1999.
Madison, James H. A Lynching in the Heartland: Race and Memory in America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2001.
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Moore, Leonard J. Citizen Klansmen: The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana, 1921–1928. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
Moore, Rebecca. Understanding Jonestown and Peoples Temple. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2009.
Moore, Rebecca, Anthony B. Pinn, and Mary R. Sawyer, eds. Peoples Temple and Black Religion in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004.
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Hargrave, Neva Sly. “A Story of Deprogramming.” Jonestown Report 6 (October 2004). Last modified March 8, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
“How Much Did Peoples Temple Have in Assets?” Last modified May 24, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
Jones, Stephan. “Chuck.” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010). Last modified December 18, 2013. Jonestown Institute.
———. “Death’s Night.” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010). Last modified March 29, 2016. Jonestown Institute.
———. “Like Father, Like Son,” Jonestown Report 5 (August 2003). Last modified March 14, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
———. “My Brother’s Mother.” Jonestown Report 11 (November 2009). Last modified November 21, 2013. Jonestown Institute.
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———. “ ‘Healing’ Prophet Hailed as God at S.F. Revival.” San Francisco Examiner, September 18, 1972.
———. “Jim Jones Defames a Black Pastor.” San Francisco Examiner, September 1972. Not published.
———. “Probe Asked of People’s [sic] Temple.” San Francisco Examiner, September 20, 1972.
———. “The People’s [sic] Temple and Maxine Harpe.” San Francisco Examiner, September 1972. Not published.
———. “The Prophet Who Raises the Dead.” San Francisco Examiner, September 17, 1972.
———. “The Reincarnation of Jesus Christ—in Ukiah.” San Francisco Examiner, September 1972. Not Published.
———. “Sex, Socialism, and Child Torture with Rev. Jim Jones.” San Francisco Examiner, September 1972. Not published.
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———. “The Board (of Elders).” Jonestown Report 9 (November 2007). Last modified March 4, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
———. “Joe Phillips: A Reflection.” Jonestown Report 15 (November 2013). Last modified March 20, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
———. “My Friend Teresa King: From the Avenue of the Fleas to Jonestown.” Jonestown Report 12 (October 2010). Last modified December 28, 2013. Jonestown Institute.
———. “Questions That Remain.” Jonestown Report 5 (August 2003). Last modified March 14, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
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Smart, Juanell. “My Life in—And After—Peoples Temple.” Jonestown Report 6 (October 2004). Last modified March 13, 2014. Jonestown Institute.
Treml, William B. “Mom’s Help for Ragged Tramp Leads Son to Dedicate His Life to Others,” Richmond Palladium-Item, March 15, 1953.
Wright, Lawrence. “The Orphans of Jonestown.” The New Yorker, November 22, 1993.
INDEX
A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.
Adams, Paula, 303–4, 343, 361, 464
Africa, 290, 291
African Americans, 121
churches of, 57, 60, 67, 69, 76, 78, 80, 92, 119, 152–56, 198–99, 250–52, 316
elderly, in Peoples Temple, 290
in Indianapolis, 66–67, 71, 76, 78, 80, 81, 91–92, 99, 114, 119, 121
Jones’s ambitions and, 273, 275
in Peoples Temple leadership, 204, 273–76, 299
in Randolph County, 40–41
in Richmond, 46
in San Francisco, 152–58, 249–52, 315, 316
see also civil rights movement; integration; racism; segregation
Allende, Laura, 319
Allende, Salvador, 319
Alioto, Joseph, 252, 265, 315
Amin, Idi, 360, 407
Amos, Liane, 343, 449–50
Amos, Linda (Sharon), 142, 221, 224, 237, 238, 283, 291, 304, 391, 392, 397, 403–5, 411, 413, 417, 419, 420–22
in mass suicide, 435–36, 449–50, 453, 463
Annibourne, Neville, 423, 425, 428, 431, 436, 439
Apostolics, 39–40
Arnold, Benedict, 278
Arquette, Richmond, 478
Asoka, 109
Bagby, Monica, 1, 417, 425–26, 430, 437–39
Baldwin, Charlotte, 47, 51–54, 81, 105, 112, 331, 349, 457, 464
Jonestown visited by, 411, 413–15, 418–19
Baldwin, Dean, 61
Baldwin, Eloise, 47, 48, 52
Baldwin, Ronnie, 54–55, 57, 60–61, 221, 478