It may seem bizarre in the light of the conclusions at which this book arrives, that some of the people I have to thank most for help, information and co-operation in writing it, are officers of the Church of Scientology. My gratitude is nonetheless sincere and although I know that I may be accused of biting the hand that fed me, I should make it clear that it was my purpose to hear all shades of opinion both for and against Scientology with an open mind. After collecting and studying the evidence by interview, from documents and published material, the fact that I felt compelled to make adverse comments upon L. Ron Hubbard and his religion is, I believe, a reflection upon the content of that evidence rather than upon any bias or capricious ingratitude upon my part. I hope it does not sound too patronizing to say that I hope that many of the friendly people within the Church of Scientology (and there are many unaware of the true nature and practices of their church) may one day come to a similar decision when they view the evidence away from the glow of uncritical commitment.
In particular, I would like to thank Mike Garside, the Director of Public Affairs of Scientology in the UK, who, along with his team at Saint Hill in East Grinstead, supplied me with material and allowed me access to Scientology organizations; Rich Haworth, then Director of Public Affairs at Flag HQ in Clearwater, Florida when I visited there in September 1984; Mrs Shirley Young and Mrs Susan Jones, who were my chaperons in Los Angeles; Mr Marshall Goldblatt for generous hospitality, and Rev Heber Jentzsch, President of the Church of Scientology International.
Among the disaffected Scientologists and 'independents' I would particularly like to thank are: John Atack of East Grinstead; Robin Scott and his wife Adrienne at Candacraig, Strathdon; John
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RELIGION INC.
McMaster; Neville Chamberlain; 'Alyson'; and Gulliver Smithers. From the opponents of Scientology I would like to single out the Clark family: Dr John Clark MD of Harvard Medical School, his wife Eleanor and daughter Cathy; Dr Michael Langone of the American Family Foundation; and Boston attorney, Michael Flynn.
Other sources of material and assistance were the Editor of the *Sunday Times*, Andrew Neil, and Julian Browne of the Colour Magazine; Kevin Holland of Reader's Digest; Sarah Hogge for permission to use her study undertaken within the Religious Studies Department at Lancaster University; Peter Clarke of the Centre for New Religious Movements at King's College, London; Professor Roy Wallis and Dr Steve Bruce of the Department of Sociology at Queen's University, Belfast.
Last, but most of all, I would like to thank my friend and agent, Andrew Hewson; and Simon Scott, Editorial Director of Harrap, for encouragement, advice and in the journalistic cliche, for 'doing the biz'.