60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard

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60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard
Hardcover Edition
1992 Hardcover Edition
Author Jane Self
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Biography
Publisher Breakthru Publishing
Released 1992
Media Type Print (Hardback)
Pages 202 p.
ISBN ISBN 0-942540-23-9

60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard is a biography of Werner Erhard by Jane Self. The book was published in 1992 by Breakthru Publishing. The title refers to a March 3rd, 1991 broadcast of 60 Minutes, which examined controversial aspects of Werner Erhard's personal and business life.

   
60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard
 Jane Self’s (1992) 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard has further offered a staunch defense of Erhard against the uncomplimentary picture of him painted by the media. There, she alleges that the orchestration of his downfall can be found within the Church of Scientology. In that same book, Erhard’s daughters are quoted as retracting their previous allegations of improprieties on his part, having supposedly made them under duress.[1]
   
60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard

Contents

[edit] Contents

  1. Setting The Stage
  2. Scientology Declares War
  3. A Web Is Woven
  4. The Stakes Increase
  5. "60 Minutes" Joins The Game
  6. A Family Asunder
  7. The Media Image
  8. Minding Erhard's Business
  9. Making A Difference
  10. The Tall Poppy
  11. Epilogue

[edit] Major themes

[edit] 60 Minutes information, from article, Christian Research Institute

The title of the book deals with a piece on 60 Minutes which aired on March 3rd, 1991, on CBS. The piece delved into some controversial issues relating to Werner Erhard, his personal life, and business dealings:

Perhaps the most damaging blow of all against Erhard was a March 3 "60 Minutes" television report that detailed testimony from three of his daughters, several former est leaders, and a housekeeper. Together, they accused Erhard of being a tyrant and a cult leader who declared himself to be God at staff meetings, administered a savage beating to his son, ordered his ex-wife nearly strangled to death during a two-day beating, and sexually molested one of his daughters and raped another.

The "60 Minutes" report also detailed that Erhard had bailed out of his $70-million-a-year business. Published reports say he sold his human-potential movement empire in February to a group of his employees for an undisclosed sum and put most of his possessions (including the yacht where he lived in Sausalito harbor) up for sale. The San Jose Mercury News, speculating that Erhard may have fled the country, quoted a witness who said he watched three men load boxes and steamer trunks from Erhard's warehouse into a Tokyo Express moving van.

Directly after the "60 Minutes" report -- around the time he disappeared -- there was more trouble for Erhard. The Internal Revenue Service filed a $14 million lien against him followed by a $6.7 million lien in April that included property in California and New York. This placed his total tax liability at $20.9 million, according to the April 14, 1991 Philadelphia Inquirer.[2]

[edit] The San Francisco Chronicle

In his 1993 book, Outrageous Betrayal, Steven Pressman recounts how incest allegations against Werner Erhard made on CBS television's 60 Minutes program in March 1991 came from Deborah Rosenberg, the youngest child from Erhard/Rosenberg's first marriage. Deborah Rosenberg's allegations of molestation and rape also appeared in print[3] in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Pressman went on to tell how Erhard filed but then withdrew a lawsuit alleging "false, misleading and defamatory statements" against CBS in the wake of the latter's 60 Minutes program :

One year after the "60 Minutes" piece aired, Erhard filed a lawsuit against CBS and a variety of other defendants, claiming that the broadcast contained several "false, misleading and defamatory" statements about Erhard. However, Erhard dropped the lawsuit a few months before any court decision had been reached on its claims.[4]

[edit] 1998 - Art Schreiber letter

Art Schreiber, one-time personal attorney for Werner Erhard, and current General Counsel and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Landmark Education, noted in a letter of July 31, 1998:

There have been allegations that Mr. Erhard was abusive to his family. However, those allegations were later recanted. I am enclosing a copy of the article in the July 16, 1992 edition of the San Jose Mercury News regarding the lawsuit brought by one of Mr. Erhard's daughters against a San Jose Mercury News reporter for fraudulently promising her payment as incentive for her to make such false allegation to the media[5].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Geoffrey D. Falk, Stripping the Gurus Ch. 4., 2006.
  2. ^ "News Watch", Christian Research Institute, Summer 1991, p.5, William M. Alnor, Werner Erhard Flees in the Wake of Tax Liens and Child Abuse Allegations
  3. ^ More Allegations Against est Founder, San Francisco Chronicle, March 5, 1991, Pg. A9
  4. ^ Pressman, Steven, Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1993, p.257-258. ISBN 0-312-09296-2
  5. ^ FedEX Package from Art Schreiber, General Counsel and Chairman of the Board of Directors, letter to Linda Chase, July 31, 1998

[edit] External links

[edit] 60 Minutes piece on Werner Erhard, in the media

[edit] See also

[edit] Additional Werner Erhard Biographies

[edit] Individuals

[edit] Organizations

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