Werner Erhard

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Werner Erhard

Werner Erhard, circa 1970's
Born:	September 5, 1935 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Occupation:	Salesman: Philadelphia auto dealer Salesman: Grolier Society Manager of Operations[1] : Parents Magazine Instructor: Mind Dynamics Founder: Erhard Seminars Training Founder: Werner Erhard and Associates Co-founder: The Hunger Project Research & Design Consultant: Landmark Education [2] [3]
Salary:	US$3.8 million[4][5][6] (1991) est.
Net worth:	US$11.3 million[7][8] [9] [10] (2000) est.
Spouse:	Patricia Fry, September 26, 1953 - March 29, 1960 (bigamous marriage) June Bryde, March 29, 1960 - November 1983(divorce)
Children:	7
Website:	Werner Erhard homepage set up by Landmark Education

Werner Hans Erhard (born John “Jack” Paul Rosenberg on September 5, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), ^[11] became arguably best known to the general public for the programs he set up: the “est Training” (1971 – 1981) and the “Forum” (1981 – 1991). Erhard produces transformational models and applications for individuals, groups, and organizations ^[12] The following successive organizations sold Erhard's programs to the public:

1. Erhard Seminars Training Inc. (1971 - 1975)
2. EST an educational corporation (1975 - 1981)
3. Werner Erhard & Associates (1981 – 1991), which later gave rise to the Landmark Forum marketed by Landmark Education (1991 ).

Contents 1 Name-changes/aliases 2 Family 3 Education 4 Early career 5 Early links with New Age and transformation 5.1 Scientology 5.2 Revelation 5.3 Jack Sarfatti 5.4 Other contacts and influences 6 Erhard Seminars Training (1971 - 1981) 7 The Hunger Project (1977 - ) 8 Werner Erhard and Associates (1981 - 1991) - The Forum 9 Legal strife 9.1 Abuse allegations 9.2 Taxation issues 10 Landmark Education era 10.1 Erhard/Landmark links 10.2 Financial ties to Landmark Education 11 Excellerated Business Schools 12 Bennis, Spits and Erhard 13 Cayman Islands 14 Appearances in documentaries 14.1 The Century of the Self 14.2 Transformation 15 Timeline - corporate history, incorporations, corporate name-changes 16 Characterizing Rosenberg/Erhard 17 Family Chart 18 Awards 19 Biographies of Werner Erhard 20 Successive Erhardian organizations 21 External links 22 See also 22.1 Staff/Participants/Individuals 22.1.1 Current/Previous Involvement, Landmark Education 22.1.2 Other 22.2 Fictional depictions 22.3 Related organizations 23 References

[edit] Name-changes/aliases

• John Paul Rosenberg/Jack Rosenberg, birth name, nickname^[13]
• "Jack Frost", used as an alias while selling cars in Philadelphia^[14].
• "Curt Wilhelm VonSavage", name used on marriage-license^[15] for Rosenberg's bigamous marriage to June Bryde on March 29, 1960
• "Werner Erhard", based on^[16] the names of Werner Heisenberg and of Ludwig Erhard as they appeared in Esquire Magazine, May 1960
• "Werner Spits", name used while living^[17] in the Cayman Islands, with Gonneke Spits

[edit] Family

Werner Erhard's mother, Dorothy S. Clauson Rosenberg, met her husband Joseph Rosenberg while working as a waitress in Germantown, Philadelphia. Erhard's parents married in August 1933 ^[18] . They separated in 1934, but reconciled in early 1935, prior to Erhard's birth on September 5, 1935. Erhard has a brother Harry Rosenberg, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Landmark Education. Their sister Joan Rosenberg acts as the Vice President of the Centers Division for Landmark Education, LLC, and with brother Harry also serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Erhard also has another brother Nathan Rosenberg, at one time associated with Landmark Education, now doing consulting and transformation outside the family firm.

[edit] Education

John Paul Rosenberg graduated from Norristown High School, Norristown, Pennsylvania in June 1953, along with his future wife Patricia Fry ^[19].

[edit] Early career

Rosenberg married Patricia Fry on 26 September 1953 ^[20] and they had four ^[21] children together. He first adopted the name "Jack Frost" while selling cars in Philadelphia ^[22] . He subsequently used the name "Curt Wilhelm VonSavage" when contracting a bigamous marriage (29 March 1960) with June Bryde ^[23].

In 1960 Rosenberg left his first wife and family in Philadelphia and traveled west. He changed his name to Werner Hans Erhard and his new wife, June Bryde, changed hers to Ellen Virginia Erhard. Erhard later said^{[citation needed]} that he chose the last name "Erhard" almost at random, selecting it from a magazine article he happened to read about then-West German economics minister Ludwig Erhard. The newly-renamed Erhards moved to St. Louis, where Werner Erhard sold used cars. After a few years, the couple moved further west to California.

After selling correspondence courses and encyclopedias, Erhard trained door-to-door salespeople for Grolier Society until 1971.

[edit] Early links with New Age and transformation

In California in the 1960s Erhard engaged in a wide variety of spiritual, New Age and transformative activities including Zen Buddhism.

[edit] Scientology

Steven Pressman details some of Erhard's connections with Scientology in the 1960s and subsequent periods :

Impressed by Monk's auditing sessions, Erhard delved further into Scientology literature and lessons. Between August and December of 1968, he purchased several books from the San Francisco Scientology office and enrolled both himself and some of his sales employees in the introductory communications course. In October a local Scientology official wrote to Erhard asking him about his interest in joining the staff. Scientology had a place for enthusiastic new converts like Werner Erhard. Although Erhard did not respond to the offer, he continued to study Scientology over the next several months, gradually rising through the various training levels - "grades" in Scientology jargon - that marked the path toward ultimate enlightenment. When a routine letter was sent in August 1969 letting him known that he had passed "Grade II" in his Scientology studies, Erhard immediately responded with his own letter claiming he had reached Grade IV. ^[24].

Later, Erhard incorporated Scientological practices into Erhard Seminars Training:

Still enamored of the Scientology practice of auditing, Erhard had incorporated Scientology's confessional practice into est's "consulting services group" that had been patterned after Hubbard's teams of auditors and organized as a separate branch of est. Under the overall supervision of Bob Larzelere, all est consultants had received extensive training in the Scientology practice of confessional auditing sessions in which the consultant (or auditor, in the case of Scientology) asked a series of questions designed to elicit frank responses on topics ranging from personal matters and job satisfaction to loyalty to Erhard. ^[25]

Erhard and L. Ron Hubbard maintained a friendship prior to a falling-out.

From the 1987 work, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?:

Werner Erhard, of EST fame, called L. Ron Hubbard the "greatest philosopher of the twentieth Century." ^[26]

Note that the Church of Scientology included "ERHARD, WERNER" ^[27] on a list of "suppressive persons" and "fair game"] (enemies) ^[28] dating from 1992.

Harry Rosenberg called in to Larry King Live when his brother Werner Erhard appeared on the show on December 20, 1993. During the call, as "3rd Caller", he identified himself and alleged that another Larry King guest, Scientology President Heber Jentzsch, had utilized his organization to threaten Erhard:

Yes, this is Harry Rosenberg. My name is — and I'm Werner Erhard's brother. And I find it hard to believe that Mr. Jentzsch doesn't know about the campaign his own organization has run against Mr. Erhard, given that the L.A. Times in 1991 on a front-page article, their own agent outlined the campaign to destroy Werner's reputation. And so I would just like to know how it would be possible for him not to know... There is no — Mr. Jentzsch, there is no law enforcement in the United States that's after Werner Erhard. You are continuing to do what you've done for years now. There is no law enforcement. How do you — how do you know that there's law enforcement? ^[29].

[edit] Revelation

Erhard reported having had a revelation while driving on U.S. Route 101 in Marin County, California in 1971. He started to see the world as perfect "the way it is" and reported an insight that his attempts to change or modify either his physical circumstances or his mental outlook had their basis in a conception of the world (that it should differ from "the way it is") that precluded or at least limited one's experiential and creative appreciation of it.

[edit] Jack Sarfatti

In the 1970s Erhard maintained financial links with Jack Sarfatti and the Physics/Consciousness Research Group:

We waited in the lobby and a guy who looked like Richard Gere in a jump suit walks in with a woman. He says: "Hi, I'm Werner Erhard." I had never heard of the guy. I said, "What do you do?" Werner replied: "I make people happy." I thought, "Why am I wasting time with this yo yo?" and, hoping to make a quick exit, said in a sassy Damon Runyon manner, "Oh yeah, I think you must be some kind of an asshole!" Werner's face became positively radiant and he cracked a Mephistophelian smile embraced me saying: "I will give you money when you come to San Francisco." I was taken aback by an unexpected offer I could not refuse...Werner then outlined his plan for me to set up a sort of Ghost Busters team of physicists to research psychic phenomena and in his words "the physics of consciousness". Werner said that he was very interested in physics and that he wanted me and Fred Wolf to tutor him and his "trainers"....Werner was as good as his word and promptly had his EST Foundation write me an initial $5,000 check (Autumn 1974). ^[30]

[edit] Other contacts and influences

Erhard also attempted to foster links with Michael Murphy and the Esalen Institute, and allegedly contributed funds to the SRI remote viewing project.

Erhard became an instructor of Mind Dynamics ^[31].

[edit] Erhard Seminars Training (1971 - 1981)

Main article: Erhard Seminars Training

Erhard put together an intensive two–weekend course he called est. Erhard constructed the course in such a way as to attempt to bring its students into a conceptual place where they could experience a realization similar to his own Highway-101 revelation. This lengthy course (consisting sometimes of 18–hour days) became controversial and (to many people who went through the seminar) exciting.

Pressman characterizes the content-creation of the est training as:

the hours of materials [Erhard] had stitched together from Scientology and Mind Dynamics and Dale Carnegie and Maxwell Maltz and a variety of other sources. ^[32]

Many est participants claimed to experience greatly increased vitality and better self-expression^{[citations needed]}. A weekly program of seminars, each concerned with various aspects of life (integrity, self-expression, sex and intimacy, money, commitment, etc. evolved. A more intensive six-day course originated as a communication workshop.

[edit] The Hunger Project (1977 - )

Main article: The Hunger Project

Erhard formed the opinion that death by starvation occurred not because of lack of food to feed all those who suffered from chronic hunger. Instead he blamed the context in which people viewed and interacted with chronic hunger. That context, he said, consisted of a closely-held belief (or discourse, or conversation) that saw hunger as inevitable, a context of scarcity that governed all the interactions and fixes currently applied by those then attempting to fix the problem.

Along with John Denver and Oberlin College President Robert W. Fuller, Erhard co-founded The Hunger Project in 1977. The Project had the initial stated intention of making "The End of Starvation within 20 Years an 'Idea Whose Time Has Come.'"(Copyright, 1977) Erhard served on the Project's board from 1979 to 1990, after which he ceased contact with the organization.

[edit] Werner Erhard and Associates (1981 - 1991) - The Forum

Main article: Werner Erhard and Associates

In the 1980s Erhard worked with Fernando Flores ^[33] — philosopher, senator ^[34] of Chile and businessman — on aspects of language, setting up a body of work which makes a distinction between, on the one hand "speaking that describes being" with, on the other hand, "speaking that brings forth being". After he retired the est training, Erhard inaugurated a presentation/workshop ("[a] guided dialogue between [...] instructor and participants" ^[35] ) which deployed the Socratic method of inquiry^{[citation needed]} and which he called "the Forum". As the corporate vehicle for delivering his latest offering, Erhard used Werner Erhard and Associates (WEA or WE&A), the corporate successor to the est Foundation. Presentations of the Forum continue to take place today in major cities in the USA and worldwide as the "Landmark Forum" under the auspices of WE&A's successor-organization Landmark Education.

[edit] Legal strife

Erhard later faced tax disputes, allegations that he had perpetrated domestic violence, and an allegation of sexual impropriety against one or more of his daughters.

[edit] Abuse allegations

In 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 ^[36] . Deborah Rosenberg's allegations of molestation and rape also appeared in print in an article ^[37] in the San Francisco Chronicle. Another daughter, Celeste Erhard, subsequently stated that third parties tricked her into exaggerating spicy details about her father's alleged behavior (she and another sister had made allegations of domestic violence against her father on 60 Minutes, not about incest or rape). Celeste Erhard said that the media had told her that the articles and her appearance on 60 Minutes aimed to get publicity for a book ^[38].

Steven Pressman tells 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 ^[39].

Art Schreiber of Landmark Education noted in a letter ^[40] 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.

Note however that the referenced article in the San Jose Mercury News quotes ^[41] Celeste Erhard speaking of "exaggerating spicy details about her father's life", not of recanting.

In the Stephanie Ney court case of 1992 (resulting from Ney's participation in "the Forum") a U.S. court in a default judgment ordered Werner Erhard (in absentia) to pay more than $500,000 in damages for "mental injuries" ^[42] . In the trial, the court did not find "the Forum" the cause of Stephanie Ney's injuries, but because Erhard never contested the suit, the court entered the default judgment against him.

[edit] Taxation issues

The United States IRS settled a tax-dispute with Erhard by paying him $200,000 for wrongful disclosure of false information.

In a separate case^{[citation needed]}, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found Erhard guilty of civil tax-evasion February 8, 1995, in the case "Werner H. Erhard v. Commissioner Internal Revenue Service"

See Also

*Ellen Erhard v. Werner Erhard, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Public Record, June 20, 1996, for issues related to IRS tax petition disputes between Werner Erhard and his second wife, Ellen Erhard. The case decided as follows: "Ellen Erhard appeals the Tax Court's dismissal of her petition as untimely filed. We affirm."

[edit] Landmark Education era

In 1991 Landmark Education leased the intellectual property of Werner Erhard and Associates and continued to offer the courses originally designed by Erhard.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Robert W. Welkos:

[i]n the end, Erhard received so much notoriety, including a scathing segment on 60 Minutes last March [1991], that he sold his business ... ^[43]

However, nobody has ever substantiated Welkos's opinion. On the other hand — and to argue just as negatively — nobody has refuted Welkos's journalistic judgment.

For whatever reason, Erhard sold up and left the United States, resurfacing later in El Salvador, the Soviet Union, Ireland and the Cayman Islands. A subsequent report implied that he feared physical harm in the United States due to Scientology's Fair Game policy.

Years after Erhard left the United States, Landmark Education set up the "Werner Erhard Biographical Website", which presents a benign view of "Werner". Landmark Education registered the separate address "werner-erhard.com" at Network Solutions and provided the initial content of the new web-pages from its own site.

[edit] Erhard/Landmark links

Charlotte Faltermayer, in an article in Time magazine in March 1998, quoted Walter Plywaski, an electronics engineer from Colorado who had participated in Landmark Education activities, and who regarded Werner Erhard as still "pulling the strings" at Landmark Education ^[44].

Werner's younger brother (Harry Rosenberg) serves as Landmark Education's current CEO, and their sister (Joan Rosenberg) acts as the Vice President of Landmark Education's Centers Division.

When Erhard initially sold WE&A and left the United States, WE&A was:

Sold to employees and Erhard's brother, Nathan Rosenberg, the for-profit corporation was renamed Landmark Education Corporation ^[45]

Erhard's personal attorney, (Art Schreiber), functions as Landmark Education's General Counsel and Chairman of the Landmark Education Board of Directors. ^[46]

[edit] Financial ties to Landmark Education

Landmark Education states that its programs have as their basis ideas originally developed by Erhard, but that Erhard has no financial interest, ownership, or management role in Landmark Education. ^[47] . Arthur Schreiber's declaration of 3 May 2005 states:

"Landmark Education has never paid Erhard under the license agreements (he assigned his rights to others). ^[48]

In Stephanie Ney v. Landmark Education Corporation (1994) ^[49] , the courts determined that Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor-liability to Werner Erhard & Associates, the corporation whose assets Landmark Education purchased.

As of 1998, Erhard's financial ties to Landmark Education consisted of a licensing fee, and a license to what Landmark Education refers to as "technology" that would have reverted back to Erhard in 2009:

Landmark says that Erhard has nothing to do with The Forum. But the license Landmark obtained from Erhard enabling them to produce The Forum is in fact owned by Erhard, and is scheduled to revert to him in 2009. Erhard's 63 now and is assured 50 percent of Landmark's net pre-tax profit each quarter, not to exceed $15 million in the 18-year lifespan of the license. Furthermore, Erhard's brother, Harry Rosenberg, is currently Landmark's CEO, and sister Joan Rosenberg is listed as a director. ^[50]

Almost identical information occurs in Pressman's Outrageous Betrayal:

On January 31, 1991, Werner Erhard signed a twenty-one-page sales contract that officially turned over the assets of Werner Erhard and Associates to the new owners, who called their company Transnational Education Corporation. Shortly after, the name changed again, this time to Landmark Education Corporation.

The carefully worded contract provided Erhard with a $3 million payment, with the cash provided by a $300,000 deposit and the eventual sale of two pieces of valuable real estate the company owned in California's Sonoma County and upstate New York. Landmark Education further agreed to pay Erhard a long-term licensing fee for the material used in the Forum and other courses. Werner Erhard stood to earn up to $15 million over the next eighteen years. ^[51]

However, as of 2001, Landmark Education had purchased Werner Erhard's license and his rights to Landmark Education "technologies" in Japan and in Mexico:

Though it was rumored that Erhard sold his system for $1, it was later revealed that he received an initial payment of $3 million in addition to an eighteen-year licensing fee that was not to exceed $15 million; Erhard kept the Mexican and Japanese branches of the operation... Last year, [2000] Landmark had revenues of $58 million, and Rosenberg says the company has bought outright Erhard's license and his rights to Japan and Mexico. ^[52]

From time to time Erhard consults with Landmark Education ^[53] , but (according to a Landmark Education statement) he has no ownership or management interest in that company.

[edit] Excellerated Business Schools

The website of Excellerated Business Schools (which offers "transformational, entrepreneurial education") lists "Werner Erhard" in the category of "Other Teachers, Masters and Mentors" on its "Acknowledgments" page ^[54].

[edit] Bennis, Spits and Erhard

Gonneke Spits accompanied Werner Erhard to a May 11, 2004 event at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, entitled "From Thought to Action: Growing Leaders in a Changing World". The event took place in honor of a longtime friend, Warren Bennis, who had taken Erhard Seminars Training and then consulted for Werner Erhard and Associates. Publicity at the event noted that Spits had "worked with Erhard for the past 40 years." ^[55]

[edit] Cayman Islands

Currently, Gonneke Spits lives ^[56] with Erhard in Georgetown, Cayman Islands:

Though his whereabouts have been shrouded in mystery since 1991, it turns out that Erhard has been living at least part of the time in Georgetown, the capital of the Cayman Islands, with Gonneke Spits, his assistant during his encyclopedia-selling days and later a key executive in est. Changing his surname yet again -- he goes by Werner Spits -- Erhard has joined an eating club called Chaîne des Rotisseurs, which holds formal themed dinners several times a year. One eleven-course feast (roasted squab, peaches in chartreuse jelly) re-created the last dinner on the Titanic. ^[57]

On April 6, 2006, Art Schreiber wrote a letter to the Cayman Net News of the Cayman Islands in response to an article about Werner Erhard that claimed Erhard currently lives in Georgetown, Cayman Islands:

The articles you published on January 10 and March 3 which inaccurately claimed that Landmark’s founder lives in the Cayman Islands mischaracterized Landmark Education and its program The Landmark Forum. ^[58]

On April 14, 2006, consultant Rick Ross responded with a letter of his own to Cayman Net News:

Art Schreiber apparently hopes to mislead readers of Cayman Net News by parsing his language carefully. Werner Erhard was last reported to be living in George Town by New York Magazine in 2001. Perhaps Schreiber avoids this fact by saying Erhard isn’t really the “founder of Landmark.” But in fact Erhard sold the company EST in 1992, which eventually would come to be known as Landmark Education. Landmark is run by Harry Rosenberg, the brother of Erhard, formerly known as Jack Rosenberg. Schreiber and Landmark sued me, but ended up dismissing their own lawsuit rather than submit to further open discovery. Hopefully Schreiber and Landmark are not attempting to bully your news service as they have attempted to bully other news services in the past. ^[59]

[edit] Appearances in documentaries

[edit] The Century of the Self

Werner Erhard appeared in the 2002 British documentary by Adam Curtis, The Century of the Self. He appears in episode part 3 of 4. This segment of the video discusses the Est Training in great detail, and includes interviews with Est graduates John Denver, and Jerry Rubin.

[edit] Transformation

In 2006, Erhard appeared alongside Landmark Forum Leader Laurel Scheaf (pictured) and Landmark Forum Leader Randy McNamara (pictured), in the Robyn Symon documentary: Transformation: The Life and Legacy of Werner Erhard ^[60].

[edit] Timeline - corporate history, incorporations, corporate name-changes

Additional Information, Landmark Education, est/Erhard Seminars Training
Source: Hesse-Nassau Evangelical Church website

• October 1971 - Werner Erhard delivers the first Erhard Seminars Training seminar in San Francisco, California
• 1973 - The Foundation for the Realization of Man - incorporated as a non-profit foundation in California
• 1975 - EST An Educational Corporation
• July 1976 - est Foundation - amendment to the articles of incorporation, California
• February 1981 - Werner Erhard and Associates set up
• January 16, 1991 - Breakthrough Technologies

* signed by attorney Donald R. Share

* Art Schreiber as initial agent

• January 23, 1991 - Transnational Education Corp. set up
• May 7, 1991 - Landmark Education Corporation set up

* Brian Regnier signed as President and Secretary of Transnational Education Corp

* Harry Rosenberg as director and treasurer

• June 5, 1991 - Werner Erhard and Associates International, Inc., now a subsidiary of Landmark Education Corporation

* Gilbert H. Judson, president

* Regina Tierney, secretary

• July 14, 1992 - Alexandria, VA — federal district judge rules Landmark Education Corporation did not have successor-liability, in the case brought by a Silver Spring, Maryland woman for emotional damages allegedly due to participation in the Forum under Werner Erhard and Associates.
• February 2003 - "Landmark Education Corporation" became "Landmark Education LLC"

[edit] Characterizing Rosenberg/Erhard

Given Rosenberg/Erhard's various activities, people characterize him primarily in sharply different ways. Some dismiss him as a "car salesman" or more generically as a "salesman" ^[61] . Others emphasise his continuing commercial success and describe him as a "businessman" ^[62] . Est-advocates in the heyday of that organization came to regard "Werner" as "Source" ^[63] . Some detractors emphasized his background as an ex-Scientologist ^[64] , or labelled him a "guru" ^[65] or a "cult leader" ^[66] . Evaluating Erhard within the context of the self-help movement, Steve Salerno sees him as:

too flaky [...] to capture the popular imagination. ^[67]

Attempts such as that of McCarl et al ^[68] to associate the name of Werner Erhard with philosophy have not yet succeeded in making him part of the philosophical mainstream. His small body of written thought, such as the terse Aphorisms booklet (If God Had Meant Man to Fly, He Would Have Given Him Wings; or: Up to Your Ass in Aphorisms), once distributed to est-students, have had resonance mainly in New-Age circles. Some have come to stress his role as an "educator" (see a previous version of this article in Wikipedia).

[edit] Family Chart

Parents: father, Joseph Rosenberg and mother[2], Dorothy S. Clauson Rosenberg Siblings

• Harry Rosenberg, brother, current CEO Landmark Education[3].
• Nathan Rosenberg, brother (according to one account Werner Erhard sold Werner Erhard and Associates to Nathan Rosenberg in 1991)
• Joan Rosenberg, sister, Vice President of the Centers Division for Landmark Education^[69]

Nuclear Family

• Werner Erhard, aka John Paul Rosenberg
• Patricia Fry, first wife, married 26 September 1953

• Anita Lynn Erhard, daughter, accepted 2003 award for father in New York, along with Deborah[4].
• Deborah Erhard Pimental, daughter, appeared on 60 minutes program with sisters Adair and Celeste^[70]

. Made allegations that her father molested her and raped her sister.

• Clare Susan Rosenberg
• Jack Rosenberg, Jr.

• June Bryde, aka Ellen Virginia Erhard, second wife^[71]

• Celeste Erhard, daughter. According to Snider, Celeste Erhard retracted some of the allegations made on 60 minutes; but compare the actual allegations (made by Deborah Rosenberg) with Celeste Erhard's allegation of "exaggerating". According to San Jose Mercury News of Thursday, July 16, 1992, Celeste Erhard contended "she was tricked into exaggerating spicy details about her father's life". (See also Steven Pressman's account of who said what on "60 minutes" (Pressman, 1993: 256-257).)
• Adair Erhard, daughter. Werner Erhard enrolled Adair and Celeste in Charlene Afremow's Mind Dynamics program^[72].
• St. John Erhard, son

[edit] Awards

• Gandhi Humanitarian Award^[73], 1988, Mahatma Gandhi International Foundation.
• "Humanitarian Of The Year", 2003, Youth At Risk, Roosevelt Hotel, New York City^[74]

[edit] Biographies of Werner Erhard

• Bartley, III, William Warren (1978). Werner Erhard The transformation of a man: The founding of est. NY, NY, USA: Clarkson N. Potter, Inc.. ISBN 0-517-53502-5.
• Self, Jane (1992) 60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making A Difference. Breakthru Publishing. ISBN 0-942540-23-9
• Pressman, Steven (1993) Outrageous Betrayal: The Dark Journey of Werner Erhard from est to Exile. New York, New York, USA. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-09296-2

[edit] Successive Erhardian organizations

Name	From	To
The Foundation for the Realization of Man	1973	July 1976
The est Foundation	July 1976	February 1981
Werner Erhard and Associates	February 1981	January 16, 1991
Breakthrough Technologies	January 16, 1991	January 23, 1991
Transnational Education Corp.	January 23, 1991	May 7, 1991
Landmark Education Corporation	May 7, 1991	February 2003
Landmark Education, LLC	February 2003	present

[edit] External links

• Werner H. Erhard v. Commissioner Internal Revenue Service, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Public Record, No. 93-70357 (9th.Cir. 02/08/1995)
• Ellen Erhard v. Werner Erhard, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Public Record, June 20, 1996, IRS tax issues related to divorce
• Werner Erhard page at Working Minds website
• Werner Erhard Biographical Website: favorable, with a section on controversy. (Site content likely authored by Landmark Education, which registered werner-erhard.com at Network Solutions and provided the initial content from their own site.) - Site no longer publically accessible without telephone-based registration as of 4 June 2006: see instead the Internet Archive.
• Conversations For Transformation: Essays By Laurence Platt Inspired By The Ideas of Werner Erhard, And More - a friend of Werner Erhard sheds light on Erhard's work.
• Harry Rosenberg on Larry King Harry Rosenberg called in to Larry King Live, when Werner Erhard appeared on that show on December 20, 1993.
• Campaign Contributions, list of all political campaign contributions by Werner Erhard in the state of California, data provided by the Federal Election Commission, 9/11/2006.
• Is Don Rumsfeld a Werner Erhard Disciple?, March 2, 2005, Cosmic Iguana
• "The Best Of Est?", article from Time Magazine (no date given, but traceable to 16 March 1998: see the Time site) by Charlotte Faltermayer, retrieved from www.wernererhard.com October 19, 2006.

[edit] See also

[edit] Staff/Participants/Individuals

[edit] Current/Previous Involvement, Landmark Education

• Werner Erhard/John Paul Rosenberg
• Harry Rosenberg - current CEO of Landmark Education; brother of Werner Erhard (John Paul Rosenberg)
• Joan Rosenberg - Vice President of Centers Division Landmark Education; sister of Werner Erhard (John Paul Rosenberg)
• Nathan Rosenberg - along with other employees, bought WE&A from Erhard in 1991
• Art Schreiber - Erhard's personal attorney; General Counsel and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Landmark Education
• Brian Regnier - former est trainer; founding member, Landmark Education
• Nancy Zapolski - Vice President in charge of course development, Landmark Education; previously est trainer
• Laurel Scheaf - former president, Erhard Seminars Training; est trainer; currently Forum leader, Landmark Education
• Steven Zaffron - former est trainer; current CEO, Landmark Education Business Development, LEBD
• Jerry Joiner - M.D., medical doctor for NASA; former est trainer; Forum leader, Landmark Education

[edit] Other

• Fernando Flores - philosopher; helped develop the curriculum for Erhard Seminars Training
• Harry Margolis - tax-attorney for Erhard's organizations
• Stewart Esposito - former est trainer and CEO, Erhard Seminars Training
• Robert Larzelere - M.D., director of Erhard Seminars Training's "well-being department"
• Enoch Calloway - M.D., psychiatrist, former member, advisory board of Erhard Seminars Training
• Wolfgang Somary - investment banker, loaned Werner Erhard and Associates $14 million
• Joan Holmes - prior "consulting educational psychologist", Erhard Seminars Training; founding CEO, The Hunger Project
• Robert W. Fuller - est participant; co-founder, The Hunger Project
• John Denver - est-participant; co-founder, The Hunger Project
• Ellis Duell - est-participant; past Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Hunger Project
• Lynne Twist - est-participant; founding executive and past director of global funding, The Hunger Project
• Steven Pressman - author of Outrageous Betrayal: The dark journey of Werner Erhard from est to exile, (1993), St. Martin's Press
• James Slee - est-participant who passed away suddenly during an est-training session

[edit] Fictional depictions

• Semi-Tough - satirical movie spoofing Erhard Seminars Training

[edit] Related organizations

• Landmark Education - inheritor-organization of est and WE&A
  • Landmark Education and the law
• Erhard Seminars Training (est) - founded by Werner Erhard
• Werner Erhard and Associates (WEA or WE&A)- founded by Werner Erhard and named for him
• Breakthrough Technologies - interim name/entity used in the transition from "WE&A" to "Landmark Education"
• Transnational Education Corp - interim name/entity used in the transition from "WE&A" to "Landmark Education"
• The Centers Network - interim name/entity used in the transition from "WE&A" to "Landmark Education"
• Rancord Company, Ltd. - interim name/entity used in Japan during the transition from "WE&A" to "Landmark Education"
• The Hunger Project - co-founded by Werner Erhard
• Exegesis, an est-like organization functioning in the United Kingdom in the 1980s
• Paradigm 3 - website
• Performance Design Corp.
• Hermenet Inc. - mention in article The Power of Words
• Action Technologies - website
• Business Design Associates
• The Conversation Toward Autonomy /Arnold Siegel & Company, Inc. - website
• Mark Kamin & Associates - website

[edit] References