The secret letters of the Jonestown death cult

17 May 2008

Thirty years after the mass suicides and murders in Guyana, Barry Isaacson unveils a cache of letters he found in his LA home, mapping the pain of one of the families

In mid-1977 the mass migration to Jonestown began. Records indicate that 14-year-old David and 16-year-old Gail Chaikin were sent out in April, with their parents to follow in the autumn. Domestic arrangements in Jonestown were initially intended to be familial, but Jones’s antipathy to intact families combined with an unanticipated shortage of accommodation meant that by late 1977 the Chaikins were all living in separate cabins. Shortly before Phyllis left for Jonestown her father had written, ‘Now, something like four months have passed and we have received no communication whatsoever from you... We have tried in every way to make an adjustment to an extremist radical movement that has swallowed you and your family. We visited you and have been shunned... This adherence to a religious oriented radical movement... is not our conception of socialism, Christianity or social reform...’. Phyllis continued to crave her father’s respect, believing their values to be compatible: ‘The strength and principles that you planted into me at an early age, though inconsistent with the larger culture I grew up in, is [sic] now flowering in fertile soil. I am thousands of miles from you... but I am more your daughter than I’ve ever been before.’ At last Phyllis had been given a level of responsibility that corresponded with the strength of her ideals: ‘Would you believe it, I am administering the entire medical health staff at Jonestown... As you can imagine, it is very exciting and educational to oversee such a progressive system.’ Her duties included the implementation of a socialised medical system to benefit local Amerindian tribes and oversight of the Jonestown pharmacy.

Gene Chaikin did not find such self-fulfilment in this crowded utopia. After Jones arrived, pursued by an ugly child custody case that threatened to challenge his authority as paterfamilias, Gene began to despair as the psychologically unstable minister tightened his grip on the community. In August 1977, Jones declared a ‘White Night’ and, not for the first time, the entire population was given Dixie cups containing a fruit punch laced with what their leader told them was poison. Chaikin witnessed his son and daughter lining up with their friends to drink the cocktail as elderly residents were roused from their sleep and made to patrol the boundaries of Jonestown armed with machetes. It had been a test of loyalty. Deeply dismayed, Gene Chaikin fled in protest.

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Dr James Thompson

May 16th, 2008 12:38pm Report this comment

Thank you for a beautifully written story about a loving mother and father.

Tony Loscalzo

May 17th, 2008 1:09pm Report this comment

As a Psych major I recall a Jone's speech in about "65. He started out like a conservative and ended as a one-world collectivist. I concluded he was not only crazy but also communist.

Jennie Laurie

May 18th, 2008 5:02am Report this comment

Thank you for that most beautiful and heart-wrenching piece, told with dignity and compassion.

Barry Isaacson

July 23rd, 2008 7:42pm Report this comment

Gosh, I've only just checked in again and was surprised to find that comments had been posted about my article. Thank you, I very much appreciate the positive response.