The secret letters of the Jonestown death cult

14 May 2008

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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

It may never be possible to determine where Gene went; he may have found refuge in the Guyanese capital of Georgetown or even flown back to America. He mailed a long letter of anguished, principled dissent to Jones, preserved in the FBI file but unavailable to scholars until recently. This letter is almost certainly the boldest statement of dissent against Jones on record. ‘I think you suffer from a lack of balance, both of perspective and behavior,’ he wrote. ‘I detest being lied to and manipulated. You have, over the years, done a lot of both...’. A fastidious man, Chaikin criticised Jones’s hysterical overreaction to the manoeuvrings of the Temple’s detractors in America which, he felt, had culminated in ‘a situation of anxiety or bi-weekly crisis’, jeopardising the stability of the commune and, he believed, the lives of his children. In a series of tense communiqués that followed, Jones attempted to persuade Chaikin to return to Jonestown, while Gene demanded the immediate release of his children. Eventually Jones appeared to consent but hedged, insisting that Phyllis come out first, ostensibly so that she and Gene could discuss the future of their family together. Gene continued to fence with Jones, but from a position of weakness; he was too honourable to blackmail the minister with what he knew about the inner workings of the Temple, yet, unlike other defectors, he was incapable of deserting his wife and children. His only hope was that Phyllis might support him in his attempt to liberate their children and reunite his family. He signs off his letter to Jones: ‘Even in the present situation when I asked for the children you lied to me, said you would send them out, but held off till Phyllis could get here so that you would have some basis for hanging on... I would rather be told straight out than “put on”. What I do at this juncture depends to a considerable extent on what you say... You leave me very few choices. Phyllis will come in tonight and I suppose we will talk... but I think you and I now have very little to say to each other.’

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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.