Raven (book)

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Raven
Raven book.jpg
Front cover
AuthorTim Reiterman with John Jacobs
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Subject Destructive cults
Murder–suicide
Genre Nonfiction
Publisher E. P. Dutton
Publication date
October 1, 1982
Media typeHardback (first ed.)
Pages622
ISBN 0525241361
OCLC 7837655
289.9 19
LC Class BP605.P46 R44 1982

Raven: The Untold Story of the Rev. Jim Jones and His People details the life and ultimate demise of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple. Written by journalist Tim Reiterman, the book reviews the history of the Peoples Temple. The book includes numerous interviews, audio tapes and documents among its hundreds of sources. [1]

Contents

Background

In addition to covering the Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple in articles in the San Francisco Examiner , Reiterman also accompanied Representative Leo Ryan on his November 1978 investigative trip to Jonestown. [2] Reiterman was shot when the Peoples Temple attacked Ryan's delegation at an airstrip in Guyana, but he survived. [3]

Research

During the course of his research for the book, Reiterman traveled to Indiana and visited locations where Jim Jones grew up and conducted interviews with local residents who knew him. [2]

Contents

The book describes the events that occurred in Jonestown, Guyana, where over 900 people lost their lives as the result of mass forced suicide, which constituted the largest loss of American civilian life (other than due to natural disasters or during the course of violence with Native Americans) in United States history until the events of September 11, 2001. [4] The book further describes the investigation and death of Representative Ryan. [5]

Reception

In 1983, Raven was recognized with the Thomas Thompson PEN Award for nonfiction. [6] [7] Marshall Kilduff of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote highly of the book and recommended it in a 2007 summer reading list: "This stands as the definitive history of Jim Jones and his bizarre Peoples Temple." [8] Rob Morse of the San Francisco Examiner wrote: "The book is so definitive, it's tough going. It has no cheap thrills, just depressing shivers." [9] In a review for the Associated Press, Lisa Levitt Ryckman called the book "the most comprehensive of the dozen written since Jones directed his followers in an orgy of suicide and murder", [10] and in a subsequent article about Jonestown reiterated her position, and referred to the book as the "definitive book on Jones and Peoples Temple". [11]

The book received a positive review in Library Journal , and reviewer Barbara Conaty wrote: "This compelling, brutally convincing account is unlikely to be surpassed." [12] Barbara Bright of The New York Times Book Review described the book as a "powerfully written and well-researched book, documenting a peculiarly American tragedy". [13] A review in Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries called the book "Good supplementary reading for a number of college courses, and valuable for general adult reading, it is strongly recommended for all libraries," and commented "Reiterman's methods and sources are sufficiently described to certify Raven as a serious work." [14] Herbert A. Michelson of The Sacramento Bee described Raven as : "a critically acclaimed study of the Peoples Temple". [15]

Bob MacDonald of The Boston Globe characterized the book as an "excellent inquiry" into the deaths at Jonestown. [16] In a review in National Review , David Evanier wrote: "Raven does not explain Jones ... But through its accumulation of excellent details, he is understood by the book's end, without apology, exaggeration, superfluous information, or psychoanalysis." [17] Jordan Robertson of the Associated Press called Raven the "seminal book on the Peoples Temple". [18] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle , Michael Taylor characterized the work as an "exhaustive study", [19] and Stephen G. Bloom of the Sacramento Bee called it "an exhaustive biography of Jim Jones". [20]

Raven has been used as a reference in other books discussing the events surrounding Jonestown and Peoples Temple. Henry Warner Bowden used the book as a reference in the entry on Jim Jones in Dictionary of American Religious Biography. [21] Harold G. Barrett utilized Raven as a reference in his book Rhetoric and Civility, and described it as "a thorough, highly detailed and documented account". [22] Eugene V. Gallagher and W. Michael Ashcraft referenced the book in their work Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, where they referred to it as "an engaging journalistic account". [23]

Planned adaptation

In 2016, it was announced that Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad and The X-Files would be developing an HBO limited miniseries based on Raven about Jones and the 1978 Jonestown tragedy. It would have been co-produced by Octavia Spencer and Gilligan's longtime collaborator Michelle MacLaren. [24] However, in 2018, Gilligan said that he had slowed down on developing the project. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peoples Temple</span> American religious movement (1953–1978)

The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ, originally Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church and commonly shortened to Peoples Temple, was an American new religious organization which existed between 1954 and 1978 and was affiliated with the Christian Church. Founded by Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Peoples Temple spread a message that combined elements of Christianity with communist and socialist ideology, with an emphasis on racial equality. After Jones moved the group to California in the 1960s and established several locations throughout the state, including its headquarters in San Francisco, the Temple forged ties with many left-wing political figures and claimed to have 20,000 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonestown</span> Peoples Temple cult settlement in Guyana

The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, an American cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationally infamous when, on November 18, 1978, a total of 918 people died at the settlement, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and at a Temple-run building in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Jones</span> American cult leader and mass murderer (1931–1978)

James Warren Jones was an American cult leader and mass murderer who led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. In what he termed "revolutionary suicide", a term he took from the novel by the same name by Huey Newton, Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. Jones and the events that occurred at Jonestown have had a defining influence on society's perception of cults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Ryan</span> American politician (1925–1978)

Leo Joseph Ryan Jr. was an American teacher and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. representative from California's 11th congressional district from 1973 until his assassination during the Jonestown massacre in 1978. Before that, he served in the California State Assembly, representing the state's 27th district.

Don Harris was an NBC News correspondent who was killed after departing Jonestown, an agricultural commune owned by the Peoples Temple in Guyana. On November 18, 1978, he and four others were killed by gunfire by Temple members at a nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, Guyana. Their murders preceded the death of 909 Temple members in Jonestown and four Temple members in Georgetown, Guyana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Lane (author)</span> American lawyer, politician and writer (1927–2016)

Mark Lane was an American attorney, New York state legislator, civil rights activist, and Vietnam war-crimes investigator. Sometimes referred to as a gadfly, Lane is best known as a leading researcher, author, and conspiracy theorist on the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy. Lane authored 10 books on the JFK assassination, including Rush to Judgment,, the 1966 number-one bestselling critique of the Warren Commission and Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK, published in 2011.

Working People's Vanguard Party (WPVP) was a small, Maoist political party in Guyana. It was formed in 1969 through a split in the People's Progressive Party (PPP) in the 1960s. The party was led by Brindley Benn and Victor Downer. Initially the party advocated a violent overthrow of the People's National Congress government, but later shifted to the right and entered into an alliance with pro-capitalist groups.

<i>Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple</i> 2006 documentary film

Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, is a 2006 documentary film made by Firelight Media, produced and directed by Stanley Nelson. The documentary reveals new footage of the incidents surrounding the Peoples Temple and its leader Jim Jones who led over 900 members of his religious group to a settlement in Guyana called Jonestown, where he orchestrated a mass suicide with poisoned Flavor Aid, in November 1978. It is in the form of a narrative with interviews with former Temple members, Jonestown survivors, and people who knew Jones.

<i>Seductive Poison</i> First-hand account of the Peoples Temple in Jonestown by Deborah Layton

Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple is a first-hand account of the incidents surrounding Peoples Temple, written by survivor Deborah Layton, a high-level member of the Peoples Temple until her escape from the encampment. The first edition of the book was published by Anchor~Doubleday in hardcover on November 3, 1998, and the second edition was published in paperback on November 9, 1999. In 2014, Random House Audio made Seductive Poison into an audio-book read by the author and narrator, Kathe Mazur. Charles Krause, the young Washington Post journalist who accompanied Congressman Leo Ryan into Jonestown and was injured at the airstrip, reads his foreword.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Garry</span> American civil rights attorney (1909–1991)

Charles R. Garry was an American civil rights attorney who represented a number of high-profile clients in political cases during the 1960s and 1970s, including Huey P. Newton during his 1968 capital murder trial and the Peoples Temple during the 1978 Jonestown tragedy.

<i>Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones</i> 1980 television film directed by William A. Graham

Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones, also called The Mad Messiah, is a 1980 television miniseries about the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones, and their 1978 mass suicide at Jonestown. Based on the book by Charles A. Krause, entitled Guyana Massacre: The Eyewitness Account, the film was originally shown on television on April 15, 1980.

Jonestown: Paradise Lost is a 2007 documentary television film on the History Channel about the final days of Jonestown, the Peoples Temple, and Jim Jones. From eyewitness and survivor accounts, the program recreates the last week before the mass murder-suicide on November 18, 1978.

Timothy Oliver Stoen is an American attorney best known for his central role as a member of the Peoples Temple, and as an opponent of the group during a multi-year custody battle over his six-year-old son, John. The custody battle triggered a chain of events which led to U.S. Representative Leo Ryan's investigation into the Temple's remote settlement of Jonestown in northern Guyana, which became internationally notorious in 1978 after 918 people – including Stoen's son – died in the settlement and on a nearby airstrip. Stoen continued to work as a deputy district attorney in Mendocino County, California, where he was assigned to the District Attorney's Fort Bragg office. Stoen later joined the Mendocino County Public Defenders. He is now in the private practice of law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peoples Temple in San Francisco</span> Religious groups social and political activities base

The Peoples Temple, the new religious movement which came to be known for the mass killings at Jonestown, was headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States from the early to mid-1970s until the Temple's move to Guyana in 1977. During this period, the Temple and its founder, Reverend Jim Jones, rose to national prominence thanks to Jones' interest in social and political causes, and wielded a significant amount of influence in San Francisco's city government.

Marshall Kilduff is a retired journalist, having written for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1971. On January 17, 2021, he announced his retirement in his regular column.

<i>A Thousand Lives</i> 2011 book by Julia Scheeres

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown (2011) is a history of the Jonestown settlement and massacre in 1978. Written by journalist Julia Scheeres, the book chronicles the lives of five people who resided in Jonestown before the mass murder-suicides that claimed 918 lives.

Carolyn Louise Moore Layton was a leadership figure within Peoples Temple and a long-term partner of Temple leader Jim Jones. Along with other inner circle members, she assisted in the planning of the mass murder that took place in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978. She was the mother of a child by Jones, Jim Jon "Kimo" Prokes.

Archie Ijames was an American Christian minister and assistant pastor of Jim Jones' Peoples Temple.

Jim Jones was a cult leader who on November 18, 1978, orchestrated the mass murder suicide of 909 members of his commune in Jonestown, Guyana. Since the events of the Jonestown Massacre, a massive amount of literature and study has been produced on the subject. Numerous documentaries, films, books, poetry, music and art have covered or been inspired by the events of Jonestown. Jim Jones and the events at Jonestown has had a defining influence on society's perception of cults. The widely known expression "Drinking the Kool-Aid" originated in the events at Jonestown, although the specific beverage used at the massacre was Flavor Aid rather than Kool-Aid.

Maria Katsaris was a member of the Peoples Temple cult led by Jim Jones. She is known for being one of the most high-ranking figures in Temple leadership and one of Jim Jones' lovers.

References

  1. ↑ Reiterman, Tim; John Jacobs (1982). Raven: The Untold Story of Reverend Jim Jones and His People . Dutton. pp.  581–610. ISBN   0525241361.
  2. 1 2 Sheeley, Rachel E. (November 16, 2003). "Jonestown: 25 Years Later". Palladium-Item . p. 7A.
  3. ↑ Robertson, Jordan (April 23, 2006). "Two Documentaries Revisit Jonestown". Associated Press.
  4. ↑ Rapaport, Richard (November 16, 2003). "Jonestown and City Hall slayings eerily linked in time and memory". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  5. ↑ Brazil, Jeff (December 16, 1999). "Jonestown's Horror Fades but Mystery Remain". Los Angeles Times .
  6. ↑ Staff (May 25, 2000). "John Jacobs; Columnist, Award-Winning Author". Los Angeles Times . p. B8. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  7. ↑ Sward, Susan (May 25, 2000). "John Jacobs – Political Writer, Big-Hearted Man". San Francisco Chronicle . The Chronicle Publishing Co. p. C2.
  8. ↑ Kilduff, Marshall (July 2, 2007). "Personal Perspective: A summer reading list". San Francisco Chronicle . p. B6.
  9. ↑ Morse, Rob (March 28, 1997). "The Truth Is Even Further Out There". San Francisco Examiner . p. A1.
  10. ↑ Levitt Ryckman, Lisa (November 17, 1982). "Jim Jones: Resurrected In Book Four Years After Guyana Tragedy". Associated Press.
  11. ↑ Ryckman, Lisa Levitt (Associated Press) (November 13, 1988). "A Jonestown Story – Tragedy in Guyana". Sun-Sentinel . Sun-Sentinel Company. p. 1G.
  12. ↑ Conaty, Barbara (October 1, 1982). "Raven". Library Journal . 107: 1890.
  13. ↑ Bright, Barbara (December 26, 1982). "Raven". The New York Times Book Review . The New York Times Company. 88: 9.
  14. ↑ "Raven". Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries . 20: 1007. March 1, 1983. ISSN   0009-4978.
  15. ↑ Michelson, Herbert A. (September 17, 1986). "New Trial To Begin In Jonestown Killings". The Sacramento Bee . p. B5.
  16. ↑ MacDonald, Bob (November 18, 1982). "Review Book A Look Back At Jonestown Mass Suicide". The Boston Globe . Globe Newspaper Company.
  17. ↑ Evanier, David (April 16, 1982). "Raven". National Review . 34: 428–430.
  18. ↑ Robertson, Jordan (Associated Press) (April 25, 2006). "Revisiting Jonestown, at long last". The Star-Ledger . p. 22.
  19. ↑ Taylor, Michael (November 12, 1998). "Jones Captivated S.F.'s Liberal Elite – They were late to discover how cunningly he curried favor". San Francisco Chronicle . The Chronicle Publishing Co. p. A1.
  20. ↑ Bloom, Stephen G. (November 13, 1988). "'I Wanted To Believe; I Felt Ecstasy At Peoples Temple,' Survivor Recalls – 10 Years After 913 Died, Jonestown Still Mystery". Sacramento Bee . p. A1.
  21. ↑ Bowden, Henry Warner (1993). Dictionary of American Religious Biography: Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 276–277. ISBN   0313278253.
  22. ↑ Barrett, Harold (1991). Rhetoric and Civility: Human Development, Narcissism, and the Good Audience. SUNY Press. p. 176. ISBN   0791404838.
  23. ↑ Gallagher, Eugene V.; W. Michael Ashcraft (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 113. ISBN   0275987124.
  24. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (September 9, 2016). "Jonestown Drama From Vince Gilligan, Octavia Spencer and Michelle MacLaren Set at HBO". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  25. ↑ Keene, Allison (July 2, 2018). "'Better Call Saul': Vince Gilligan on Season 4's 'Breaking Bad' Connections". Collider . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
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