L. Ron Hubbard

L. Ron Hubbard was a pulp science fiction writer who wrote Dianetics and founded Scientology. He died in 1986.

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Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard

Who started Scientology? Did L. Ron Hubbard start Scientology to make money? What was L. Ron Hubbard like?

Navy Report

February 5, 1942: Naval officer L. Ron Hubbard writes a report; in it, he quotes Commander L. D. Causey, the US Naval Attache to Australia, as saying, "I have sent a message to the CinC Asiatic as of this morning stating that I wish you to be removed from Brisbane, stating that you are making a nuisance of yourself. You have never been under my orders and I consider you as having nothing to do with me."

Army Report

February 13, 1942: A document purportedly written by US Army Colonel Alexander L. P. Johnson to the Commander of the Base Force, Darwin, Australia describes L. Ron Hubbard as "an intelligent, resourceful and dependable officer" and recommends that an earlier (unspecified) request be granted.

Navy Memo

February 14, 1942: A memo from the US Naval Attache to Australia complains about L. Ron Hubbard: "By assuming unauthorized authority and attempting to perform duties for which he has no qualifications, he became the source of much trouble. ... This officer is not satisfactory for independent duty assignment. He is garrulous and tries to give impressions of his importance. He also seems to think that he has unusual ability in most lines. These characteristics indicate that he will require close supervision for satisfactory performance of any intelligence duty."

LRH Letter to Navy

October 8, 1942: L. Ron Hubbard writes the Chief of Naval Personnel asking that he be nominated to "PC school".

Navy Letter

February 5, 1943: The Navy forwards to L. Ron Hubbard a letter from a Dave Margolis. Margolis wrote to the Navy requesting that it make Hubbard pay an unpaid bill. The Navy instructs Hubbard to attend to the matter.

Navy Letter

October 18, 1943: L. Ron Hubbard writes a letter to the Navy asking for orders taking him into combat duty.

Aleister Crowley telegram

May 22, 1946: Aleister Crowley cables his US office after reading reports from his branch headquarters in America and Jack Parsons's accounts of the occult ceremony he had performed with L. Ron Hubbard: "Suspect Ron playing confidence trick--Jack Parsons weak fool--obvious victim prowling swindlers." In a letter a few days later he said, "It seems to me on the information of our brethren in California that Parsons has got an illumination in which he lost all his personal independence. From our brother's account he has given away both his girl and his money. Apparently it is the ordinary confidence trick."

Navy Letter

February 19, 1948: L. Ron Hubbard writes to the US Navy, asking that his previous letter of resignation be disregarded, in response to a reply from the Chief of Naval Personnel regretting Hubbard's decision to resign.

Navy Letter

May 1, 1951: L. Ron Hubbard writes to the Veterans Administration stating that he is "willing to submit to a physical examination in connection with my claim for disability compensation." By 1951, he had already sold many copies of Dianetics, in which he claims that his "research" had enabled him to completely cure himself of all the injuries and maladies he suffered during the war.

L. Ron Hubbard in the News

Datesort icon Title Blurb Tags
March 9, 1990 High court refuses Holt appeal on Hubbard bio. Publishers Weekly: High court refuses Holt appeal on Hubbard bio. L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits
October 26, 1989 Board of Contributors: The Judges of History Rule Verbatim quotation, the judge believed, was justified in order to prove points the author had asserted about Mr. Hubbard -- mendacity, bigotry, paranoia and other unlovely traits that could not be persuasively demonstrated without use of Mr. Hubbard's own words. "The biographer/critic," Judge Leval wrote, "should not be required simply to express . . . conclusions without defending them by example." In such circumstances, free-speech interests outweighed the interests of the copyright owner. L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits, Press
October 8, 1989 L. Ron Hubbard Has Nothing To Compete With Baseball And Novels How To Live! Page 80! San Jose Mercury News: L. Ron Hubbard Has Nothing To Compete With Baseball And Novels How To Live! Page 80! L. Ron Hubbard
January 5, 1989 Scientology Official Is Granted Control of Hubbard Estate The once-contested multimillion-dollar estate of Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has been settled, and control of it was given to the top church official Hubbard had named as executor. Superior Court Judge Fredman ordered the estate turned over to Norman F. Starkey, who besides his position in the church was a longtime friend of Hubbard. The estate is valued at more than $26 million, but the value of the assets that Hubbard placed in a trust for his family is not on public record. L. Ron Hubbard, Press
July 27, 1988 Superior Court judge in LA dismisses $1 billion lawsuit against Church of Scientology and its late founder, L. Ron Hubbard, by f San Francisco Chronicle: Superior Court judge in LA dismisses $1 billion lawsuit against Church of Scientology and its late founder, L. Ron Hubbard, by former members who charged organization officials with embezzlement of church funds L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits
May 5, 1988 Bill Cosby, L. Ron Hubbard Sell The Most Trade Paperbacks (brief mention of Scientology) L. Ron Hubbard
January 16, 1988 The Messianic Con Man Gerry Armstrong had been a dedicated member of the Church of Scientology for more than a decade, swept away by its heady promise of superhuman powers and immortality. He had been twice sentenced to long periods in the Rehabilitation Project Force, the Scientologists' Orwellian prison; he had been constantly humiliated and his marriage had been destroyed; yet he remained convinced that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was the greatest man who ever lived. That is, until 1980 when Armstrong discovered 21 boxes of Hubbard memorabilia inside a secret base set up by Scientologists in the Californian desert. Gerry Armstrong, L. Ron Hubbard, Press
December 12, 1987 For Something Really Scary, Just Try The Hubbard Story This highly unauthorized biography of the founder of Scientology creates a weirder-than-fiction chill that doesn't go away. Dozens of people who once adored L. Ron Hubbard testify in the book that he attacked with cruel vengeance those who threatened him. Hubbard had a policy that Scientology's critics "may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist ... May be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed," the book says. (Hubbard publicly rescinded the policy in 1968, but the book says it remained in force and was carried out covertly.) L. Ron Hubbard
December 2, 1987 Scientologists Want Book Banned To Gag Critics, Court Told A copyright challenge to a biography of L. Ron Hubbard, controversial founder of the Church of Scientology, is part of the church's policy of using the courts to harass its critics, a Federal Court hearing was told Tuesday. "This particular use of the court is an abuse and it has nothing to with copyright at all," David Potts, lawyer for Toronto-based Key Porter, told Mr. Justice Bud Cullen. "It is an attempt to circumscribe the well-established principle you can't libel the dead or an attempt to suppress criticism in accordance with the edicts stated by Mr. Hubbard." L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits, Press, Toronto
December 1, 1987 Court weighs bid to ban boiography of Hubbard Globe & Mail: Court weighs bid to ban boiography of Hubbard L. Ron Hubbard, lawsuits

L. Ron Hubbard in the News

Datesort icon Title Blurb Tags
November 18, 1953 New Jersey-based Church, L. Ron Hubbard, Sr., L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., Henrietta Hubbard, others The articles of incorporation for the New Jersey-based Church of Scientology are signed by L. Ron Hubbard, Sr. and L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. and witnessed by Henrietta Hubbard and others. Event, L. Ron Hubbard
February 3, 1953 FBI Summary on Hubbard An FBI document summarizes some information about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. It mentions two US Marshalls attempting to serve a bench warrant on LRH while he was lecturing to the Association of Scientologists. It says "Allegations have been made that organizations he was affiliated with were of particular interest to perverts, hypochondriacs and curiosity seekers. In 1951 the State of New Jersey reported it had a case against him for teaching medicine without a license and in 1952 the Post Office was investigating him for mail fraud." FBI, L. Ron Hubbard
February 12, 1952 Hubbard College, L. Ron Hubbard, Wichita, Kansas, Dianetics auditors The Hubbard College, the first organization established and controlled by L. Ron Hubbard, is founded in Wichita, Kansas to train Dianetics auditors. Event, L. Ron Hubbard
February 8, 1952 L. Ron Hubbard L. Ron Hubbard makes a speech "Summary of the Service Facsimilie Chain". Event, L. Ron Hubbard
February 6, 1952 L. Ron Hubbard L. Ron Hubbard presents a speech "Dianetics: The Modern Miracle". Event, L. Ron Hubbard
May 24, 1951 Navy Telegram L. Ron Hubbard sends a telegram to his mistress, Barbara: "Better keep our plans a close secret as I do not know what they would try to do to you if they knew. Be very careful. All my love, Ron." L. Ron Hubbard
May 1, 1951 Navy Letter L. Ron Hubbard writes to the Veterans Administration stating that he is "willing to submit to a physical examination in connection with my claim for disability compensation." By 1951, he had already sold many copies of Dianetics, in which he claims that his "research" had enabled him to completely cure himself of all the injuries and maladies he suffered during the war. L. Ron Hubbard, Navy
February 25, 1951 L. Ron Hubbard, Yuma airport. A, newsman's mill. Hubbard, doing, back. At, Polly, support. Dianetics, NJ, creditors L. Ron Hubbard forces his wife to accompany him the Yuma airport. A juicy farce ensues that will later provide grist for many a newsman's mill. Hubbard gets his wife to sign a paper absolving him of any wrong doing, she in turn expects to get the baby back. At this time his first wife Polly initiates legal proceeding against him to collect owed child support. The Dianetics foundation of NJ is besieged by creditors. Event, L. Ron Hubbard
February 24, 1951 L. Ron Hubbard, 9-month-old daughter, Alexis, crib, Frank Dessler (a Dianetics official), Alexis, Westwood Nurses Registry Agenc L. Ron Hubbard kidnaps his 9-month-old daughter, Alexis, from her crib. He and Frank Dessler (a Dianetics official) leave Alexis at the Westwood Nurses Registry Agency, paying for a week's care in advance. The owner of the agency reports the matter to the police when Hubbard and Dessler around his suspicions by identifying themselves to him only as "Mr. Olson" and "Mr. Rank." (Actually, LRH identifies himself as "James Olson" - Superman's sidekick? - and signs a false statement under that name, saying his wife was seriously ill.) At some point in Feb. 1951, LRH gives Dessler a written document indemnifying him of any wrongdoing, since Dessler was concerned about being charged with kidnapping. The LA Examiner (newspaper) reports the story a little differently, saying that Sara left Alexis at the Dianetics Foundation in LA, then decided to spend the night in LRH's apartment after finding it unoccupied. She asks a private detective and Miles Hollister, a former Dianetics executive, to stay in the neighborhood. (According to her divorce suit, she had been kidnapped as well and was with LRH at the time the story was printed.) Event, L. Ron Hubbard
February 23, 1951 Sara Hubbard, Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, L. Ron Hubbard, schizophrenia. LRH Sara Hubbard informs the national executive officer of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation that competent medical advisors recommended that L. Ron Hubbard be committed to a private sanitarium for psychiatric observation and treatment of paranoid schizophrenia. The executive officer immediately reported this to LRH. Event, L. Ron Hubbard, psychiatry