num_pages: 312
description: “Escape—My Lifelong War Against Cults” tells the story of attorney Paul Morantz's nearly 40-year battle with many of this nation's most notorious cults,including the Manson family, the Symbionese Liberation Army, Jim Jones' People's Temple, Synanon, est, the Moonies and Scientology, among others. Morantz has spent most of his career fighting to free victims of often violent sects and to curb abusive cult activities through ground-breaking litigation. His efforts at educating the public and the legal community about the dangers of cults and brainwashing helped change long-held misconceptions and outdated laws. But they also led to deep personal losses and multiple death threats. In the midst of a legal battle with Synanon that consumed nearly a decade of his life, followers of the once-acclaimed drug rehabilitation center turned paranoid cult attempted to murder him by stuffing a four-foot-long rattlesnake in his mailbox.  	 	The book provides the often-alarming details of his involvement with nearly every major cult that has emerged in this country since the 1970s. He tells of a polite young man he befriended while working a summer job after college who was transformed into a murderous Manson henchman. He provides a unique perspective on the still-bewildering story of heiress Patty Hearst's crime spree with the Symbionese Liberation Army. He reveals the little-known details of the custody battle that was one of the driving forces behind the massacre and mass suicides at Jonestown. Morantz also recalls the chilling tale of the Oregon guru whose followers attempted to poison an entire town and the bizarre, science fiction-based origins of Scientology, the longest-running and most successful cult in history.
title: Escape: My Lifelong War Against Cults
publisher: Figueroa Press