Commodores Messenger, Janis GillhamGrady
Commodores Messenger, Janis GillhamGrady
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
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Commodore's Messenger

Author: Janis Gillham-Grady

Narrator: Jennifer Moore

Unabridged: 14 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Lantern Audio

Published: 06/14/2018


Synopsis

At age 12, Janis was thrust into a role that no one, not even L. Ron Hubbard, could have predicted. Commodore's Messenger begins by taking the reader into the life of the first family of Scientology in Australia, Yvonne and Peter Gillham and their three children; Peter Jr., Terri and Janis. Life for the Gillhams is not without its challenges in Australia, but nothing compared to what happens when the family moves to England after dealing with the banning of Scientology in Victoria. Things spiral out of control as Hubbard leaves England and takes to the sea, to continue his spiritual research for mankind, as he puts it, or to escape the long arm of the law as many critics contend. Yvonne and her children soon find themselves enmeshed in Hubbard's inner circle, Yvonne as one of his trusted aides, and the children with Hubbard's own family. When Yvonne joins the newly established Sea Organization, to support Hubbard in his seafaring adventures, her children find themselves aboard what would become the flagship of Hubbard's burgeoning navy. Having children underfoot does not fit well with the serious nature of Hubbard's plans to expand Scientology's worldwide. Determined to make these children useful, he begins using them to send messages to various parts of the Apollo, hence the name Commodore's Messenger. With this as a background, the story Janis has written comes from the earliest days and the epicenter of Scientology's Sea Organization. As a messenger, Janis was with Hubbard a minimum of 6 hours a day and often times much longer. She was privy to all his moods from sunny to thundering; and was intimately familiar with everything happening on board the ship and the Scientology network. Janis lived a life that few of her peers could ever hope to have lived. Hubbard's cavalier regard for the lives of others was astonishing. The Sea Org. vessels were piloted by those with so little seamanship training, it's a wonder no one was killed.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on January 19, 2024

A tragic story of a family separated and destroyed is told in a folksy, conversational voice. Gillham Grady captures the experience from the perspective of the little girl put on a ship and made to sign a billion year contract to serve L Ron Hubbard as part of the Sea Organization. This book is the......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on April 16, 2023

Janis' story is an adventure that only a select few have experienced. The enthralling first chapter, which seems to outline where the journey led, depicts Janis in ostensible forced seclusion in an American desert playing with makeshift cards made from papers intended for outlining "overts and withh......more

Goodreads review by Kristie on July 21, 2023

I'm listening to the audiobook. Why is there an American narrator telling the story of an Australian, particularly when it's in the first person? Sadly this is the only thing that's stopping me from giving five stars. Sorry but the American accent is spoiling it.......more

Goodreads review by Jeff Levine on August 08, 2017

This is one great book..... I loved reading Commodore's Messenger! The book was a real adventure reading as I kept anticipating what would happen next! I am awed that Ms. Gilliam-Grady and her family made it through that. My only question is who will play Janis in the movie.......more