A new Biography of the person who audited LRH on the "History of Man" incidents

[SanDiegoMember]

In 1950 a young college professor, Perry Anthony Chapdelaine Sr., forsook his profession for a new career as a Hubbard Dianetic Auditor. With his wife and infant son safely home at her parents’ home in Mobile, Alabama, he drove over eleven hundred miles to Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he attended the HDA (Hubbard Dianetic Auditor) Course at the original Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation.

After his graduation, from the last HDA Course before the New Jersey Attorney General shut down the Foundation, Perry formed two Dianetic groups in Alabama. He attended the First Annual Conference of Hubbard Dianetic Auditors, June of 1951, in Wichita, Kansas, where he was elected as secretary of the newly formed Association of Hubbard Dianetic Auditors, International.

Perry moved his family to Wichita and went to work as an auditor for Hubbard. He was LRH’s auditor when Hubbard ran through all the incidents that would later comprise his book – History of Man. Perry also helped Hubbard formulate the Axioms and Postulates of Dianetics. All through the rest of 1951 he attended over thirty six of Hubbard’s lectures learning all the latest developments in Dianetics.

In 1952 Perry helped one of his PC’s become the world’s first Clear. With interest in Dianetics down trending due to the inability of anyone to create a Clear, Perry took it upon himself to tour the country and spread his message “Yes, a Clear is possible”. He opened his own Dianetic Center later that year and eventually moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he bought a house where he could settle down and audit full time.

By 1954, with a growing family and a scarcity of paying PC’s, Perry made the decision to leave Dianetics behind him and find better job opportunities.

In July, 2014, Perry was interviewed about his time in Dianetics and a decision was made to create his biography in order to showcase his stories of the early days of Dianetics.

We are pleased to announce the publication of Perry Anthony Chapdelaine Sr.’s biography. His biography contains over seven thousand words and the eleven interviews, which range in topics from the History of Man session, Perry’s meeting with Volney Mathison, to Perry’s perception of Mary Sue Whipp when she first appeared in Wichita.

His biography may be viewed at - http://scientolipedia.org/info/Perry_Chapdelaine

Thanks;

Howard Dickman

 

[SanDiegoMember]

For a little over three years Perry Chapdelaine devoted his life to L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics, and then in 1954 he quit and lived a normal life raising ten children and pursuing many different professional career paths.

In 2014, after two and a half months of constant communication, with Perry, about information for his biography, I wondered just how, looking back some sixty years, he felt about his time in Dianetics. Ever the writer he had much to say.

His comments can be found here - http://scientolipedia.org/info/Perry_Chapdelaine's_reflections_about_Dianetics

Thanks;

Howard Dickman

 

[SanDiegoMember]

On November 3, 2014, Tony Ortega, an on-line reporter who reports extensively about Scientology, posted about a magazine article, by Susan Raine - “Astounding history: L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology space opera” in the journal Religion. In his post Ortega mentioned something about A.E.van Vogt, a friend of Hubbard's, from Ron's days of writing science fiction stories.

Ortega writes - "(Van Vogt was an early admirer of Dianetics, and even became leader of Dianetics in California, but later he grew disillusioned when Hubbard began encouraging followers to explore their “past lives.”)"

This line bugged me as Perry had stated in an email that van Vogt had attended the July, 1954, Phoenix lectures, about three years after Hubbard had started talking about past lives. So I asked Perry to comment about Ortega's statement. Here is what Perry Chapdelaine Sr. replied to me on November 7, 2014 -

"When I first met A.E. van Vogt he and his wife E. (Edna) Mayne Hull (her name as an also science fiction writer) was at 7175-1/2 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, CA not far from the Grauman Theatre, both were deeply immersed in the practice of Dianetics and Scientology had not yet been invented.

Later, on visits to van’s home after Edna died, van was still practicing first book Dianetics. He still entertained preclears in his home. He never mentioned to me what he thought of Scientology.

Even later, when he visited me in Nashville, TN, van still accepted the tenants of Dianetics and we never discussed Scientology.

The comment you’re referring to is “In particular, she notes that A. E. van Vogt and others were writing stories in which mankind could be “improved” to become superhuman, particularly in their intellectual capacities. (Van Vogt was an early admirer of Dianetics, and even became leader of Dianetics in California, but later he grew disillusioned when Hubbard began encouraging followers to explore their “past lives.”)”

I can only provide my best guess from here on in.

I seriously doubt that van would be upset by past lives. His mind was unique and quite complacent about far out ideas and also the nature of reality. The article from which the above quote is derived is actually quite accurate, in my opinion, but regarding van, what the author probably does not know is that (1) van deliberately studied two fields of knowledge when writing his stories. Example might be something like (a) psychic phenomena and (b) physics. (2) van often set his alarm clock at night to ring every so many minutes. I’ve forgotten what it was set for, but say, every half hour. He’d wake up and write down his dreams. These dreams would often form the substrate or even main events to his stories. I know this method because that’s what I did, copying van, when I wrote my published story “Breathe, Breathe! God How I Would Breathe! Now found on kindle and nook.

Van’s first wife, Edna, would be quite inclined to accept past lives, and I know for fact that he’d never pooh, pooh her.

During one visit before he married his 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] wife. Van walked his dog each morning. His home was immediately across the road from the big, white, well known “HOLLYWOOD” sign. I was surprised to find a road immediately in front of the sign because that never shows on news or in movies. Anyway, van advertised in local Los Angeles papers to find a person who would know a not well known language. I can’t give an example ‘cause I don’t know much about languages, but sometimes he’d also pick a well-known language like Italian. (He gave me a copy ‘cause I’m half Italian.) He’d prepare a script of common words and phrases for this person to translate onto a tape recorder. Then, while he walked his dog in the mornings, he’d play the tape to learn the language. He had a theory that if he could keep his brain functioning he’d never suffer from Alzheimer’s. (These tapes were later sold to a company for reproduction and resale to the public.)

On my last visit to van, he’d married again. I’d always stayed at his house when at that end of the country, but not this time. Sadly, his then wife did not know me and van was now suffering from Alzheimer ’s disease. We went to a restaurant together. Van knew my name but he’d forgotten everything else about me!

I kept in touch with van’s progress for a number of years, chiefly through Forry Ackerman who was not just a mutual friend but also agent to both of us.

Forry told me that his 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] wife had placed him in a home where van was in terrible condition.

I talked to his 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] wife on the telephone during that terrible ordeal and she commented mainly on how sorry she felt for herself. She’d married van because she’d expected to live together the remainder of their lives, and now she was alone.

Sorry! I don’t know any further."

 

[Type4_PTS]

<snip>

Ortega writes - "(Van Vogt was an early admirer of Dianetics, and even became leader of Dianetics in California, but later he grew disillusioned when Hubbard began encouraging followers to explore their “past lives.”)"

This line bugged me as Perry had stated in an email that van Vogt had attended the July, 1954, Phoenix lectures, about three years after Hubbard had started talking about past lives. So I asked Perry to comment about Ortega's statement. Here is what Perry Chapdelaine Sr. replied to me on November 7, 2014 -
<snip>

Did Perry offer an alternative view on why Van Vogt grew disillusioned? (presuming he did)

 

[SanDiegoMember]

Did Perry offer an alternative view on why Van Vogt grew disillusioned? (presuming he did)

Perry moved to Nashville in 1964 and according to what he writes, van, at that time, was still an adherent of the tenets of Dianetics.

"Even later, when he visited me in Nashville, TN, van still accepted the tenants of Dianetics and we never discussed Scientology."

If you visit Perry's bio you will see, down on the bottom, that Perry will be participating in a Live International Webinar with Perry on Sunday November 16, 2014 at 2:00 pm EST (New York time)

 

[strativarius]

Here's one of the 11 video's taken from the above document.

[video=youtube;5EGOGFPhN2Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5EGOGFPhN2Y[/video]

 

[AnonyMary]

Hi Howard,

Thanks for this

Can you put quotation marks on those things not already quote marked but said by others? Separate the commentary from the words being quoted? This would make it clear who is saying what.

Did you write this? Is that your site? If no, whose is it?

Mary

 

[SanDiegoMember]

For a little over three years Perry Chapdelaine devoted his life to L. Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics, and then in 1954 he quit and lived a normal life raising ten children and pursuing many different professional career paths.

In 2014, after two and a half months of constant communication, with Perry, about information for his biography, I wondered just how, looking back some sixty years, he felt about his time in Dianetics. Ever the writer he had much to say.

His comments can be found here - http://scientolipedia.org/info/Perry_Chapdelaine's_reflections_about_Dianetics

Thanks;

Howard Dickman

The correct link is - http://scientolipedia.org/info/Perry_Chapdelaine's_reflections_about_Dianetics

 

[JustSheila]

These are wonderful interviews, Howard. Thanks very much.

 

[AnonyMary]

Enjoyed thevideo about Mary Sue.. had no idea she was only 17 when Hubbard was set up her with to have sex with!

Gotta love these old timer stories!!

I'm watching all the interview videos first .
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxLn-ZL7jaJzSMcxdoCOLA

Then I will read the story

 

[WildKat]

Bumping this thread. What a great find!

I struggled through one of the video/webcasts/webinars. Although the format is annoying as hell (with all the interruptions, incessantly ringing phones, robot voices butting in, etc,) still, the material is fascinating. If someone had time to go through all these and pull out the good stuff and put it in written form, that would be very valuable history and make commenting easier on ESMB. Again, it's not easy listening, but THANK YOU for posting this.

 

[AnonyMary]

There is an ironic statement said by Perry about Hubbard auditing himself often and Hubbard's ideas as opposed to scientific checks and balances, and on the theory behind him auditing himself; he goes into Hubbard thinking along the lines of 'well if you want to know about an apple, you go to the apple'

"but in his case it was 'if you want to know about the mind, you go to the mind, so he went to his own mind.... So what you've got in Dianetics and Scientology is Hubbard's mind."

I don't think he would get the irony of it. It starts around 1:09 on the tape and ends t around 2:29

Scientology - Auditing LRH on A History of Man
[video=youtube_share;F7zQiztcw_o]http://youtu.be/F7zQiztcw_o[/video]

 

[Mimsey Borogrove]

Enjoyed thevideo about Mary Sue.. had no idea she was only 17 when Hubbard was set up her with to have sex with!

Gotta love these old timer stories!!

I'm watching all the interview videos first .
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjxLn-ZL7jaJzSMcxdoCOLA

Then I will read the story

This does not jive with a story I heard from Robert Sewell. He was an old timer I met back in the late 70's - he passed away from some sort of intestinal blockage. He told me that he was the one that introduced Mary Sue to Hubbard. If I recall correctly, Bob was dating her and took her by the org to get her interested in Scientology and when Ron set eyes on her, well, the rest is history.

Mimsey

 

[Commander Birdsong]

cooooooooooooooooooooool...

 

[AnonyMary]

This does not jive with a story I heard from Robert Sewell. He was an old timer I met back in the late 70's - he passed away from some sort of intestinal blockage. He told me that he was the one that introduced Mary Sue to Hubbard. If I recall correctly, Bob was dating her and took her by the org to get her interested in Scientology and when Ron set eyes on her, well, the rest is history.

Mimsey

Interesting... he also claims to have produced the first Clear.. and it wasn't John McMaster. See the tape about John McMaster, found at the link to all videos I posted earlier.

 

[Mimsey Borogrove]

Interesting... he also claims to have produced the first Clear.. and it wasn't John McMaster. See the tape about John McMaster, found at the link to all videos I posted earlier.

I think they had a bunch of first clears - but McMaster was the first to comp the clearing course which is solo audited. The others were audited to clear by an auditor. There were first goal clears etc. that were doing goals listing back in the sixties before the clearing course came out. And I think there were other versions before that. When Hub's released the Clearing Course, he drew a line in the sand, and that has been the "gold" standard ever since. Mimsey

 

[WildKat]

Interesting... he also claims to have produced the first Clear.. and it wasn't John McMaster. See the tape about John McMaster, found at the link to all videos I posted earlier.

I think there was a distinction of "the first clear made by other than Hubbard" or something like that. Hubbard had McMaster, this guy had someone else. I don't have time to go back and verify that, but I think that was the claim.

Also, since "clears" don't exist, any that were claimed probably later showed evidence of not being clear, and hence never-ending arguments about clear and what it is, etc., ad nauseum, until the seekret OT levels explained everything.

 

[SanDiegoMember]

This does not jive with a story I heard from Robert Sewell. He was an old timer I met back in the late 70's - he passed away from some sort of intestinal blockage. He told me that he was the one that introduced Mary Sue to Hubbard. If I recall correctly, Bob was dating her and took her by the org to get her interested in Scientology and when Ron set eyes on her, well, the rest is history.

Mimsey

I'll forward this to Perry for his comments.

Thanks,

Howard

 

[Udarnik]

SDM, you don't have to forward this on, but I'd prefer if you do. You can also point Perry to this post if you want. It's rare I get to confront a quack in person.

When he stated in that interview that he thinks Hubbard was on to something with Dianetics, my bozo filter's alarm went off. I realize that he's an invaluable primary source for the early days of Scientology, but I'm really pleased that people are cross checking him, because he's got some issues as a source.

To wit:

Perry Chapdelaine, an 88-year-old doctor, runs this charity from his house on Sweet Gum Road in Tennessee.

Chapdelaine said that after he was cured of rheumatoid arthritis using an alternative treatment program, he dedicated himself to educating others about cures for the disease. He tried to get the Arthritis Foundation interested in his work many years ago. When that didn't work, he joined forces with other doctors to start his own organization.

That translates into a job for Chapdelaine, who took a $20,000-a-year salary to write articles about arthritis that he publishes on his charity's website. He also provides physician referrals.

Chapdelaine has also written science fiction stories, sometimes under the name Anthony di Fabio.

The charity, which raises donations under three additional names, including The Arthritis Trust of America, relies almost exclusively on two related professional solicitation companies to cold call potential donors and send out sweepstakes mailers to home addresses across the nation.

Over the past decade, donors have given about $8.4 million. The charity incorrectly filled out reports filed with the IRS, so its total solicitation costs can't be determined from public records. However, reports filed with state regulators show the charity typically guarantees solicitors will get 80 to 90 cents of every dollar raised.

Chapdelaine said his organization is providing a vital service. "We’ll send you to a doctor to get help. We get 2,500 hits on our website every day. We are giving great benefits to people," he said. "It really bothers me that the cost-to-benefit ratio is so highly used."

You all who've interacted with me know he's already on my shit list because he is NOT a doctor. His son is. He isn't. He's a physics crank pushing perpetual motion machines and a quack pushing bad medical advice in books and on a crappy quack website.

I would take everything that comes out of this man's piehole with a whole canister of Morton's.

Please tell him I think he's full of shit and ought to stop conning gullible people with chronic diseases out of their money. If I ever get the chance, I'll tell him that to his face.

 

[Udarnik]

Howard, did you vet or independently verify any of the shit Perry spouted at you? I'm cross checking on various claims, since he seems to have used you as a megaphone for what he perceives as past injustices.

I'm not so sure.

He claims he "obtained" a $500,000 NSF grant, GY-5308.

Here is the quarterly report of the grant from ERIC.

Here is another.

Note that he is not a principal investigator, nor a principal author, or even an author at all on any of the publications from the grant. He may claim "jealousy" got him kicked out of his job, but I have my doubts. Delusions of grandeur, and his boss's impatience with same, might be nearer the truth. If he was merely the admin of the computer lab at A&I, he would have been solicited for material to go into the report, and nothing more. He's claiming a greater role for himself than he had in reality.
Hmmm. I wonder where we've seen that kind of behavior before?

How about you call a few people named in that piece and verify a few facts before letting it stand? What you published there is more an autobiography than a biography, if you're only using one source - Perry.