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Yvonne Gillham Jentzsch's life story

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Yvonne was born in 1927 and passed away in 1978, along the way she became one of the most well liked people in Scientology. Her legacy is Celebrity Center as she was it's founder. I got to know her in February of 1973 and have held her in high regard since.

There is currently a project underway to write Yvonne's life story. I originally started off creating her biography, but with the excellent help from her family this project has become more of a story of her life.

I originally wanted to complete her story before announcing the project, but with Emma now retiring I decided to post this today. So far her story is written up until late 1965. It may be a couple of more months before the story goes live on the internet though.

I would welcome your stories, pictures regarding Yvonne to be included in her story. I can be reached at [email protected].

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
I am pleased that so many people have viewed this post. Tonight I worked an additional three hours on Yvonne's life story and have it now written up to October of 1967. There are many facts about Yvonne that has never seen the light of day outside of her immediate family. Stayed tuned for further updates!

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Yvonne's life history goes hand in hand with the history of the Sea Org, as she was one of the original members. As such, we have taken great care to document some of the events of the Sea Org. It took some time to document, for example, the dates of the infamous Liability Cruise.

As of today I have Yvonne's life written up to June of 1968, getting closer and closer to when she started Celebrity Center. There will be some facts in her bio that dispel some commonly accepted stories of CC.

Stayed tuned!

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Flag Order #232, dated October 10, 1967 implemented the Sea Org's "billion year" contracts. For the historians out there, I have obtained a digital copy of the 6th Sea Org signed contract dated October 14, 1967 from the actual owner of the document. I plan on displaying this historical document on Yvonne's Bio website.

With all the stories of Celebrity Center on the internet I thought that this part of her bio would be the easiest. Was I wrong, this is going to take some time to set the story straight!

Howard Dickman
 
Hi Howard! Good luck with your project. I think it's very worthwhile to make an accurate record of the history of the Scientology movement and it's early workers. :thumbsup:

I remember reading quite a lot of stories on the Aboard the Apollo thread about her...and there are other posts scattered throughout ESMB. I hope you have done a search of them.

I know there are other members and lurkers here who worked with her.

I encourage you to go for full inclusion...of all the stories and memories and events, not just the flattering ones, or the ones her family and close friends remember. :thumbsup: You can be honest and be kind at the same time.

Anything that we can do to counter COS and RTC revisionist history is to the good! :)

For instance, I refer you to this thread: http://www.forum.exscn.net/showthre...ology-Celeb.-Cntr.-Brainchild-Yvonne-Jentzsch

Referring to this article by Skip Press: http://www.themortonreport.com/discoveries/stranger/death-by-devotion/

I think all of his writing is worth reading, but especially on this subject.

Good luck Howard! Writing projects sometimes do take on lives of their own, so try not to put any time limits on it, or yourself. The work will be less frustrating that way.
 

lkwdblds

Crusader
I am very pleased that Howard is writing the whole story of Yvonne's life. I began reading the internet about Scientology specifically because I noticed in Celebrity Centre's 30th and 35th anniversary magazines in 2000 and 2005, Yvonne's name was not even mentioned one time in either magazine.

I was still in C of S in 2000 and remember asking Kathy Garcia, the head registrar at CC if Yvonne had done anything bad that put her in disrepute. Kathy was already on staff at CCLA when I joined staff there in 1971 and she is still therein 2012. Kathy said that Yvonne was still highly though of but that few people were still around the Orgs who had ever heard of her. That did not make sense. Kathy said she would make certain that Yvonne's name would appear in any future anniversary mags.

When her name was left out of the 2005 mag then I knew that it was not just an oversight but it was politics. She was purposely being left out. History was being rewritten by the DM regime. Mary Sue Hubbard had already been written out and no Yvonne was written out of their history.

I quit going into the Orgs in 2002, routing out on a routing form for a medical problem. By 2005 I decided I was never going back but still did not want to go against church policy about reading the Internet. The Yvonne omission really got me angry and I went onto the internet and read everything I could find about Scn.

I wish Howard the best of luck writing his story of Yvonne's life. She was an exceptional woman and deserves to have her biography fully chronicled.
Lakey
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Due to the incredible amount of support from the family of Yvonne her story is growing and growing. I have several pages of notes about the early days of CC that I will be drawing from when I write that part of her story.

The family has many many contacts in their network and it is from this that many heretofore unpublished stories about Scientology have come to light. The latest is the reason for the Class VIII course and the story leading up to LRH's decision to create it!

Hang in there, I'm working on this bio of Yvonne's as fast as I can. But I have to substantiate the facts before I write.

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Progress update:

In 1971 there was a record produced called "My Philosophy" which consisted of three tracks recorded by Yvonne. The next year there was another record produced that had two tracks recorded by Yvonne.

I have purchased those records and it took me all of July to digitize and edit (for pops and hums) both of these records. All five of these tracks will be on Yvonne's bio web page.

Right now I am reorganizing my research into a time line of who said what etc. so that if challenged as to the veracity of her story I will have references to back her story up. Plus by creating this time line, statements made by those who knew her, but lack dating, fall into place.

I had no idea the extent of this project when I first started it this past February, but I'm determined to get it right.

Thanks for all of the views that this thread has been getting.

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Initially I envisioned Yvonne's bio to be a summary of her life. But as the project went forward, and more and more of her friends shared their memories, this effort has turned into a story of her life, interspersed with lots of the history of the Sea Org and of course Celebrity Centre.

Just recently I had to start over and create a Word document which lists, in chronological order, events in her life. Things like pictures, Flag Orders, memories from friends and her family, etc. This document is now 95 pages in length!

I've had to break her life down into sections. For example, Yvonne was born into a wealthy, prominent family in Australia; so the first section deals with her ancestry. The notes to this section are 5 pages long. This section is now complete.

As I get the other sections finished I will be using this medium for the updates.

Thank you;

Howard Dickman
 

Infinite

Troublesome Internet Fringe Dweller
..

Thank you for doing all this research. Sounds kinda a bit like when I decided to knock-out a couple of cupboards - five years, new kitchen, bathroom, and laundry later I finally got the job done.

Is your website up and running and/or are there any links to the DOX you have collected thus far?
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
..

Thank you for doing all this research. Sounds kinda a bit like when I decided to knock-out a couple of cupboards - five years, new kitchen, bathroom, and laundry later I finally got the job done.

Is your website up and running and/or are there any links to the DOX you have collected thus far?

Right now its all in Word. Once I get the project done I will paste it to a website. I'm doing it this way so that I can correct my mistakes before someone catches them for me! I've rewritten the sections several times already as new information arrived. I'm about done though, maybe just a few more months.
 

Dulloldfart

Squirrel Extraordinaire
Howard, have you looked at Scrivener? (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php)

It's quite nifty for putting together a book or something similarly lengthy with lots of research involved. Much easier than Word or similar word-processing apps, although Word will come in useful for the final product with proper fonts and Outline headings etc.

I really hope you don't intend to use Word's internal HTML-export function! I can't believe MS have never fixed that. Maybe it's because of back-compatibility issues.

Paul
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Howard, have you looked at Scrivener? (http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php)

It's quite nifty for putting together a book or something similarly lengthy with lots of research involved. Much easier than Word or similar word-processing apps, although Word will come in useful for the final product with proper fonts and Outline headings etc.

I really hope you don't intend to use Word's internal HTML-export function! I can't believe MS have never fixed that. Maybe it's because of back-compatibility issues.

Paul

Thanks Paul! I wish I had had this product in February when I first started this project.
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
I just spent 5 hours working on Yvonne's bio this morning. The section dealing with her early life, before Scientology (1927 to 1953), has now been rewritten and is ready for publishing. In my Word document it is 4 pages long, complete with 13 pictures.

As you read about her early life you will get an idea of how her heritage helped when she created Celebrity Centre!

Now on to the next section.

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Progress report;

This weekend I spent over 20 hours rewriting 2 more sections of Yvonne's bio.

I now have her section done regarding her introduction and involvement with Scientology while still in Australia, 1953 to 1965. In my word document this section is 4 pages long, complete with 12 pictures.

I also have her section done regarding her involvement in Scientology while in England, 1965 to 1966. In my word document this section is 2 pages long, complete with 2 pictures.

I am being assisted by 3 very competent and wonderful editors. So this bio should be a very good one.

Now onto the next chapter!

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
Progress report;

I had already had Yvonne's chapter written about her involvement with the Sea Org, 1966 to the founding of Celebrity Centre. But due to the amount of new information that I had to hand it took me two weeks to rewrite this section of her biography. It is now done and off to the editors. In my Word document this section is 12 pages long.

The final chapter of her life, and her most memorable, that of Celebrity Centre is now being written. I have 24 pages of notes to draw from, including the grand opening party for CC.

Please stay tuned for further updates;

Howard Dickman
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
I am currently working on Yvonne's time with Celebrity Centre.

In early 1971 CC moved to a mansion on Iverness Drive and only stayed there for about 3 months. I was wondering if anyone might know the address of this building? It would be great history for Yvonne's bio.

Thanks;

Howard Dickman
[email protected]
 

SanDiegoMember

Howard Dickman
The grand opening ceremonies for Celebrity Centre occurred on July 15, 1969. The building was packed with people. I would love some pictures of this event. Please spread the word.

Thanks;

Howard Dickman
 
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