60 Minutes and the Assassination of Werner Erhard: How America's Top Rated Television Show Was Used in an Attempt to Destroy a Man Who Was Making a Di

I attended EST in the late 70's and found the CD brought back many memories on the process and enlightnenment gained while attending. I never knew what happened to Werner until watching this documentary. Werner may have been contraversial, but he and EST, helped me get more in touch with my inner self and become the person I am today. I've unknowingly incorporated much of what he instilled through the seminars, to be completely responsible for our own individual lives, and not be the victim of our circumstances. Alan Wilkerson - Nov 2008

Anyone who reads this book will see that it was very well researched. Jane Self obviously did not enter the writing project with an ax to grind, but as someone wanting simply to uncover the truth. I benefitted greatly from doing the EST training in 1972 and was active in EST programs for many years, including being a guest seminar leader, and know first hand about the truth of many of her assertions. I was delighted to see someone stand up to the--surprisingly spineless--60-Minute people, who had done a real hatchet job on Werner Erhard in that broadcast. As other reviewers have mentioned, all the seemingly damning allegations have subsequently been recanted. I worked for Werner's wife Ellen in 1973, and was in close touch with Werner all during the 70's and 80's, and still consider him to be one of the best friends I ever had. I think he has a heart of gold, and his greatest desire is to love and empower people. I assert that he's done a better job of it than just about anyone anywhere. Which is not to say he didn't make mistakes, maybe some major ones. So who hasn't?? I know for a fact that he put in 100+ hour weeks, every week, putting out the most positive energy he could, once again, to empower the greatest number of people possible. I'd think it is fair to say that he's surely done his best to rectify past mistakes the best way he can...and has moved on. Like I would hope we all do. More power to you, my dearest of friends. This book is well worth reading. FYI, I just discovered there is a new movie out about Werner, and is available on DVD. It's called "Transformation, the life and legacy of Werner Erhard."

This book gets 5 stars for its research effort and zero for wisdom. The author spent a whole day interviewing Werner on Sept. 15, 1991. Too bad this lady author didn't publish her 7-hour taped conversation with Werner. May be her next book? Interesting that another lady wrote a review on the 3rd anniversary of 911. May be like 911 the lady read the book too quickly and didn't notice that this lady author has already provided the answers to her question in the book. The first 2 daughters retracted their story while the third one most probably with cohesion with her husband disappeared. What I find funny is that Werner bothered to take a lie detector test before the March 3, 1991 CBS show. In reality even before the show Werner made preparation to leave the country & EST. The gift of that 60-minutes was to re-enforce the already started process of Werner leaving EST in the hands of the capable hands of his trained coaches that were to form Landmark & Forum. Just like certain people can see the benefit of Dalai Lama forced to leave Tibet in order to spread the Tibetan version of Buddhism with all its mystical illusions. As to why his own 3 out of 7 children proclaimed that their natural deserting daddy is a child molester on the 60-min show can be easily explained by Werner's 'own fall from heaven story' which is described in my review of "Werner Erhard Transformation of a man: the founding of EST". That is simple, 44 years later, cause and effect and an example of the pervasiveness of every one's own 'fall from heaven story' in one's own life. Because of that gift, EST & FORUM can't be said to be cult, since the founder disbanded EST & is now only a researcher that's drawing his revenues from his rigidly crafted & copyrighted course design. Only a few of the Forum attendees and even coaches bother to read Werner's biography or even heard of his name. By definition a cult must be around a central figure, like Bush's son or Reagan or Hitler, etc, who is supposedly providing central security and correctness for all participants while at the same time at war with all non-participants in the name of future equality and peace. Instead of present equality and peace. I saw when I met Werner in Japan in 1996, he was being served food while his close attendants were sat with no food in front of them. This is the only thing I didn't like about the hierarchy of coaches vs. attendees or volunteers. There is no equality. Although I do understand & appreciate that the coaches in 1996, now more to 50 of them according to LandmarkEducation, earned only a paltry $50k annual salary for their original effort and real contribution to humankind. I don't see any reason that they're treated as upper-class, like the apprenticeship for the very hierarchical Japan's Sumo wrestlers or Japan's own very untouchables Buraku sect or any royalty or upper-classmanship. That's feudalism not wisdom. Werner by choosing Japan, without China. as its audience is mak

If ever a truer book was ever written about Werner Erhard and Scientology this is it. The sad thing is Scientology's leadership succeeded in eliminating him as a competitor. The good thing is, he was planning to leave anyway. Jane Self is a writer with the courage to fully investigate a story and to leave no stone unturned. As someone who worked inside Werner Erhard's organization, and was around when the events of this book occurred, I attest to its accuracy and honesty. Why am I writing this anonymously? I don't want them coming after me like they went after Werner Erhard.

It amazes me no end how hard the cultists of cultism work to try to bad-mouth the est Training & Werner Erhard and the new Landmark Education Forum, as in a few reviews below. I did the est Training in 1978 and have been using the technology of transformation in my life every day since, something the cultists cannot fathom. And that is so even when I'm not able to participate in Landmark courses, such as the multi-week seminars. I saw a redneck bigot give up his bigotry in a weekend during the CAP Course, and that was not even a covered topic -- the man moved from racial slurs to asking to hug the 250-pound black man that he had offended the day before.I honor Werner Erhard and the est/Landmark technology because it happens to work quite well when applied to one's life. Didn't work for a reviewer below? Maybe because he needs a reason for his life not working... My life might be full of tribulation, but applying the Landmark technology turns things around every time.