Mitch Brisker: When a high ranking member of the Sea Org comes to the end of their natural life, the fact of their passing is kept secret. There are no services, no memorials, no announcements, nothing. Loved ones who may not have seen or heard from them for years are told nothing. These dedicated, loyal Sea Org Members who dedicated their lives in the service of L. Ron Hubbard suddenly disappear, though many disappear long before they actually die. Join me, Karen de la Carriere, and Jeffrey Augustine as we make this tragic announcement and break down Scientology’s sordid practice of refusing to acknowledge the passing of its highest ranking and most loyal members.
Categories: Norman Starkey
I worked at Author Services Inc, when Norman was the boss there, Executive Director ASI, and Maria was his communicator/assistant.
She often almost bullied him, he showed signs of disliking Miscavige, feeling pushed around like Miscavige didn’t know best.
Norman enjoyed his meals at the finer restaurants in Hollywood, he extolled them once or twice.
I rode in the ASI “top” automobile, assigned to Norman, the Lexus which he and Maria rode from the complex where in the 92 to 95 time slot all the ASI staff lived on two wings of the complex, until they moved out I believe by he end of the 1990s, and my room was directly next to Norman’s and Maria’s. Across the hall from Norman’s was Miscavige’s dorm berthing when he was there in LA and wished to use it.
Miscavige did use his room a few times, his tiny kitchen allowed his assistant to make Miscavige’s strawberry pancakes which was not normal, all other dorms and rooms had no kitchens.
Norman was always kind and restrained, and Maria was more explosive and natty even to Norman, I felt sorry for him.
He was boxed in by the Miscavige years, truly broken in the end, to subservience to Miscavige, and the disgraceful sad praising of Miscavige.
LRH wrote a special ASI piece of traffic just for Norman and Lyman Spurlock. At first glance the title implied stock share advice, “Pork Bellies” but it refered to the diet LRH suggested Norman and Lyman (deceased now also) take up to reduce theirs.
There’s probably no one more dedicated to LRH, at least verbally, Norman’s voice is on the Battlefield Earth “jass” album I believe, speaking a poem LRH wrote within the text of that book.
In the old tech films no longer shown, in the Scientology schema of the highest tone of the tone scale, it was Norman who played “Serenity of Beingness.”
That’s how I’d like to remember Norman, the gentle reassuring polite person, dedicated to LRH like nobody, and Serenity of Beingness.
(Miscavige I think played “Action” and pretend played ping pong in that same tech film, and Miscavige’s nasty agitated “beingness” contrasts and contrasted with Norman’s more reassuring serene nature, when he was allowed to be himself.)
Norman sadly hitched his wagon to the wrong person, LRH, and then later, to Miscavige.
People, the diehards from the Apollo era, truly, I think take the longest time to unhitch from LRH, some of them. To their credit, or to their bane. I try to remember them kind of like how Steve Hassan wishes ex cult members to regain a sense of who they were pre being in the cult and having adopted their cult “beingness.”
The Scientology/Hubbard tragedy of leaving so many people holding the bag for Hubbard and today for Miscavige.
You mentioned the 12 pillars with TWTH on them. The last plan I saw for the LRH Hall in Clearwater had those 12 pillars leading up to the entrance.
Why did they go to Sicily? That photo is undoubtedly taken near the town of Castellammare del Golfo at the Doric temple of Segesta. That part of Sicily is discussed in chapters 3 and 4 of Mission Into Time. It wouldn’t surprise me if Sardinia and Tunisia were also on the itinerary.