Tuesday, October 8, 2019

William L. Sullivan — “Ghost Dancers to Rajneeshees: Cults in Oregon”

Author William L. (Bill) Sullivan returns by request of many City Club members. He entertained and enlightened us a couple years ago discussing the folk heroes of Oregon. Now he returns to tell the engaging stories of Oregon’s past cults: settlers dreaming of Polyanna, native tribes dancing to restore their power, religious cults spiriting away young women, and idealistic communes that did not always fail.

Sullivan’s 2016 novel, “The Case of the Reborn Bhagwan” (Navillus Press), is a murder mystery about the fictional revival of one of Oregon’s most controversial utopian movements. The Rajneeshees built a city in Eastern Oregon’s desert in the early 1980s, but abandoned the project amid claims of attempted murder.

RSVP to this program here!