After a year-long hiatus, the jonestown report resumes publication with this edition.
The editors of the report – Fielding McGehee and Rikke Wettendorff – concluded in 2013 that the annual review of research, reflections, and reviews of books and films about the Jonestown tragedy of 1978 had run its course. While we believed that there would still be ongoing projects and artistic efforts to cover, we also anticipated we could do it in a more limited fashion. The name of the 2014 publication – the jtr bulletin – reflected that belief.
As it happened, we were mistaken. Peoples Temple, both as a subject of historical interest and an inspiration for artistic expression, continues to thrive. We anticipate that future editions of the jonestown report will certainly be less ambitious than earlier editions, but we also recognize that the decision to limit the publication to a reduced format gave short shrift both to our contributors and our readers.
This edition of the jonestown report will be listed as Volume 17. The 2014 publication, the jtr bulletin, will retain that name, although it will also be considered as Volume 16 of the original publication.