![\"08-02d-survivor\"](\"http:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/08-02d-survivor.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAfter I published Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look<\/a> in March 2010, I anticipated that I\u2019d be able to take a breath. That hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n In some ways, I\u2019d been writing the book in my head for about 12 years. I was first able to talk openly about my survival in 1998, when I reconnected with fellow survivors for the 20th anniversary of the deaths in Guyana. Since then, I have been interviewed in every media forum. I was driven to clarify everything I know about the people of Peoples Temple.<\/p>\n When I started the actual writing process about five years ago, I may have thought that, by putting everything on paper, I would be able to empty my head. But that turned out to be the first half of my task. It\u2019s one thing to publish a book, it\u2019s something else for people to know you\u2019ve published a book. I had to become my own publicist. Even while still teaching my sixth graders, I have traveled around the country visiting universities, libraries, Quaker venues, service clubs, writing events, conferences, and friends\u2019 homes to tell my story and to open a dialogue. I have sold over 900 printed and electronic copies, and tried to provide a forum where people can both learn and talk about the topic once considered taboo: Jonestown.<\/p>\n If there has been a shift in the last year or so, it is that many of my speaking engagements seem to be more academic now. I speak to Sociology, History, Religion, and Political Science students. I have also been approached in recent months by others who have faced trauma, not just people damaged by cults, but also by holocaust survivors and military veterans with PTSD. I feel that I have lived a life that gives hope for overcoming grief and trauma, and if I can convey that hope to others through Jonestown Survivor<\/em>, I will have succeeded beyond my wildest expectations.<\/p>\n I might just have the one book in me, although I plan to have many interviews and write articles for different publications. I expect I\u2019ll always have a lot to say and write about my experiences in life.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t really know where I\u2019ll end up. The one thing I am absolutely sure of is my activism. Now, I am involved with writers\u2019 groups and scholarly groups in conferences, but my heart is in humanitarian and political issues. I am a parent and a wife; I am part of Occupy Escondido; I am a teacher; I am a Quaker; I am an active supporter of many humanitarian issues. \u00a0As I dance between the past \u2013 now nearly 34 years since the deaths in Jonestown, and the present, and the future \u2013 I know I will continue to work to change the status quo.<\/p>\n (Laura Johnston Kohl<\/strong>, who had lived in Jonestown but was working in Georgetown on 18 November, died on 19 November 2019 after a long battle with cancer. She was 72. Her writings for this website appear here<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n (The archived website for Laura\u2019s book <\/em>Jonestown Survivor is <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>. It was reviewed by <\/em>The WriteEdge Bookshelf<\/em><\/a>, a project of the WordPress website for book aficionados (also available <\/em>here<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n