JONESTOWN SURVIVOR Setting up Spring 2015 and Fall 2015 Speaking Events
Dear Colleague:
I am a survivor of Jonestown, a member of the Board of the Communal Studies Association and annual Presenter, a newly-retired California teacher, the author of JONESTOWN SURVIVOR: An Insider’s Look, and a collector of Oral History. I have been involved with The Jonestown Institute for the past fifteen years, and have written numerous articles and participated in many documentaries and interviews in every format. My website is www.jonestownsurvivor.com. My Oral History project is blossoming. I have completed ten recorded interviews, and plan ten more this year. Additionally, I plan to be the Project Director of a new Oral History project, and travel back to Guyana and Jonestown with fifteen other survivors, in the fall of 2015. This trip will include recordings, journaling and photos taken by and of survivors on this trip. There will be a public multi-media presentation after we return.
Each year, I travel to universities around the country talking about my experience. In the past years, I have presented at University of San Francisco, University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, Grossmont College, Cal State-San Marcos, Fresno Pacific University, University of Puget Sound, York College of Pennsylvania, Penn State, and more. I speak about survival, overcoming grief, history of the 60s and 70s, New Religions, psychology, sociology, racism, cult dynamics, communal living, and activism. I have power point presentations, photos, and other memorabilia which make the presentations interesting. I am especially interested in questions from students.
I am setting up my spring 2015 schedule, and would love to present at your school. I usually speak in several classes or gatherings at each school, on the radio, on on-line interviews, and other local venues. I do ask that my trip expenses be covered.
Thank you for your time,
Laura Johnston Kohl