Archived Site: Jonestown Survivor

Information Concerning this Archived Site

Source: https://jonestownsurvivor.com (Inactive)

This is the archive of a large website of articles and blogs published in conjunction with the book, Jonestown Survivor: An Insider’s Look. The book and all the material in this archive were written by Laura Johnston Kohl, a member of Peoples Temple who survived the tragedy in Jonestown by being in Guyana’s capital city of Georgetown on 18 November 1978.

Following the twentieth anniversary of the Jonestown tragedy, Ms. Johnston Kohl became a prolific writer and active public speaker, work she continued to do until shortly before her death on 19 November 2019. She also made herself available to family members of those who perished in Guyana and scholars who try to understand the calamity of the ending. Finally, she was a generous contributor of articles and remembrances for the Alternative Considerations site, all of which may be found here.

In the interest of preserving the information from her site for future generations of Jonestown scholars and researchers, the managers of this site obtained permission from Laura’s husband Ron Kohl to archive her work in its entirety. Both the archive and the book itself are published with his permission.

JONESTOWN SURVIVOR SHARES WONDER OF DEEP FRIENDSHIPS

August 31, 2014

UNITY

I have taken on a new project since I retired from twenty-five years of teaching on June 12, 2014. A psychologist friend and I got a $10,000 grant to gather an Oral History Collection of Peoples Temple and Jonestown survivors and family members. It has been a deeply meaningful project for me already. I have interviewed and recorded Oral Histories from five good friends. My Peoples Temple family is a connection I treasure with people of every background. In interviews with just these five, I have recorded how this diverse group came to Peoples Temple and why they stayed, or why they left. I have interviewed people who are black, white, gay, straight, and Berkeley radicals to Ohio high school graduates. I have more interviews coming up in the next few weeks.

I was at a session the other night with fellow Quakers. One person mentioned how special it was to be in a group as intimate and connected as us. I feel rich beyond my wildest dreams to have Peoples Temple members, Quakers, and my family, as my most cherished partners.

This closeness is not merely frequency of sharing the same space. It is a merging of our insides on a different, deeper plane. Our guts just seek each other out. Certainly with Peoples Temple folks, our common trauma and recovery has made us friends to our very core. With my fellow Quakers, this common essence is a commitment to the beliefs we share – integrity, peace, harmony, activism, simplicity, and more. Both our messages and our warm silence during Meeting cement this unity. Even our animated and deep discussions that some would call “arguments” bring us closer to knowing each other and add depth to our relationships. I especially like those times, since it clears up the mystery of what a person might really be passionate about, or curious about. It is just one more way for us to get to know each other.

I do believe that life is very busy, so busy that we can hardly keep up with the schedule. But, it loses its value or essence if we don’t take time out to nourish ourselves and those we love. I am surrounded, in my life, with those I love.

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