|
In Reply to: About James' Penn Take the Money and Run posted by Remembrance on September 08, 2004 at 20:50:17:
Hi R,
I never received money for work on Family projects after I left the Family, nor did I ever ask for any or even think to ask for any. If my brother hadn’t paid my plane ticket back to Canada in 1990, I wouldn’t have been able to leave Japan. In fact, I ended up stuck a few extra months there because the ticket was delayed in the mail.
After I left the Family I received a letter one day from WS, offering me a new writing assignment. The person wrote saying they hoped I’d accept the assignment and in anticipation that I would, enclosed a check. I forget how much it was for, maybe a thousand dollars or more, and all I had to do was sign it and take it to the bank. I have to admit, I was tempted. I had just arrived back in Canada and didn’t have steady work and really could have used the money, but I decided not to accept it.
I don’t criticize either Ricky or James Penn or anyone else for taking money. I’ve read the many posts on MovingOn and on this site about the subject and think that they did what they had to do at the time. I also think that James has done a great deal to set the record straight since then in two lengthy articles about the inside story at WS, so I don’t know why you’re still pressing him to “expose reality as it was.”
About 3 years ago on NDN's boards I wrote a post to Family leadership telling them that they had an obligation to give at least a basic landing fund to departing Family members. I recently read that the Family is now giving one month's living funds to SGs leaving the Family in Thailand. I don't know whether this is an overall policy and will continue, and I sincerely doubt that the Family was listening to me, but if it's true that they're now doing this I'm very happy for it. I've read on MovingOn about the conditions many SGs left the Family under, and most seem to have left nearly penniless or had to pay their own way. I also know the story of an SG my wife and I took an SG into our home for two years to help him get on his feet. The Family owes them at least one month's parting money.
Ed
