The Onliest One Alive: Surviving Jonestown, Guyana

by Catherine H. Thrash, Marian Kleinsasser Towne, Alice Cook (Illustrator)

The Onliest One Surviving Jonestown has been a collaborative project of Catherine (Hyacinth) Thrash and Marian Towne since 1982, when Mrs. Thrash returned to Indianapolis from the Los Angeles area, where she had lived following the mass murder-suicide in Jonestown on November 18, 1978.It is the result of 60 hours of interviews and is the only published first-person account of a poor, African-American, elderly, disabled woman survivor of the tragedy. Yet is not primarily a story of Jonestown. It is the life of one who, for various reasons (from her childhood in Alabama through her adulthood in Indiana) became attracted to Jim Jones' Peoples Temple and followed him to California and Guyana, but early enough realized the demonic character of the movement and was able to distance herself sufficiently from it psychologically, enabling her to survive physically.

Genres: Cults, Nonfiction, Memoir, Crime, Religion, Adult, Cult Classics

140 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the time that Jim Jones moved the People's Temple to the jungles of Guyana, and then led his followers in a mass suicide, I lived in San Francisco (I worked at the California Academy of Sciences). Like most people in the city, I followed the unfolding story through the local news, and at one point when it was thought that many of the Temple members were hiding near Jonestown, I was interviewed by a local television station about what it was like to live in the jungle in South America. Sadly, almost all who were in Jonestown died in Jonestown. I have read several books about Jonestown, but this one is very different--it is a written version of an oral history provided by an elderly African American Temple member who followed Jim Jones from Indiana to California and who was in Jonestown at the time of the suicide and murders, but who survived. Her perspective on the tragic events is fascinating. Her entire life story (she born in Alabama in 1905, so she knew many former slaves personally) alone would be a great read even if she had never met Jim Jones, but her involvement with the People's Temple makes it even more fascinating. The ghostwriter, Marian Towne, has done an excellent job of retelling the story in Ms. Thrash's voice with minimal interruption.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was glad to snag a copy of this book through interlibrary loan, since it is so hard to find, and read Hy’s survivor’s account. I thought it was an incredible perspective, although I was disappointed to learn that to some extent Hy still believed in Jim Jones – she claims that he cured her of a breast tumor even though she knew that he later “fake” cured people by pulling chicken liver tumors from their body. She was also later told how he faked a water-into-wine trick to fool congregants. Her theory seemed to be that there were holy spirits and evil spirits and sometime after he visited Father Devine in New York, he allowed an evil spirit to overtake him and turned him bad. In the research I’ve done online it appears that those journalists who have interviewed Hy have handled her with kid gloves, (as well they should, I suppose, no one wants to brow-beat an aged Jonestown survivor) But -- I really wish she had been able to be interviewed by someone who was truly skilled at eliciting detailed information and could have challenged her -- gently -- on some of her beliefs. There were a few places in the book where information was repeated, a consequence of self-publishing and an amateur transcriber/editor. Still for its flaws, I’m glad this book exists, Hy and Zip were mentioned in the other Jonestown stories I’ve read and I’m glad I got to know them better here. Lovely women.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no doubt that the life of Catherine Hyacinth Thrash is fascinating. She faced racism and looked evil right in the face and survived. Her story is a good one a history of America including parts they would rather ignore. Hyacinth is truly a remarkably lady. Though repetitive at times and hard to read as it was written in the voice of Thrash herself this also made the book more relatable. It was interesting to note that Ms Thrash still believes Jones cured her cancer and I agree it's disappearance isn't easily explained but she also states that he turned bad. Given how many people followed him I have to believe there was some good there at least in the beginning. Overall a quick easy read a new perspective on a terrible tragedy one worth reading.

[Chanel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hints that Jim has several dysfunctional issues before Jonestown, Guyana:

P. 72 - It was either keeping mum or coming up missing!

P. 72 - It was in Redwood Valley that Jim adopted the policy of church membership by invitation only.

Murder - Suicide question?

P.133

People ask me, “How could Jim go so wrong.” Well, we have freedom to choose good or evil. God doesn’t force to follow Him. Jim knew what was good but turned away. You got to rebuke the Devil.

This was a very interesting account of the only person that lived the next day after the Jonestown massacre. Ms. Hyacinth Trash was 90 years old when this book was published. A true shero!

She talks about the manipulation, the 25% tithes, the turnover of property, social security checks and influx of governmental money from mental institutions and foster care systems.

The last paragraph says it all...
The love of money and power corrupts, even religious persons. As Hyacinth Thrash puts it, “Jim got hungry - for power and money. He thought he was God. He didn’t need God.”

Beware the religious leader who attempts to control your everyday life - your sexuality, your family relationships, what you do with your money and what you eat and drink. Ms. Thrash says it started with Jones telling his flock they should observe holidays with church members instead of with their families. It ended with Jones deciding who would marry whom and finally who would take the poison.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book as part of my 2022 Armchair Escapist project! I'll be travelling around the world via Google Maps and finding things that interest me, delving further into local stories, myths and unexplained stories.

San Francisco, CA

Hyacinth Thrash was one of my favourite people to read about in A Thousand Lives. I just really admire her - she was so, so brave and resilient to get through it all.

I enjoyed reading her side of the story, even though it broke my heart. But what stuck out for me the most was how she still believed in Jim Jones, at the start - that he really could heal people. And Hyacinth believed she had premonitions. As an atheist I don't really believe in all that, so it was strange to get that point of view, but also kind of eye-opening.

This reads a bit like an oral history. It's a bit disjointed and quite religious and I felt like I was having a conversation with Hyacinth, which was nice.

3.5 stars.

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've long had an interest in Jim Jones and his Peoples Temple. I have watched documentaries and have read many accounts of the tragedy of Jonestown and Peoples Temple. I wanted to know more about the actual people who would give up all of their worldly possessions, freedom, and even familial relationships to follow Jim Jones. The beginning of this book read like having a conversation with an sweet, old southern lady. It quickly became an inside view of a member's perspective of the events leading up to the tragedy of November 18, 1978 and coming to grips with life beyond it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oral history of the only person who survived the night at Jonestown in November 1978 (there were other survivors, but they hid in the surrounding jungle). Hyacinth Thrash spent part of her youth and much of her adulthood in Indy, so this is not only a good oral history of Peoples Temple, but also a great look at Indianapolis from the perspective of an African-American woman.

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the incredibly compelling biography of Catherine (Hyacinth) Thrash. Hyacinth was an African American woman born in 1905. The first third of the book is about her family and life in Alabama and then Indianapolis, where she meets Jim Jones. A fascinating story told in first person that deals with discrimination, faith, and survival.