Commodore's Messenger: A Child Adrift in the Scientology Sea Organization

by Janis Gillham Grady

At age 12 Janis was thrust into a role that no one, not even L. Ron Hubbard himself, could have predicted the outcome, for within not too many years Janis and her fellow Commodore’s Messengers, as they were called, would be running the whole of International Scientology. But that is the story of a later book. Commodore’s Messenger begins by taking the reader into the life of the first family of Scientology in Australia, Yvonne and Peter Gillham and their three children, Peter Jr., Terri and Janis. Life for the Gillhams is not without its challenges in Australia, but nothing compared to what happens when the family moves to England after dealing with the banning of Scientology in Victoria.

Things spiral out of control as Hubbard leaves England and takes to the sea, to continue his research into higher spiritual states for mankind, as he puts it, or to escape the long arm of the law as many critics contend. Yvonne and her children soon find themselves enmeshed in Hubbard’s inner circle, Yvonne with Hubbard himself as one of his trusted aides, and the children with Hubbard’s own family. When Yvonne joins the newly established Sea Organization, to support Hubbard in his seafaring adventures, her children find themselves aboard what would become the flagship of Hubbard’s burgeoning navy.

Having children underfoot does not fit well with the serious nature of Hubbard’s plans to expand Scientology’s worldwide impact. So, he determines to make these children useful. He begins using them to send messages to various parts of the organization aboard the Apollo, hence the name Commodore’s Messenger.

With this as a background, know that the story Janis has written comes from the earliest days and the epicenter of Scientology’s Sea Organization. As a messenger, Janis was with Hubbard a minimum of 6 hours a day and often times much longer. She was privy to all his moods from sunny to thundering; as a messenger, she was intimately familiar with everything happening on board the ship as well as throughout the Scientology network.

But Janis was also her own person and as a teenager, she lived a life that few of her peers could ever hope to have lived. I found myself literally agog at some of the early experiences that Sea Org members somehow survived in the organization’s early years. Hubbard’s cavalier regard for the lives of others was astonishing, as Janis relates some of the storms encountered by Sea Org vessels ill-equipped to be piloted by those with so little seamanship training. It is a wonder no one was killed.

This is the first of three books.

Genres: Cults, Memoir, Religion

486 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This memoir is an extremely thorough account of the historically significant and mysterious Sea Org (the original Sea Org, not the modern iteration operating on dry land) as well as the time period leading up to, during, and after Scientology was banned in parts of Australia (where Grady is from). In contrast to memoirs by other ex-Scientologists, Grady was quick to recount her positive experiences in Scientology, of which she had many. She was also quick to defend Scientology and its members when they were repressed or falsely accused of wrong-doing by governments and the media. That lends much more weight to her descriptions of her negative experiences, than if she were to only focus on the harmful aspects of Scientology. Also, like many other ex-Scientologists, she did not sensor full names, dates, or locations for the sake other people's privacy. I imagine that this memoir (and its sequel) would stand up in court as a first-hand testimony. And it would be invaluable to historians or anyone else doing a deep-dive into early Scientology history.

Unfortunately, I found the entire memoir boring. Sorry, I just did. It read more like a ships log -- a series of unrelated anecdotes and facts with no real plot line, with a very neutral tone of voice. Ironically, all of these factors are exactly what would make it invaluable in certain settings. She include details which would seem mundane to the casual reader but could be pivotal pieces of the puzzle for an investigator. The fact that her tone of voice is neutral and unflowery, makes her words much more trustworthy and unambiguous. But, unfortunately, it also makes the memoir boring for the casual reader.

So, if you are a casual reader just looking for entertainment, skip this one. But if entertainment is irrelevant to you and you are looking for a fair, unbiased, and extremely thorough account of the early Sea Org and early Australian Scientology history, this one is for you.

[Barbara Bales · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic story of a family separated and destroyed is told in a folksy, conversational voice. Gillham Grady captures the experience from the perspective of the little girl put on a ship and made to sign a billion year contract to serve L Ron Hubbard as part of the Sea Organization.

This book is the first in a series and covers the author's early childhood in Australia, the move to UK, and the dissolution of her family as Mum was sent to a different ship and then on to Los Angeles, Dad was confined to dry land as he performed "missions" for the cult, and Janis and her siblings were put on the ship with Hubbard. She was just 11 years old when she was handed the responsibilities and workload of any other adult in the Sea Org. Throughout the narrative, she returns again and again to the heartbreak of being separated from her parents, especially her mother.

Another way to read this book is as a litany of the crimes committed by the cult during this period of time, which is the early 1970s. Children as young as 3 or 4 being confined to the chain locker for "crimes" that they could not possibly have understood at that age. People being thrown over the side of the ship.

She only mentions in passing that Hubbard took to the water because he was in legal trouble. He spent these years and all of the rest until he died in 1986 hiding from the law. I wonder if Gillham Grady ever considered that this was a corrupt and dishonest way of doing business. Hubbard clearly had no allegiance to the common good and no respect for the law.

Definitely a worthwhile read. When you're a child and bad things happen, you adapt. Janis Gillham Grady did so. She relates the abuse, poverty, horrible living conditions, near death experiences in raging storms, very matter of factly. She appears to harbor no bitterness, which makes her a better person than I am. I am horrified on her account.

[Ryan Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Janis' story is an adventure that only a select few have experienced. The enthralling first chapter, which seems to outline where the journey led, depicts Janis in ostensible forced seclusion in an American desert playing with makeshift cards made from papers intended for outlining "overts and withholds". From her early years in regional and urban Victoria surrounded by the pioneers of Dianetics/Scientology in Australia to the high seas where inexperienced seamen were proverbially thrown into the deep end whilst auditing themselves aboard a small fleet of Sea Org vessels, Janis retells her life story as a close aide of the founder of the Church of Scientology and Dianetics L. Ron Hubbard. Absolutely ripper read!

[Jeff Levine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one great book.....

I loved reading Commodore's Messenger! The book was a real adventure reading as I kept anticipating what would happen next! I am awed that Ms. Gilliam-Grady and her family made it through that. My only question is who will play Janis in the movie.

[Kristie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm listening to the audiobook. Why is there an American narrator telling the story of an Australian, particularly when it's in the first person? Sadly this is the only thing that's stopping me from giving five stars. Sorry but the American accent is spoiling it.