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Michael Edward Douglas (1947-2003) was a senior off icer in the Church
of Scientology.
Michael Douglas of Princeville died at his home on July 11, 2003, at
the age of 56.
Born Feb. 7, 1947, in San Francisco, Calif., he is survived by his wife
of 28 years, Kima Douglas;
stepdaughter Kelly Hooper; two stepgrandchildren; and sister, Susan
Anderson.
Michael was President of the Kekahu Foundation, the governing board of
KKCR, Kauai's community radio station. Prior to moving to Kauai,
Michael, a graduate of John F. Kennedy University in Orinda, Calif.,
practiced psychotherapy for 7 years.
An avid surfer, motorcyclist, chess player, ceramic potter and collector
of world music, Michael, a Lakota Yankton Sioux tribal member, was
recognized by many for his "On the Journey" radio show, which broadcast
every Sunday morning on KKCR.
A memorial celebration will be held on Monday, July 14, at 5 p.m. at the
Amaama Road location of Hanalei Bay. Donations in Michael's honor may be
made to KKCR, P.O. Box 825, Hanalei, HI 96714.
He had been diagnosed with brain cancer in mid April. He was 56 years
old.
The following notes are from Gerry Armstrong's(2)
report on his friendship with Michael Douglas.
He was MEA I/C, in charge of Mission European Agency in Madrid, Spain,
when I came through from the U.S. to join the crew in February 1971.
Michael returned from MEA to become the Apollo’s(1) new
Deputy Captain and Org Officer in the Flag Ship Org.
he had a quiet way of avoiding trouble, and a quiet way too of
maintaining a degree of independence in a very independence-crushing
group. He could get away with both avoiding trouble and with his modicum
of independence because he was a competent and smart guy.
Michael was generally a communications guy in the SO, first in the
External Communications Bureau, which was in the Flag Bureau Org, and
later as Hubbard’s personal External Communications Aide.
Michael and Gerry Armstrong triggered some alarm with the authorities at
Barajas Airport, and they were hauled into an airport police office and
detained for some hours. All the boxes of mail traffic were opened, the
contents gone through, and Scientology documents read. They were
interrogated separately, bullied a bit by an American-English speaking
agent, and then let go to fly on to Madeira. They became the “Madrid
Two.”
As is well known, the cult’s United Churches of Florida cover in
Clearwater was blown in early 1976, and the media discovered Hubbard’s
identity and his secret Dunedin location shortly thereafter. So he
packed up his Cadillac and fled with Michael and Kima, who had recently
married Michael, and who was then Hubbard’s Household Unit I/C. They
drove north up the east coast, ending up in a brownstone in Washington,
D.C. I remained in Dunedin as Michael’ s deputy and the relay terminal
for all Hubbard’s dispatch and telex traffic to and from the Clearwater
base and orgs around the world. Michael and I had, I recall, a pretty
good time during this period, sending funny comms back and forth,
maintaining the ruse that the old man was still in Dunedin, and keeping
his lines running smoothly.
At the end of 1977, I was ordered with Terri to WHQ, and spent the next
eight months or so shooting movies with Hubbard. Michael was still doing
his LRH Ext Comm hat, and was also by this time Hubbard’s “Investments
Officer.”
Michael and Hubbard at the 1979-80 New Year party at “X” in Hemet, CA.
Hubbard chose a gambling theme, in violation of HCOB 16 March 1977.
Several other photos of Ron the Gambler were in the set that Scientology
stole from me in April, 1982.
In early January 1980, as is well known, I petitioned Hubbard to
assemble an archive of his personal documents and work on getting his
biography written. Around the same date, Michael and Kima blew from X.
Both of them subsequently said that the reason was just one too many
meals that Hubbard in one too many rages flung across the room. In any
event, their blowing was a huge threat to Hubbard, who already believed
himself in peril from the criminal prosecution of the GO Eleven, the
ongoing IRS case, and the several civil cases then being filed. So not
long after the Douglases blew, Hubbard fled again, this time taking with
him Pat and Annie Broeker.
Christmas 1981, and then returned to southern California, where I was
going to continue working with Omar in one capacity or another.
Not too long after our arrival back from Canada, Jocelyn and I got in
contact with Michael and Kima, who were then living in Palm Desert,
California, not far from the La Quinta properties. They had developed
some wog ® contacts while in the SO, and had gotten into the real estate
business after leaving. Michael was a significant encouragement to me
during this period to stand up to the Scientology cult and to talk about
the Hubbard lies and the organization fraud I had discovered. In
retrospect, I think Michael transferred on to me his own anger at being
lied to, defrauded and abused by Hubbard, and to some extent I took on
Michael’s desire for justice from the cult as my own crusade.
he Douglases had some unique photos they’d taken during the periods
they’d lived with Hubbard, Jim had a set of photos from 1973 when he’d
lived with Hubbard in Queens, New York, and I had an album of photos
from my wedding to Terri on board the Apollo.
As is known, the cult stole the photos, and when I went into the CMO
building in LA and demanded their return,
At the beginning of 1987, I moved from Boston, where I had been working
for Flynn, to California, and purchased a house with Michael and Kima in
the Berkeley-Oakland hills. After my years in the Sea Org and five years
of fair game and litigation, this was a reasonably relaxed time for me,
and I think it was relaxed and comfortable for the Douglases. I
incorporated The Gerald Armstrong Corporation (TGAC), and spent hours
writing, drawing and getting strong. Michael and I started a business
together, the Whynot Group, we invested together, hung out together, and
did all sorts of things together.
In October 1991, the Oakland Firestorm destroyed both the homes I had
owned with the Douglases, and virtually all their personal belongings,
and they too moved to Marin.
Michael went back to university during this period and got a degree in
psychology, and he took up surfing again.
I sent Michael and Kima Christmas cards most years, but it was obvious
to me that they didn’t want to be in touch. They moved to Kauai where
the surfing is paradisial, and I believe I found Michael’s name
mentioned a couple of years ago on a surfing web site. I see that he had
a counselling job at a health spa and resort on the island
Notes:
1. In 1967 the Church of Scientology purchased HMS
Royal Scotsman which they renamed the Apollo, which was used as the Sea
Org's Flagship. In 1975, the church sold the Sea Org's ships and moved
the organization to land bases around the world, which as of 2003, were
operating in Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Saint Hill
Manor in the UK, and Sydney, with smaller offices in Budapest,
Johannesburg, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, and Toronto.
2. Gerald "Gerry" Armstrong was a member of the
Church of Scientology. In 1980, the Church assigned Armstrong, then a
member of the Church's elite Sea Org, to organize some personal papers
of L. Ron Hubbard that were to serve as the basis of a new biography of
Hubbard.
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