Paulette Cooper

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Paulette Cooper
Paulette cooper.jpg
Portrait of Paulette Cooper
Born (1942-07-26) July 26, 1942 (age 82)
Nationality American
Occupation Author and journalist
Spouse(s) Paul Noble
Website www.paulettecooper.com

Paulette Marcia Cooper (born July 26, 1942) is an American author who is best known for her activism against the Church of Scientology and the subsequent harassment she suffered from the Church of Scientology's intelligence agency at the time, the Guardian's Office. Cooper's books have sold close to half a million copies.[1]

Early life

Cooper was born in Belgium to parents who died at Auschwitz concentration camp. After the war, she spent years in various orphanages in Belgium, until she was adopted by the Cooper family and moved to the United States at age 6. She became an American citizen when she was 8.[2]

She began her freelance writing career in 1968, after completing a master's degree in psychology. As a result of her earlier study of comparative religion at Harvard University for a summer, she became interested in new religious movements and began studying the Church of Scientology in 1968 in order to write about it.

Career

Cooper has written a total of 20 books on a variety of subjects.

Conflict with Scientology

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Main article: Operation Freakout

Cooper's Scientology harassment began in 1970 when the Church filed suit against her in a British court for a critical article she wrote that was published in London's Queen magazine. Her 1971 book, The Scandal of Scientology, was an expansion of the work she had begun with the article. The Church had sought to prevent its publication through legal and other threats.

The book earned her much negative attention from Scientology agents operating under the direction of Church founder L. Ron Hubbard. That same year the Church filed a second lawsuit against her in Los Angeles Superior Court.[3] In the years to come, Scientology instituted a total of nineteen lawsuits against Cooper from all over the world; she counter-sued them three times.[4]

As she continued to investigate Scientology over the years, Cooper became the target of severe harassment campaigns, including a Scientology campaign known as Operation Freakout, the goal of which was to deter Cooper from criticizing Scientology by having her "incarcerated in a mental institution or jail or at least to hit her so hard that she drops her attacks."[5] In an earlier campaign titled "Operation Dynamite,"[6] the Church of Scientology sent itself forged bomb threats, purportedly from Cooper, using her stationery with her fingerprints on it; it also planned to send bomb threats to Henry Kissinger, among others. Spies were sent to infiltrate her apartment building, one of them even becoming her roommate. The campaign was discovered when the FBI raided Scientology offices in 1977 and recovered documents relating to the operation.[7] Sometime in 1977, Cooper's assassination was possibly planned, along with another murder, but it is unknown whether or not this operation was attempted.[8]

The Church of Scientology finally agreed to an out-of-court settlement with Cooper in 1985. The terms were kept confidential.[9]

Biography

In May 2015, Tony Ortega released a book about Cooper, entitled The Unbreakable Miss Lovely.[10][11][12]

Personal life

She is married to television producer Paul Noble. They live in Palm Beach, Florida. The couple have authored four books together.[13]

Awards

In 1992, the American Society of Journalists and Authors awarded her their highest honor, the prestigious Conscience-in-Media Award. She has also won five other writing awards for her other books and numerous articles on a variety of subjects unrelated to cults.

Bibliography

  • The Scandal of Scientology. Tower Publications, 1971. OCLC 921001
  • Growing up Puerto Rican. Signet, 1973. ISBN 0-451-61233-7
  • The Medical Detectives. D. McKay Co., 1973. ISBN 0-679-50382-X
  • Let's Find Out About Halloween. Reader's Digest Services, 1977.
  • Reward! (co-written by Paul Noble). Pocket Books, 1994. ISBN 0-671-87020-3
  • The 100 Top Psychics in America (co-written by Paul Noble). Pocket Books, 1996. ISBN 0-671-53401-7
  • 277 Secrets Your Cat Wants You to Know (co-written by Paul Noble). Ten Speed Press, 1997. ISBN 0-89815-952-0
  • 277 Secrets Your Dog Wants You to Know (co-written by Paul Noble). Ten Speed Press, 1998. ISBN 1-58008-014-6
  • 277 Secrets Your Snake and Lizard Wants You to Know. Ten Speed Press, 1999. ISBN 1-58008-035-9
  • The Most Romantic Resorts for Destination Weddings, Marriage Renewals & Honeymoons (co-written by Paul Noble). S.P.I. Books, 2002. ISBN 1-56171-914-5

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Paulette Cooper harassment diary, part 1
  3. ↑ Church of Scientology of California vs. Paulette Cooper, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court, Docket No. C18558
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Text of Operation Freakout document
  6. ↑ Scandal, PauletteCooper.com
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ The Scandal of Scientology
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Paul Noble website

External links

Media

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