How can 39 intelligent men and women suddenly and willingly take their own lives in what has become this country's largest mass suicide ever?  What is the truth behind this cult that for over 22 years kept themselves on the fringes of society, surfacing briefly periodically to "share their beliefs".  What went through the minds of 39 otherwise happy people as they systematically took their own lives in a ritualistic demonstration? And, will there be others who following in the footsteps of those 39, and will a new leader emerge to re-kindle the cult and recruit new followers? 

Only one person can answer these and other crucial questions people everywhere are asking.  Chuck Humphrey, "Rkkody," as he likes to be called,  is the only surviving ex-member who actually believed in the Heaven's gate doctrine enough to attempt to take his own life mimicking the ritualistic mass suicide of 39 of his closest friends. 

For over 22 years, Chuck was in and out of what has become known as the Heaven's Gate suicide cult.  What happened during the 22 years this small group of highly intelligent men and women lived in obscurity and practiced a belief system that borders on Christianity from a perspective of Science Fiction and UFO's.   For the first time Chuck recounts his own personal experiences in a group that even described itself as the cult of cults. 

Chuck is not a weak mindless lost soul as so many have labeled Heaven's Gate followers. He is intelligent, creative,  strong willed and not at all the image portrayed by the media of a moronic  puppet who would be so easily persuaded to blindly follow a crazed cult leader in a mass suicide. 

In this book, Chuck describes his relationship that spans 22 years with group where sex  and drugs was considered an obstacle to growth that must be overcome,  along with vesting oneself of all human desires and additions.  His personal accounts of what attracted him to join the group in 1975 along with his personal inner struggles within himself that would lead him to leave and rejoin the group many times over 20 years before leaving again for the last time in 1995.

• How Heavens Gate believers actually felt just moments before taking their own lives. 
• The real truth about the castration and why several male members chose to have it done. 
• What was so compelling that drove all of these to the ultimate act of faith in their belief. 
• Were they brainwashed?, or were they the real disciples of Christ? 
• What happened behind the scenes as a select few ex-members received fed-ex packages. 
• What made Wayne and Chuck want to follow in the footsteps of the other 39 members? and will there be more to follow? 
• What did they believe in? Will a new leader take charge of the group now? 
• What followers of Heaven's Gate thought about Christianity and other "established" religions.

Press and media accounts have not answered the more important issues of this event.  In every story there are two sides.  Now, for the first time ever, this book presents a perspective from someone who truly has the other side of this story. 
 
One look at the tabloids reveals people are interested in strange events and more importantly they want to know the truth.  Television programming has encompassed the bizarre in hits shows such as Unsolved Mysteries, Sightings, X-files and many documentaries covering UFO's, Ghosts and paranormal.  People who are interested in these things want to know both sides of the story. 

ABC is investing millions to produce a TV movie depicting the mass suicide.  Other films are being shopped that show actual footage of "The Two" Heaven's Gate founders Bonnie Lu Neddles  and Marshall Applewhite as they answer questions to some of their followers back in 1976.   A large New York agency who specializes in dead celebrities was hired to shop that material.  They feel there is a substantial and broad market for this material and Turned Back at Heaven's Gate would provide an excellent companion product to those efforts. 

The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and A&E   is presently engaged in producing a documentary about the Heaven's Gate cult.  A camera crew was dispatched from London specifically for this production. Interviews with Chuck as well as other ex-members will add to public intrigue about this group.  The documentary will be aired in world wide public and commercial markets. 

This book reaches deep into the minds of individuals dedicated to personal and individual growth, it is not just about suicide.   For over 22 years he followed a doctrine as taught by the two individuals who Chuck still believes are "representatives from the Kingdom of God."  He makes some very intelligent and compelling arguments to support his belief that they are who they said they are. 

Who will buy this book?  People all over the globe have been shaken by the recent suicides of the 39 in Ranch Santa Fe,  but the strangeness of their doctrine has reverberated against the soul of humanity everyone in the world.   Religious truth seekers and people looking for meaning to life's age old questions represent  a very sizable market.  This book can and should be positioned to reach this market which can be found at any bookstore in sections that deal with philosophy, religion, end-times, the occult and metaphysics.  Presently there simply is no other book that provides the depth of insight into the beliefs and practices  of this cult that culminated in 39 people willingly giving up their own lives. 

Students of the occult, metaphysical, and even traditional religions such as priest and ministers can all benefit by learning about the level of commitment each follower had to a belief system which cannot be ignored.  The insights provided in Returned from Heaven's Gate are presented in intelligent straight forward language that can't help but make even the most hardened critic wonder if maybe these people were more than just a bunch of misguided whackos. 
 
 
There is only one other book written by the staff of The New York Post. Heaven's Gate Cult Suicide in San Diego, currently  published by Harper Paperbacks.  It is not really competition as it is simply a compilation of articles and interviews done by may different journalists.  It chronicles the discovery of the bodies at the  House in Rancho Santa Fe by ex-cult member Rio and his boss Nick Matzorkis, and attempts to offer a clinical overview of the cult from interviews with a multitude of ex-cult members and family members who can only offer an outsiders perspective.  The book was thrown together in a hurry to capitalize on the timeliness of the moment. 

No serious autobiographical work has been published to date that offers the depth and experience range of Returned from Heaven's Gate. The vacuum in this market with respect to competition makes this book a very attractive publishing opportunity. 
 

About the Author  
 
When not living with the Heaven's Gate group, Chuck Humphrey (Rkkody), operates a computer consulting business in Denver Colorado.  Born in Indianapolis Indiana in 1942, Chuck joined the group in October of 1975.  His experience over the last 22 years with the cult was unique in that he was almost always in contact with the group even during those periods when he had "left" the group.  He never fell from disbelief as was the case with many who became disillusioned over the years and separated.  Instead, each time he left he thought of himself as not being strong enough to endure the rigid structure and discipline that was expected from those who stayed in the group. 
 
On May 5th 1997, both he and a friend, Wayne Cooke, met in the San Diego Airport then took a cab to the Holiday Inn Express in Encinitas California where they each proceeded to execute a plan that emulated 39 others who committed suicide several weeks earlier.   On May 6th, the police found the dead body of Wayne Cooke and Chuck was barely alive after his suicide attempt failed. 

Chuck is now in the unique position of being the only survivor of the Heaven's Gate group.  He freely admits that there are other ex-members like himself, but he is the only one who actually attempted to leave his own vehicle   and was Returned by the Next Level.  He made a serious and concerted attempt to end his life in the same manner as the others and now interprets his being here now as one who has volunteered to come back as thus the idea for the book, Returned from Heaven's Gate was born.