Dick Joslyn Obituary: With great sadness, we announce the passing of Dick Joslyn, a beloved community member and cherished friend to many.
Joslyn, an activist and kayak salesman from Tampa, was a former Heaven’s Gate cult member, involved in a mass suicide in a Southern California mansion.
Joslyn expressed his deep sorrow for the tragic event, revealing that he had been a cult member for 15 years and was close to 20 to 25 people who lost their lives.
Joslyn described the cult’s demanding lifestyle, which included giving up many pleasures such as drinking, smoking, and sexual relations and be severed from the outside world. He also had no contact with his family or friends for over a decade.
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Dick Joslyn Obituary
Dick Joslyn, a singer, songwriter, poet, activist, former model, actor, an honorably discharged Air Force officer, and a zoologist by degree, lost his battle with AIDS on January 8, 2000, at the age of 51.
He had also been an advocate for gay rights before his death and had suffered greatly in his final days.
There have been many misunderstandings regarding the death of Joslyn, who was also a member of Heaven’s Gate.
Former Heaven’s Gate member Sawyer regrets leaving the cult. (Image Source: Daily Mail)
Joslyn expressed deep sorrow for losing his close companions, around 20 to 25, who were part of the cult for 15 years. He revealed that the cult demanded a strict way of life without a permanent home or indulgences such as drinking, smoking, or sexual relations.
But later, he realized and got out of Heaven Gate, and after the massive suicide, he shared his experience from being a member.
Dick Joslyn Death Cause Link To Suicide
Before Joslyn was found dead, he shared his experience remembering his friends in Heaven’s Gate. People believed his death might also be linked to the massive suicide, but he died of AIDS.
The tragic reminder of the deadly impact of cults: a former member of the Heaven’s Gate cult was found dead in a motel room near the site of the group’s infamous mass suicide in San Diego County, with another former member found unconscious in the same room, in what appears to be a copycat suicide.
HBO series covers the UFO cult’s mass suicide of Heaven’s Gate member for ‘Next Level.’ (Image Source: Daily Mail)
The men were discovered wearing the cult’s signature black Nikes and purple shrouds in a scene eerily reminiscent of the discovery of 39 bodies of cult members in a mansion nearby.
Following Humphrey’s death in an apparent suicide in the Arizona desert, Joslyn commented that he was not surprised to hear the news and that other former members of the cult were on the borderline.
He joined the group in the 1970s after meeting its founders, Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles.
The group believed they would be taken to a “level beyond human” aboard a spaceship trailing the Hale-Bopp comet and needed to shed their earthly bodies to make the journey.
Joslyn left the group in the late 1970s but maintained contact with some members. He was interviewed by the media after the mass suicide of 39 members in 1997 and expressed sadness and disbelief at what had happened.
Joslyn believed that Applewhite had become increasingly erratic in the years leading up to the suicide and that the group’s teachings had become more extreme.
In the aftermath of the suicide, Joslyn became an outspoken critic of the group and its leaders. He wrote a book, “Cult Survivors Handbook,” in which he shared his experiences and insights into how groups like Heaven’s Gate operate.
Joslyn also worked to help other former cult members reintegrate into society and recover from their experiences.
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