Sara Northrup
From End The Cult
Sara Northrup (b. April 8 1924, d. December 19 1997)[1] was the second wife of L. Ron Hubbard. By Hubbard's recollection, she was "about 5'9", blonde-brown hair, slender."[2] Hubbard committed bigamy by marrying Northrup; he was still married to Margaret "Polly" Grubb at the time.
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Before Dianetics
Northrup was born to a wealthy family in Pasedena, California.[3] She was a major figure in the Pasadena, California branch of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), a society (some would say cult) founded by the English occultist Aleister Crowley.
From 1941 to 1945 she had a turbulent relationship with Jack Parsons, the head of the Pasadena OTO, who was married to her sister Helen. Although she was a committed member of the OTO, to whom she was known as "Soror [Sister] Cassap", she acquired a reputation for disruptiveness that prompted Crowley to denounce her as a "vampire".
She began a relationship with L. Ron Hubbard, whom she met through the OTO, in 1945. It led to the couple eloping with a substantial amount of Jack Parsons' life savings.[1]
Marriage to Hubbard
On August 10 1946, Hubbard married Northrup in Chestertown Maryland, committing bigamy.[4]
It was during the course of Hubbard's divorce to Margaret Grubb in 1947 that Northrup learned of Hubbard's bigamy. After the divorce to Grubb was finalized on December 24 1947, Northrup and Hubbard remained an item.
Northrup played a significant role in the development of Dianetics, Hubbard's "modern science of mental health", between 1948-1951, during which time she was Hubbard's personal auditor and one of the seven members of the Dianetics Foundation's Board of Directors, alongside Hubbard himself.[1]
The two of them wound up living in a trailer in Port Orchard, Washington, a short distance away from Grubb in Bremerton and Hubbard's two children with her.[5]
In April of 1950, just weeks before the publication of Dianetics, Northrup gave birth to Hubbard's third child, Alexis Valerie.[5]
Honeymoon's Over
Over the course 1950 and into 1951, their marriage began to disintegrate. The two of them both had affairs. Sara left Hubbard, accusing him of being a paranoid schizophrenic. Hubbard then first abducted Alexis before kidnapping Sara and trying to convince her to kill herself.[5]
In April 1951, Northrup filed for divorce. In her divorce papers, she alleged that Hubbard "is hopelessly insane and crazy"; that he "repeatedly subjected her to systematic torture" such as "loss of sleep, beatings, strangulation and scientific torture experiments"; that he "dominated her physically, mentally and emotionally", including the time "he violently strangled her and sadistically ruptured the Eustachian tube in her left ear, resulting in an impairment of hearing."[3]
Margaret Grubb wrote her a letter of support:
| If I can help in any way, I'd like to - you must get Alexis in your custody - Ron is not normal. I had hoped that you could straighten him out. Your charges probably sound fantastic to the average person - but I've been through it - the beatings, threats on my life, all the sadistic traits you charge - twelve years of it. | |
| Margaret "Polly" Grubb | |
Later Life
Northrup subsequently married one of Hubbard's former employees, Miles Hollister, and moved to Hawaii and later Massachusetts. She died in 1997.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Wikipedia, Sara Northrup. Last Accessed July 22 2009
- ^ L. Ron Hubbard. Letter to the Attorney General, Department of Justice. May 14 1951.
- ^ a b Los Angeles Mirror Dianetics Author Crazy, Wife Charges, April 23 1951.
- ^ Los Angeles Times, Dianetics Inventor Sued For Divorce April 24 1951.
- ^ a b c Messiah or Madman
