"We were invisible. We had to be. We took an oath of absolute
secrecy. We never even told our immediate families who we were. We
went about our lives in New York City. Just like you. We were your
accountants, money managers, lawyers, executive recruiters,
doctors. We owned your child's private school and sold you your
brownstone. But you'd never guess our secret lives, how we lived in
a kind of silent terror and fervor. There were hundreds of us."
Right under the noses of neighbors, clients, spouses, children, and
friends, a secret society, simply called School-a cult of snared
Manhattan professionals-has been led by the charismatic,
sociopathic and dangerous leader Sharon Gans for decades. Spencer
Schneider was recruited in the eighties and he stayed for more than
twenty-three years as his life disintegrated, his self-esteem
eroded, and he lined the pockets of Gans and her cult. Cult members
met twice weekly, though they never acknowledged one another
outside of meetings or gatherings. In the name of inner
development, they endured the horrors of mental, sexual, and
physical abuse, forced labor, arranged marriages, swindled
inheritances and savings, and systematic terrorizing. Some of them
broke the law. All for Gans. "During those years," Schneider
writes, "my world was School. That's what it's like when you're in
a cult, even one that preys on and caters to New York's educated
elite. This is my story of how I got entangled in School and how I
got out." At its core, Manhattan Cult Story is a cautionary tale of
how hundreds of well-educated, savvy, and prosperous New Yorkers
became fervent followers of a brilliant but demented cult leader
who posed as a teacher of ancient knowledge. It's about
double-lives, the power of group psychology, and how easy it is to
be radicalized-all too relevant in today's atmosphere of conspiracy
and ideologue worship.
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