PRESS RELEASE 04/06/2013
Long time Vail Valley local Russell Johnson has signed a co-author
agreement with English novelist, Matilda Wren, to write his memoirs. The
autobiography, Deceived, will detail his coerced involvement in the
notorious martial arts cult known as Chung Moo Quan. Known in the 1970s,
80’s and 90’ as a cult of greed and violence. This is a true crime
story with many twist and turns.
Bullied throughout childhood, a vulnerable and confused teenager
thought he had finally found the security and protection he had been
searching for in the martial arts fraternity, however, the following
eight years were to be a journey into a darkness Russell never knew
existed. Brainwashing, deception, and fraud were only the beginning.
Mysterious deaths, cover-ups and physical abuse left him fearing for his
life.
In 1988 Russell left Chung Moo Quan and despite
numerous threats and attempts to silence him, he has spent the last 20
years advocating just how destructive the cult is, but even with the
incarceration of cult leader John C Kim, it didn’t put a stop to Russell
constantly looking over his shoulder; even more so now Kim has been
released and is still running cults today.
Co-author Matilda
Wren lives in the UK and is the author of crime thriller When Ravens
Fall and her new book, Lowlands which will be released later this year.
Matilda is a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and writes
about the abnormal and anti-social behaviors of society. She wanted to
write this book with Russell because his story is harrowing yet
exceptional at the same time. It’s not about being a victim. It’s not
about being a survivor. It’s about strength, character and power.
The book is to be published in 2014 and is expected to be adapted to film based on the life of Russell Johnson.