Type4_PTS
Well-known member
Tony Ortega announced the publication of a new book this morning.
News from our friends Claudio and Renata Lugli
tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
In 2013, we were very fortunate to get the chance to visit Claudio and Renata Lugli at their home in Brescia, Italy while we were on a family vacation.
Since then, we’ve told you about them numerous times: That they were tailors to Dave and Shelly Miscavige, making custom clothes for them for years while they were in Scientology. (It was Claudio who told us, based on making clothes for Dave, he could say with conviction that the Scientology leader is only
5-feet-1.) And we’ve written about how they lost their son Flavio to the Sea Org, and they never hear from him after he disconnected from them for speaking out.
When we visited them in 2013, there were almost no photos of Shelly Miscavige online. Just a poor quality photo from her wedding to Dave and that was about it. But Claudio and Renata had numerous amazing pictures of Shelly trying on their clothes, and we were thrilled to bring them back with us and publish them. Most of the photos you have probably seen of Shelly in the years since then were from the Luglis’ collection.
Anyway, we heard from them this week because Renata has written down her experiences in Scientology in a short book that has been translated to English, and she thought our readers would like to know about it.
Prisoner of Freedom: My 36 Years in the Scientology Cult is available now at Amazon.
<snip> See full post at link above
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Here is the info posted on Amazon:
Prisoner of Freedom: My 36 Years in the Scientology Cult Paperback – February 24, 2025
by Renata Fruscella Lugli (Author)
Book description from Amazon:
Writing this book wasn’t easy—it meant going back through events from 1974 to today, step by step. Some memories are beautiful, but many others are deeply painful. At times, I had to take breaks just to avoid being completely overwhelmed by the emotions that came rushing back.
I could only start writing again when I felt ready—ready to face and relive those emotions, those feelings, and those states of mind exactly as I experienced them back then, and as they have stayed with me ever since.
What truly pushed me to write this book was the complete loss of contact with my son, Flavio. Scientology forced him to cut all ties with us—his parents—and with his brother, Tiziano. I went back through everything, trying to understand how this could have happened and what slipped beyond my control.
We haven’t seen Flavio since December 7, 2010.
We can’t hear from him, call him, get any news about him, or know how he’s doing or what his life is like. This has left an enormous void, a deep sense of helplessness, and a wound that will never heal.
Not a single day goes by without me thinking of him—especially at night, when I lie awake, fully aware that there’s nothing I can do to change this situation.
My husband and I reached out to law enforcement, even though we knew there was nothing they could do since Flavio is an adult. Still, we felt it was important to inform them about the situation, and we found that they were genuinely interested.
We were also contacted by various TV shows and newspapers, and we appeared in some of them.
In an effort to fill this void and make sense of losing our son, I started blogging and writing to connect with other parents—to warn them so they wouldn’t have their families torn apart by the insidious trap called "DISCONNECTION", a practice enforced by Scientology, which I will explain in detail in this book.
Another reason I decided to write this book was the hope that, by working through it little by little and eventually finishing it, it would be therapeutic for me.
The book is divided into two parts:
In the first, I share how my journey into Scientology began—filled with dreams and aspirations.
In the second, I describe the gradual descent into a limbo of unease, which ultimately led to the collapse of those dreams and the loss of my son.
Recently, I conducted research on cults and was struck by how many similarities they share with Scientology. Of course, everyone experiences them in their own way—here, I will tell my story.
The first chapters focus on how it all began—they serve as a premise for what happened later and represent the core and purpose of this book.
This part is also the most distressing and painful, spanning decades of my life.
News from our friends Claudio and Renata Lugli
This isn't like Scientology, to be late on a chance to smear Leah Remini, right?
We will admit that we’re a little perplexed by this one, and so far we haven’t received answers about what’s going on.
tonyortega.substack.com
Excerpt:
In 2013, we were very fortunate to get the chance to visit Claudio and Renata Lugli at their home in Brescia, Italy while we were on a family vacation.
Since then, we’ve told you about them numerous times: That they were tailors to Dave and Shelly Miscavige, making custom clothes for them for years while they were in Scientology. (It was Claudio who told us, based on making clothes for Dave, he could say with conviction that the Scientology leader is only
5-feet-1.) And we’ve written about how they lost their son Flavio to the Sea Org, and they never hear from him after he disconnected from them for speaking out.
When we visited them in 2013, there were almost no photos of Shelly Miscavige online. Just a poor quality photo from her wedding to Dave and that was about it. But Claudio and Renata had numerous amazing pictures of Shelly trying on their clothes, and we were thrilled to bring them back with us and publish them. Most of the photos you have probably seen of Shelly in the years since then were from the Luglis’ collection.
Anyway, we heard from them this week because Renata has written down her experiences in Scientology in a short book that has been translated to English, and she thought our readers would like to know about it.
Prisoner of Freedom: My 36 Years in the Scientology Cult is available now at Amazon.
<snip> See full post at link above
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the info posted on Amazon:
Prisoner of Freedom: My 36 Years in the Scientology Cult Paperback – February 24, 2025
by Renata Fruscella Lugli (Author)
Book description from Amazon:
Writing this book wasn’t easy—it meant going back through events from 1974 to today, step by step. Some memories are beautiful, but many others are deeply painful. At times, I had to take breaks just to avoid being completely overwhelmed by the emotions that came rushing back.
I could only start writing again when I felt ready—ready to face and relive those emotions, those feelings, and those states of mind exactly as I experienced them back then, and as they have stayed with me ever since.
What truly pushed me to write this book was the complete loss of contact with my son, Flavio. Scientology forced him to cut all ties with us—his parents—and with his brother, Tiziano. I went back through everything, trying to understand how this could have happened and what slipped beyond my control.
We haven’t seen Flavio since December 7, 2010.
We can’t hear from him, call him, get any news about him, or know how he’s doing or what his life is like. This has left an enormous void, a deep sense of helplessness, and a wound that will never heal.
Not a single day goes by without me thinking of him—especially at night, when I lie awake, fully aware that there’s nothing I can do to change this situation.
My husband and I reached out to law enforcement, even though we knew there was nothing they could do since Flavio is an adult. Still, we felt it was important to inform them about the situation, and we found that they were genuinely interested.
We were also contacted by various TV shows and newspapers, and we appeared in some of them.
In an effort to fill this void and make sense of losing our son, I started blogging and writing to connect with other parents—to warn them so they wouldn’t have their families torn apart by the insidious trap called "DISCONNECTION", a practice enforced by Scientology, which I will explain in detail in this book.
Another reason I decided to write this book was the hope that, by working through it little by little and eventually finishing it, it would be therapeutic for me.
The book is divided into two parts:
In the first, I share how my journey into Scientology began—filled with dreams and aspirations.
In the second, I describe the gradual descent into a limbo of unease, which ultimately led to the collapse of those dreams and the loss of my son.
Recently, I conducted research on cults and was struck by how many similarities they share with Scientology. Of course, everyone experiences them in their own way—here, I will tell my story.
The first chapters focus on how it all began—they serve as a premise for what happened later and represent the core and purpose of this book.
This part is also the most distressing and painful, spanning decades of my life.
