To my readers:
I've been computer archiving materials in my library and found this letter I sent to Huntington House on May 1, 1991 about a book based on untruths that was sensationalizing those in the Christian community needing honest information. I think the letter is basic to understanding many of the struggles I and others went through to get honest information on the New Age Movement out. It also shows the disinformation and profiteering attempts by others. Huntington House published Darrick Evenson's book NEW AGE MESSIAH IDENTIFIED under his pseudonym (false name) of "Troy Lawrence." Ministries such as Southwest Radio Church, Jack Van Impe, and many others sold the book in ignorance of Darrick Evenson's agenda. As this piece of correspondence tells much of the story, I thought I would publish the letter here in its entirety. I note that Darrick Evenson has since tried telling his own version of the events. Sandra Tanner wrote an important article about what transpired from her perspective. Even CRI (Christian Research Institute) did some reporting on Evenson's fraud.
Evenson [aka Troy Lawrence] is still at it as shown by this link.
This is an important part of the history of the struggle to properly expose the agenda of the New Age Movement and its accompanying religious apostasy. You deserve to know and for that reason, I am republishing it here. The letterhead is an old business address, one that I occupied in 1991.
I look forward to your comments.
Constance
CONSTANCE E. CUMBEY
Attorney-at-Law
1533 North Woodward Avenue
Suite 140
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304
(313) 645-0790 ofc (313)645-0797 FAX
(313) 599-5434 Beeper
May 1,1991
FAX LETTER
Mr. Richard TrosclairMr. Mark Trosclair
Mrs. Teresa Trosclair
Huntington House Publishers, Inc.
FAX No. 318-237-7060
Re: Darrick Evenson Fiasco
After my conversation with Mark Trosclair this morning and in view of all that has transpired within the past week, I find it necessary to send this letter via FAX. My facsimile machine generates records of what was sent and confirms whether or not it was received, so in that sense, from a legal perspective, it is as good as a certified letter.
I find it personally disappointing after you have abundantly reaped the rewards of my own sacrificing work on the New Age Movement, that I would receive a sneering statement from Mark such as I did this morning telling me that my book is doing "almost nothing." If indeed that is the case, I demand my rights back immediately. I used great forbearance with you over the years on my royalty rights. I have had people from Bill Keith through Petti Wagner and the Bowens tell me that you were under-reporting sales of my book to me. Local bookstores ranging from Barnes & Nobles (a major chain), Waldenbooks, and Christian bookstores tell me they still -- after 8 years have trouble keeping the book in stock. The profits you have reaped on other books about the New Age Movement can clearly be traced to my ground breaking work where I took the persecution and you took the profits. I find it therefore most disappointing to receive sneers of this type. You had almost a free ride with me over the years. Up until I went back to my law practice full time, your publicist scheduled no interviews for me, even though my book by and large was paying her salary. In the meantime, your other authors were being busily scheduled. I was busy, nonetheless, with the media but it was absolutely no thanks to Huntington House. Many times I did interviews with those the publicist did schedule and they had absolutely no idea that my book had been out for several years and that it was the first book exposing the New Age Movement or that I had pioneered this book [topic] in the Christian community.
After I brought you incontrovertible evidence that Pat Robertson was celebrating the International Week of Forgiveness (a Lucis Trust Holiday); denying Scriptural inerrancy (also documented by Dr. Kurt Koch). and claiming that when "every eye shall behold him" it means on television (certainly does not match scripture, but it does match pages 575-576 of The Externalisation of the Hierarchy by Alice Bailey as well as The Armageddon Script by Peter LeMesurier), I learned from several sources that Teresa Trosclair said that despite this, she "worshipped the ground that Pat Robertson walked on." Maybe that is why you have not been able to see through such obvious phonies as Darrick T. Evenson -- your plumb line is that of men claiming to have "words of knowledge" and slick television "ministries" rather than being the Bible.
You at Huntington House, of all people, know that we got the word out against the New Age Movement absolutely no thanks to Pat Robertson and the 700 Club, absolutely no thanks to Walter Martin, and no thanks to Bob Larson. You very well remember those days when I stood alone on this issue. That's all right, I never expected to win a popularity contest on this, but on the other hand I do expect some loyalty from my publisher -- especially one that I helped place on the map so to speak. That loyalty does not include sending Darrick Evenson a/k/a Troy (site of the Trojan Horse) Lawrence to make the statements over the air he has purported to make on behalf of Huntington House over at least the past week. It also does not include statements by Mark of the nature made to me today. You know the only reason you have a first crack at most anti-New Age manuscripts is because of my book. I figure God knows who did what, so I don't too much worry about this, but I still find your behavior puzzling and disappointing, and I am sure God will not reward it.
Now as regards Darrick T. Evenson, let's recap the events. I was contacted by Teresa Trosclair (or maybe she mentioned it to me in a conversation I initiated with her) last summer about a manuscript you were thinking of publishing. Teresa told me excitedly that this man had been converted out of the New Age and believing in Benjamin Creme's Maitreya the Christ and had since his conversion gone back into Tara Center, gained access to their computer "working long feverish hours" and learned the identity of the New Age "messiah."
My immediate counsel to Teresa Trosclair was one of caution. I told her that this type of tactic was often used by New Agers to have Christians scurrying after something that was just not so. Teresa seemed disappointed at my response but asked if I would be willing to talk with the "young man" and review his manuscript. I told her I would be willing to do both, but I was extremely skeptical about the entire business. The manuscript and a tape from Darrick Evenson were sent. I played the tape while I was working in my office. I was starting a prolonged jury trial so did not have time to read the manuscript which I intended to do after the jury trial.
I had no sooner finished the jury trial before Darrick Evenson called. He had called several times while the trial was in progress and had left phone numbers for various motels about the country and told me he was at libraries "doing research." He continually left messages pressing me for a decision on his manuscript. At the conclusion of the jury trial, which also ended in me contracting pneumonia, I was home one evening when I received a phone call from Darrick T. Evenson. Darrick said to me, "I know you can't endorse my manuscript and I know why. After much prayer, I have decided to withdraw the manuscript and abandon that project. Since I came to the Lord reading your book, I want to help you in anyway I can. Walter Martin unfairly attacked you and I have talked with Huntington House and they agree with me that it would be good to do a book about it."
I had no sooner finished the jury trial before Darrick Evenson called. He had called several times while the trial was in progress and had left phone numbers for various motels about the country and told me he was at libraries "doing research." He continually left messages pressing me for a decision on his manuscript. At the conclusion of the jury trial, which also ended in me contracting pneumonia, I was home one evening when I received a phone call from Darrick T. Evenson. Darrick said to me, "I know you can't endorse my manuscript and I know why. After much prayer, I have decided to withdraw the manuscript and abandon that project. Since I came to the Lord reading your book, I want to help you in anyway I can. Walter Martin unfairly attacked you and I have talked with Huntington House and they agree with me that it would be good to do a book about it."
I too am human with all the incumbent weaknesses. Walter Martin did unfairly attack me and his last book [The New Age Cult] prior to his death openly plagiarized parts of The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow and falsely claimed that he, Walter Martin, was the first to bring out the New Age connections of Jim Jones, when Walter Martin had publicly attacked me in the past for my documented statements that Jim Jones was an active part of the New Age Movement -- in fact, People's Temple was a recognized, official New Age Center. I thought the new project had splendid possibilities and I did encourage Darrick. He called again asking me to bundle up all my documentation on Walter Martin and send it to him. I don't know if it was the Lord or the Holy Spirit, or my own disorganization that saved me, but I never got around to sending it.
Darrick called me again -- I believe the last time was last September or October, 1990 and said that since it was my work that had brought him out of the New Age Movement (today I learned that he told Pat Matrisciana that it was reading Caryl's book that brought him out!) that he just wanted to help me in any way possible. I told him it was too bad he was not in Detroit as I had trouble getting up the steam to continue to do my newsletters. Darrick suggested he could work with me on this via Fax machines and computer modems. We vaguely agreed to talk more about it in the future. A few weeks later I received a faxed message from Darrick Evenson demanding my mailing list to get out an issue of something he called "World Crusade Journal." I faxed a return message to him reading "let me see your copy." He faxed back a message saying "I must have your mailing list today, otherwise there will be no World Crusade Journal." I faxed back a message saying "I send my mailing list to nobody, particularly without copy." I then immediately called Teresa Trosclair at your offices and told her I considered this bizarre behavior. She apologized and said she would contact him and tell him not to bother me any further.
Throughout all of this, I had no idea that you were publishing the book that Darrick told me he had abandoned! Further, although Teresa now insists I told her I saw nothing unscriptural about Darrick's book, that is not the case. We never got to a discussion about the scripturality or lack thereof of the manuscript because Darrick manipulated the situation by his prior contacting of me to say that he had dropped that project and was instead working with you on a book about how Walter Martin had unfairly attacked my work.
Thereafter I thought nothing more of Darrick Evenson until I was throwing out back issues of The Inner Circle, an anti-Mormon paper that has never been kind to me. As you know, I found a 1989 article entitled "The facts on Evenson". When I spotted the article and read it I was not even sure that it was the same one. I did a search on my computer and came up with my phone register log for 1990 with "Darrick Evenson." I immediately called Teresa Trosclair to share this with her and rejoice in the fact that the Lord had spared us this particular snare. I heard Teresa groan and I said, "Teresa, you didn't publish him, did you?" Teresa replied "15,000 copies." I said, "Teresa, I warned you." She said, "I know." She asked if I could fax the article to your new fax number. After a few transmission problems, you did receive it. Teresa immediately called me and asked me to show the article to nobody until they had a chance to research this. I told her the article was in the public domain and since the young man was crediting his conversion to me, it was very important to maintaining the integrity and credibility of my work which has been under attack since day one in the Christian community, that I protect myself.
The next day Mark called and vigorously and almost affectionately defended "Troy" (Troy Lawrence) who had always been known to me as Darrick T. Evenson. Mark said they had Darrick traveling and doing assignments and speaking engagements for them and defended his thesis on the grounds that Southwest Radio Church, J . R. Church, and numerous others had accepted the story. (Personally, I have tried to maintain the Bible as my plumbline, not someone else's uncritical acceptance. I demanded and received a conference call between "Troy" and Mark Trosclair (I would have vastly preferred Richard as he is less emotional) the next day.
As Mark is witness to on that conference call, "Troy" denied that he in THE GAINSAYERS claimed to have been a former part of Ex-Mormons for Jesus or indeed that he had ever been a Mormon. Mark accepted these lying denials at face value and indeed implied I was acting in an unchristian and uncharitable manner for believing otherwise. I attempted to cross examine Darrick/Troy about his knowledge of the Theosophical Society since he claimed to be a "Theosophical initiate." Darrick/Troy could not even answer basic questions about the history of the organization he claimed to know so intimately. Again, he didn't have to submit to much scrutiny because Mark Trosclair stepped in to defend him by saying how surprised and disappointed he was at me for asking such petty questions. "I was born a Catholic and I don't know who the popes were," said Mark. "But you aren't out presenting yourself as an expert on the Catholic Church as Darrick is on the New Age Movement," was my retort.
You promised to Federal Express me forthwith Darrick's book which I had seen only cursorily in manuscript form and Darrick promised to federal express a copy of The Gainsayers. Thereafter I left to speak in California. I was receiving questions on New Age Messiah: Identified in California and had still not seen the book. I called Teresa who apologized and one was Federal Expressed to me the next day along with William Still's book (for which I also have reservations, although not nearly as serious as those with Darrick cum Troy Lawrence). I started reading the book and called Teresa immediately, from California, to say that I was incredulous that he was using G.R.S. Mead, Madam Blavatsky's original secretary, initial editor of Lucifer, and the funeral orator at Madame Blavatsky's funeral as an unbiased "historian."
I returned home and had to hit the floor running because of a busy trial docket. A week ago Tuesday, 4/23/91, I had a jury trial that did not go (adjourned to August 22). I went home to catch some rest because of severe exhaustion and a sleepless night very typical of the nights that precede jury trials. I had no sooner closed my eyes than AI Kresta of WMUZ radio called. AI said he was going to be interviewing Troy Lawrence and saw that he had a flattering reference to me in his book. He wanted my opinion about the book. I told AI I was probably cutting off my nose to spite my face since Huntington House, my publisher was its publisher, and since the book praised me, but I had to be honest, "I had severe reservations about the book." I told AI that I had not completely decided as yet, but I told him about Darrick contacting me to say he had dropped the project thus intercepting my critical report to Huntington House, his telling me of a substitute project about how Walter Martin had unfairly attacked me, his offer to work on my newsletter, and his sudden demands for my mailing list. I told AI about the article in The Inner Circle and Darrick's explanations that these were actually "Trojan Horse" ministries to lead people to the gospel who would never otherwise listen. I suggested he might want to speak with Ed Decker as the article implied that it was Ed Decker who had the most personal contact with this man.
AI Krista told me that he knew Ed Decker, had interviewed him in the past on his show, and that he would do that. I asked Al if he needed a copy of The Inner Circle article. I said it would be a sacrifice as I needed the rest, but I would get up and go to my office and fax it to him prior to air time. AI said, "please!" I went to the office. AI called me just prior to air time, gave me Ed Decker's number and said Ed wanted to talk to me and said that Ed had told him some amazing things about Darrick Evenson.
I decided to turn on the program and pop a tape in my office "boom box." A friend called me from Seattle to discuss Malachi Martin's escapades (like Darrick, he has also Faxed Letter to Huntington House, Page 4 of 6 May 1, 1991 caused much mischief writing under pseudonyms -- his latest claim is that the Pope is to be the New World Leader in the New World Order!). I was intently listening to her when all at once I heard from the radio a voice -- Darrick -- saying "Constance Cumbey says that Moody Bible Institute is a Mormon front, I think you should be aware of that." Then he said "Constance Cumbey says Gerald and Sandra Tanner are Mormon double agents, I think you should be aware of that." I said, "What!," hastily hung up from talking with my Seattle friend and tried feverishly to find WMUZ's number. I called them while they were simultaneously trying to reach me on the other line for a response to Darrick/Troy's allegations. I told them, as I told you, that I had not made up my mind about him until then, but now "my mind is made up -- the man is an unmitigated liar."
Sandra Tanner told me today that Darrick Evenson was in her Utah bookstore on April 22, 1991, the day before this interview. He told her that he was converting to the Bahai faith, but still considered himself to be a Mormon. He had evidently, according to Sandra Tanner, reconciled Bahai teachings with Joseph Smith's teachings about a "great prophet to come." Sandra told me he was making sexual allegations at women visitors to her store whom he had never met in the past. He accused them of being lesbians and "playing with themselves." She said she ordered him out of her store. Sandra says that Darrick specializes in trying to stir up trouble between ministries. While I understand from Ed Decker whom I spoke with after our conversation this morning that there has been friction between himself and the Tanners in the past, that nevertheless, they are in complete agreement on the subject of Darrick Evenson/Troy Lawrence.
Sandra told me that every anti-Mormon ministry "out there" has "horror stories" about Darrick Evenson. She further told me that she keeps a daily journal and that she had made detailed entries on April 22, 1991 about the Darrick Evenson incident. Ironically, his traveling expenses to go into that Christian business and cause havoc were probably paid by Huntington House! I ask you, where was the Trojan horse really positioned -- at Troy! It was Huntington House who published him under the pseudonym of "Troy" not the Mormon and Masonic publishing houses who published him under his actual name!
Ed Decker says he received threats of blackmail for false allegations by Darrick/Troy four weeks ago. This would have exactly coincided with the time I discovered the article that quoted Ed Decker. Blackmail is a felony and its threat is a felonious act!
Admitting that one has been wrong is never pleasant -- but is sometimes necessary. I understand that Darrick pressured you into making a quick publication of his book, after he contacted me to say he had dropped the project. I have sometimes been taken in by people I have had to recant on later -- Gary North as one prominent example. I have not hesitated to admit I made a mistake and for the sake of the integrity of your work, I urge you to do likewise.I further understand that you have made statements to various people that I urged you to publish Darrick/Troy's book. This is absolutely untrue. If you make any statement to that effect, I will put you on immediate notice that I repudiate it and will take legal steps, if necessary, to protect the record.
I hope that we can put this behind us. I understand that New Age Nightmare is doing well. As you know, I have done much personally to step into the void after Randall Baer's death and help promote that book. I think your best potential story is Trojan Horse Ministries, Inc. Ed Decker and I are interested in writing it. Are you interested in publishing it? If not, I suspect many others might be!
CONSTANCE E. CUMBEY
CEC:cb
