The Fractured Philosophy of Josua Klein
Once a confident leader of a 'radio-active philosophy' retreat, Josua Klein sits in a Tacoma jail cell, broken and waiting for deportation.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Josua Klein has lost his defiant manner and now openly declares that he would rather be deported and suffer the indignity of going to Europe under arrest than to be kept in the county jail longer. Klein, whose defiance and buoyant happiness marked his entire demeanor during the first month of his imprisonment, has changed radically. He no longer talks about higher religion and the 'land of eternal happiness.' He has become a recluse and lies in a dark corner of his narrow cell most of the time. From all outward appearances, the spirit of the man who enticed two Tacoma girls to his 'retreat' in Switzerland and kept them there while he taught them the rudiments of his 'radio-active philosophy' is broken. His hair is tinged with gray. His tongue is slow and only wags when he has been aroused from his abject lethargy. The jailers say that Klein talks of his wife, that he is thinking of his wife and children living in squalor back in St. Louis. In fact, everything points to the one conclusion—Klein is but human after all.
“He no longer talks about higher religion and the 'land of eternal happiness.' He has become a recluse.”
Klein represents the classic trope of the 'charlatan guru' found throughout the Pacific Northwest's history of intentional communities and fringe spiritual movements. His story of isolation and regret in a Tacoma jail echoes the human cost hidden behind the headlines of cult-like figures.
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